Origami Bat : Wall Piece for Halloween Decoration

After I made the Owl wall piece using the Origami technique, I felt like creating more of the kind. With halloween round the corner it made me all the more excited to do this. Here comes the Spooky Bat wall piece. I must say this is much easier than the Owl and they look great together.

Supplies I used:

- Origami paper (double shaded not mandatory though) 7"
- Foam sheets (self sticking): Brown, Glitter-- Red,Silver, Green
- Scotch tape

Follow the steps in the pictures below. Refer to basic techniques for origami discussed in previous posts.




Add eyes and mouth to the bat. Hang the Bat upside down as they are usually hung upside down. Use a dark blue background to depict dark sky. You can create the background with moon or flowers too. It is all upto your taste.

I have used Silver background to make the Halloween series as a set.They make lovely wall decorations for my kiddo.Here is a picture of the set.


Happy Halloween to all. Have fun.

Origami Owl : Wall piece for Halloween Decoration

Creating this cute Origami Owl as a wall decoration is lots of fun. It is an interesting activity for a little older kids. If you have tried origami earlier it is a bit easier. You can refer to earlier posts for little simpler origami ideas.
However, for Halloween it is a must try.

Supplies required:

- Orange Origami paper 6"
- Self sticking Foam sheets Brown,Black and Glitter green, Glitter silver
- Craft Knife
- Black Card stock for background

On a clean hard surface fold the orange origami paper as indicated step by step in the picture. It is important to make folds in one go as the paper is usually a bit fragile. I have used Melissa Doug Origami Paper.

To make the folds little easier fold the paper in half horizontally and unfold, then fold is vertically and unfold and then fold and unfold both diagonals too. Make crisp crease in every fold. This will make the rest of the folds easier to make.
Now with the square paper and the white side up. Fold the paper diagonally so that you can see the orange color now. Refer the picture.Next step is to lift the corner and do the squash fold. You get a square as a result. Turn and repeat the step.



At step 5 keep the resulting square as shown and fold the left and right sides of the top layer at the center you get you have a diamond shape. Turn over and repeat the steps. Fold the rest of the part also as shown.



Now lift the top layer so that it opens up. Follow the crease and keep pulling gently till the left and right sides meet at the center. Refer to the picture. Make a good crease. Turn over and repeat. Now lift the tip and fold it half way as shown. Flip and repeat.



Fold the left and right sides towards in such a way that it still remains a diamond shape. Turn and repeat on the other side too. The are two free pointy ends which we will use to make wings. Pull out this free end gently and away from the body. Refer the picture. Do this for both free ends.


To make the head fold the top part half way and then fold the tip again to make the beak. For making feet fold around 1/2 inch both in the front and in the back.


Once the Owl is ready cut out the branch of the tree as shown in the final picture and some leaves. You can use your imagination and create a scenery. You can add some flowers too.

To give it a framed appearance I have used Glitter silver self sticking foam. Foam sheets are easily available in craft stores like Michaels or even in Walmart.

The fabulous Origami Owl wall decoration is ready. Enjoy Halloween to the fullest.

Paper Mache and Foam Sheet Fish

This craft is inspired from a session I attended with my 19 month old daughter at a public library. Public library in our area usually has some sessions for kids every Saturday. Although this craft project was for a little older kids my daughter enjoyed it a lot. With a little help from parents toddlers can have fun doing this too.
My daughter is very fond of Fish and Aquarium so I tried to take the inspiration to a whole new level. She loves it and keeps playing with it all the time. It contains small parts so needs adult supervision at all times.

To make this Fish I used the following supplies:
- Cardboard
- Paper
- Pencil
- Scissors
- Masking Tape
- Old newspaper
- Tissue papers (Pink, yellow and orange)
- Foam Brush
- Decoupage Glue
- Container to keep glue
- Sticky back foam sheets (yellow,orange and pink)
- Dime (10 cents coin)
- Glue
- Clay block
- Rounded wooden stick of the size of a normal pencil

The basic technique of making paper-mache is utilized very beautifully in this art. Simply cut out the shape of any fish you want on a cardboard.Make small balls using old newspaper of such a size that will make the body of the fish. Using masking tape fix the newspaper balls on the cardboard cutout. Also fix the wooden pencil like stick using masking tape.Insert the pencil in the clay block such that it becomes a stand.


Now using the foam brush take some decoupage glue and start pasting 1 inch fragments of the tissue paper so that the cardboard and the newspaper is covered fully. Use glue over the tissue paper for layering. Great thing about decoupage glue is that it is transparent and leaves a shine when it dries. Continue till you feel the fish is properly covered. I did not have my camera with me at the library so have no intermediate pictures :(.

Paint the clay and the stem of the stand with color of your choice.
Now let it dry overnight. Meanwhile, cut out circles of the size of a dime from the sticky back foam sheets. I used orange and yellow color sheets. You can use whichever color you prefer. The quantity will depend on your design and size of the fish.


Next day when the paper-mache fish is completely dry, stick the already cut foam sheet scales. Start from the tail end of the fish. That way you will have neater overlapped fish scales. Using the pink foam sheet cut out thin lines to make fins. Also make lips out of pink foam sheet. You can paint them if you prefer that.


To finish this craft stick wiggle eyes. Once done, decorate your kids room with that and let them enjoy it. Just be careful with younger kids. Here is a picture of the completed project with stand.