This is a very quick and easy Halloween craft idea that makes use of colourful autumn leaves. We collected leaves that were a sort off maple-leaf shape (field maple, acer, sycamore even ivy leaves) - definitely not hard to find once you start looking!
1. Then just one cut - to snip off the middle pointy part of the leaf, like so. Curve the cut a little, for bat ears.
2. Keep the stalks on for instant ‘flying’ bats (like the first photo), and glue on paper eyes and fangs (see step 4).
3. The leaves will quickly start to curl once they’re inside, so if you want them to last longer, press for a few days after you've cut them.
If you don’t have a flower press, put the leaves between the pages of an old book and then place a pile of books on top.
Once they’re pressed they’ll be flat, but more brittle, so need to be handled with some care.
4. For the eyes and fangs, we cut small, long triangles from some plain paper. Rub glue stick carefully over the head part, where you want the eyes and fangs to go, then wet your finger to pick up the little triangles and stick them in place. Use a black pen to finish off the eyes.
To make them last a bit longer you could varnish the leaves with a clear, water-based varnish.
5. To make bat bunting, we glued our bats onto some flat gift-wrap ribbon. Stick them on near their heads, so they don’t tip forward. (I forgot to do this...)
You could make a Halloween collage with them too.