What’s better than building a Halloween Project with your Daughter? For me, its nothing. This project was Hayley’s idea. If it wasn’t for her mentioning it, it wouldn’t have happened. This is a fun project that kids can get involved in. Lets get started.
We decided on our design and I got to work making some Bat templates on the computer. We printed them out on a couple sheets of paper. We then headed out into the shop and got to work. I started out by making a compass from a pencil and some fishing line, and drawing out a circle that was about 12″ across. This was on some Pine boards that had already been glued together to make them wide enough. Then I cut it out on the bandsaw. Next, Hayley taped the templates together and cut out the individual pieces. These too got spray glued onto some more Pine, and cut out. After a few minutes of sanding, they were ready for the next step, which is to get them ready for assembling. I marked out a few locations for some short pieces of dowel, and drilled a shallow hole with a Forstner Bit. These will act as standoffs, keeping the bats above the circle so the lights would light them up later. Now for some paint.
Hayley and I rounded up some Acrylic Craft Paint and got to work painting the pieces. White for the round moon, and black for the bats. This part was really fun. We were just there painting and talking and having a blast. As soon as the paint dried, I hot glued some battery operated LED lights to the back of the bats. This part took a little while since I had to wait for the glue to cool each time. Once the lights were all in place, we glued in the dowels and bats, added a string to hang it up, and we were done. The only thing left to do was try it out.
This was an awesome project. It lights up really good, and will be great on Halloween. We had so much fun building this together. I cherish every second I get to spend time with my Daughter in the shop. If you have children, I highly recommend doing some sort of projects together. Even if is the most simple project, you both will get something out of it. I guarantee that. Thanks for stopping by.

Here’s a few Affiliate links to get you started on your project
Purple Battery Operated Lights (these aren’t the exact lights I used but look similar, and I think they would work well) – https://amzn.to/2CFSsgU
Craft Paint – https://amzn.to/2D7XnZ3
Hot Glue Gun – https://amzn.to/2yBw59l
Titebond 2 Wood Glue – https://amzn.to/2JjPnUT