When I was pregnant with my son in 2010, I was one crafty lady. Sewing, crocheting—my nesting instinct took the form of making things to decorate our home and gift to others. As Halloween approached that year, I read an article about how to cut bat shapes out of construction paper to tape inside the window and create an adorably spooky silhouette look.
I got black and grey construction paper and drew simple bats. I also made a cut-out of a pumpkin-shaped moon to complete the tableau. Then, armed with a roll of Scotch tape, I attached the bats to the windows. With the lights on in the front-facing rooms, the bats looked like they were fluttering around the moon in three dimensions.
After Halloween, I carefully peeled the bats down from the windows, folded the tape over the edges of their wings, and put them away. The next year, out they came—a fresh piece of Scotch tape worked just fine throughout October, then was folded onto the first year’s tape for storage.
Those construction paper bats are entering their second decade of life adorning our house in October and welcoming trick-or-treaters on Halloween. The tape is thick now—ten years of layering, but still holding strong. Some of the bats’ ears have curled slightly—but that only enhances their spooky sweetness, in my mind.
And most of all, putting them up and seeing them in our windows reminds me of those lovely days back in 2010, eagerly awaiting meeting our baby, enjoying our new home with windows that were calling out for seasonal decorations.
We could have spent a lot of money on lights, figures and other decorations. But the most meaningful Halloween item for us is the one I made with a pack of construction paper, a pair of scissors and a quick how-to template for how to draw a bat (here’s a link to one if you’re so inspired). Like my memories, those simple crafts have stood the test of time.
What seasonal decorations mean the most to you?
