Super-Simple Halloween Silhouettes

by kelly — October 8, 2021

Scroll and paint these whimsical decorations

By Lora S. Irish
Cut by Rolf Beuttenmuller

These fun Halloween bats and spiders look great hanging in windows, from trees, or on your wall. Cut them from thin wood, or sandwich a stack of black construction paper between thin plywood and wrap the stack tightly with masking tape to make a bunch of decorations in one shot.

Your painting can be as simple or as challenging as you want. They look great painted with a semi-gloss black spray paint, but you can add more details using acrylic paint. Cut an assortment and let your kids or grandkids decorate them. Hang the completed silhouettes with monofilament fishing line in your windows to have the spookiest house on the block.

MATERIALS

•Wood, such as Baltic birch plywood, 1/8″ (3mm) to 1/4″ (6mm) thick: small bats, 4″ x 6″ (10.2cm x 15.2cm) to 3″ x 8 1/2″ (76mm x 216mm)

•Wood, such as Baltic birch plywood, 1/8″ (3mm) to 1/4″ (6mm) thick: small spiders, 4″ x 4 1/2″ (10.2cm x 11.4cm) for each

•Wood, such as Baltic birch plywood, 1/8″ (3mm) to 1/4″ (6mm) thick: big spider, 6″ x 7″ (15.2cm x 17.8cm)

• Black construction paper (optional)

• Tape: masking (optional)

• Spray adhesive

• Sandpaper: assorted grits

• Spray paint: semi-gloss black

• Acrylic paints (optional)

• Monofilament fishing line

TOOLS

•Scroll saw with blades: #3 reverse-tooth

•Drill press with bits: assorted, small

•Paintbrushes (optional)

About the Author

Lora S. Irish is a nationally known artist and the author of many books, including North American Wildlife Patterns for the Scroll Saw and World Wildlife Patterns for the Scroll Saw, both available from Fox Chapel Publishing, www.foxchapelpublishing.com. Lora lives in Mount Airy, Md., with her husband, Michael. For more of her work, visit her digital pattern warehouse at artdesignsstudio.com.