Update and bat cave how-to.

If you're friends with me on Facebook, you may already know that I was selected to serve as a juror for a trial this week. I will freely admit I had a bad attitude about jury duty in the past, mostly due to the stigma it carries as an inconvenience. While it is definitely inconvenient, I feel it is an absolutely necessary part of maintaining the freedom of society. The fact that you, or I, or anyone else can count on a trial by jury of peers in the event that they are accused of wrongdoing is an essential principle of liberty. And as a person who is confident she can remain unbiased and discern truth, I am honored to serve in this capacity.

I have been admonished by the court not to discuss the case until I have been released from my duty as a juror, which will happen this Thursday evening. I may choose to blog about my experience more fully at that point, or I may not. In any case, I hope that I can discuss it in a way that will be helpful to others while respecting the judicial system and the dignity of those involved in the case. I, for one, had very little idea how this whole process even worked until yesterday. I wonder if many of my peers, who may also be selected for jury duty, feel similarly. It might be enlightening to hear a first-hand account of what occurs during a trial.

That being said, I wanted to teach you how to make the cute Halloween crafts I posted on Friday, but I'm not sure if I will have time this week. I'll start today with the bat cave and we'll see how it goes!

Spooky Bat Cave!

 

 

Supplies:
 

3 black poster boards
Pencil
Scissors
Piece of paper
Tape
Googly eyes (optional)

1. Start by making the stalactites for your cave. These are the icicle-like formations that hang from the top. Turn one poster board on its side and begin roughly drawing the stalactites using the edge as the top of your cave. Go crazy. Don't worry about it being perfect because nature isn't perfect and it will look awesome no matter what you do.The straight corner and edge will go in the corner of your wall, so make sure you draw the formations from the correct side! Remember that the cave is going to be hanging on a probably-large wall, so make them longer and fatter than you would think.  

 

2. Cut out your stalactites. If you want your cave to be longer that one poster board, draw some more stalactites on the second poster board like I did.

3. Make your bats. I freehanded mine onto a piece of cardstock, which I then used to trace all of the bats. And yes, I did freehand them. It's true. Don't hate. But, since I realize many people cannot just freehand a bat as I so aptly can, I provided this basic shape for you:

click here to go to a bigger one, y'all

 

I recommend you make three different sizes, and 2-4 bats of each size. You could even make some hanging bats if you're adventurous. I prefer to keep it simple for my own sanity, so all mine are flying.

4. (Optional) Stick some googly eyes on your bats. I only had medium-sized ones, so I stuck them to the four big bats. The rest are blind, which is fitting since they are bats after all. :)

5. Stick your stalactites up on the wall. Make sure they're flush to the corner! 

 

Now, you can put your bats up since you kindly provided them with a home. Space them out and mix 'em up a little -- this might take you a few tries, if you're like me. But have patience, because when you're done, you'll have a super-cute bat cave that your kids (if you have them) will love. In fact, I should warn you that they might cry when you take them down in November. So be ready for that.