As I mentioned earlier my original intentions for this blog have changed to including a little bit of life with a little bit of crafts, today I'm going to focus of crafts. My nephew so delightfully requested a bat cave to supplement his new bat man obession. I thought it would be as easy as going to the store and picking one up I was wrong, so wrong. Toys R Us apparently does not carry life sized bat caves, for $80.00 I could purchase one that he could simply look at and play with tiny action figures--not my cup of tea. So I decided I would build him one from random supplies I could pull together.
I started with 6 cardboard boxes that originally contained paper for my office. I cut them open so that they laid flat and taped them together to form a sort of cave like appearance. I then used chicken wire to cover the cardboard to give the cave a little bit more stability. The photo above shows the back of the cave and I am in the opening adding a bit more tape.
I then used paper mache (a combination of flour, water, salt and old newspaper) to cover the entire structure and to give the cave a more rock-like texture. This was actually the best part of the entire project, my fabulous sister helped and by the end both of us were paper mached.
We were forced to let the cave dry over night and anxiously awaited the next day so we could spray paint. The finished product turned out better than I had anticipated and I had spent less than $80.00 to make Nik the happiest guy in town.
You are the best aunt ever! That bat cave is amazing.
ReplyDeleteI am officially the worst aunt. I attempted to do "aunty like things" like taking my niece to the park but after 20 minutes I was bored and tired! Awful, I know. This inspired me to actually play with the little munchkin for a change. I guess peek-a-boo no longer cuts it for 3 year olds.
ReplyDeleteI have two boys and I really have to try and build them this. They have a Bat Cave by Fisher Price and they play with it all the time with the little action figures. However, this is on a grander scale and they'll love taking this out in the yard to play. Cool idea!
ReplyDeleteCan we get an interior photograph of the bat-cave? Did you add in a bat-pole for Bruce Wayne to slide down when the bat-alert sounds? You did install a bat-alert, right?
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