The other afternoon, a neighbor’s cat wandered into our yard and my daughter said, “I wish we could get a bunch of black cats to hang out in our front yard for Halloween.” So, if you need me, I’ll be here trying to make that happen.

We have wood left over from previous projects so I put one up on two saw horses and started sketching (and erasing, and sketching again) cats. Once I got it right, I outlined it with a sharpie to make them easier to see.

The next step was to cut them out. I use this corded jig saw and it worked like a charm. This thing is so simple to use! https://outlook.office365.com/mail/inbox/id/AAMkADYyZTBmNzA0LTgxZGUtNGNkYy05Mjc0LWE0Y2ZlNGVlMDM4NwBGAAAAAADjzLN%2BiUlyT7C3uqlCh4aiBwCHFPe2R4sySaIvHM7xsXwuAAAAAAEMAACHFPe2R4sySaIvHM7xsXwuAATNoDu%2BAAA%3D#:~:text=%EE%A5%B2-,6.5%20Amp%20Corded%20Variable%20Speed%20Jig%20Saw%20Kit%20with%20Kit%20Box,-rstyle.me

After I had them all cut out, I painted them black with left over paint I had from (you guessed it!) a previous project.

I had to do two coats on each side. Once they were dry, we brought them inside to paint the eyes. We did two coats of white craft paint and two coats of this glow in the dark paint. Then I went back with the black paint to add pupils.

https://rstyle.me/+8bJOaMfzSEAKPpAjJyqeZA

This is the finished product! Now, when it’s dark it looks like a bunch of creepy glowing eyes in the yard. But then, when it’s light outside, it looks like cute little black cats. The plus is that these guys are so thin that they should be pretty simple to store until next year.

You could also make these out of cardboard with scissors if you only need them for a short time (like a Halloween party).