Halloween is approaching and here in America it's big news. Houses on our estate are already sprouting tombstones on their lawns and ghouls flapping from the branches of their trees. Last year, our first Halloween USA-style, we jumped on the bandwagon a bit late and didn't really 'get' what a big deal it is here. I swear it's a bigger party than Christmas! This year I didn't want to be a party pooper and so have begun to decorate the front of our house. Because of the heat, I'm going to leave the pumpkin Jack o' Lanterns until nearer the time ... don't really want rotting veg outside my house! Another constraint - I didn't want to spend a fortune. As already mentioned, Halloween is big business over here and you can literally spend hundreds of dollars decorating your front yard! So I considered what I could make on a budget that would have the desired spook factor ... and decided on the one thing that usually sends a shiver of disgust up most people's backs... spiders! Eeeek!
You will need:
- 8 x black foam pipe insulation tubes. These come in 6 foot lengths at the DIY stores and cost around a dollar each.
- A roll of black duct tape.
- Several empty and rinsed out milk bottles (the bigger the better). I used 3 of the big gallon-sized bottles.
- A few paper (or plastic) disposable cups. Colored ones work well.
- A black permanent marker.
- Scissors
- Glue
Firstly, you need to create the spider's body. I held the bottles together with a plastic bag tied through the handles and then wrapped all 3 of them in the black duct tape.
Then you need to create the face. I used a few orange paper cups to create eyes and fangs. Cut two of the cups down to only 1 inch high, then use a Sharpie marker to color the base black. Cut some diamond shaped pupils out of the leftover cup and glue them on the bases to make scary eyes. Then attach them to the spider with more duct tape. Cut large triangles from the third cup to be fangs and tape them white side out below the eyes.
To make the legs look spider-ish, you will first need to make joints in them. I bent the legs and used the duct tape to create the joint. I did this 1/4 and 3/4 of the way down each of the foam tubes... basically each tube is two legs. You end up with 4 tubes bent to look like tables (ish). Then turn the body of the spider over and use the duct tape to attach the legs.
You can then display your scary spider wherever you think it's going to scare the most! I put ours over the porch by our front door! In fact, I think I'm going to make a few more and get them climbing over the roof... attack of the mutant arachnids!!!! Run for your lives... aaaaaaarrrrggggh!
Scary... or what?!
