HALLOWEEN CRAFTS: Spider and Web Crafts

It wouldn't be Halloween without spiders. Of course, me being of the gothic persuasion, I would use any of these year long. In fact, I have two rhinestone encrusted spider brooches that I wear year round. I bought them at Halloween time. I also have other spider jewelry, including a small black and clear diamond necklace (hubby bought it from Walmart as a Christmas gift), and spider earrings that I love. This year's porch theme is creepy crawly creatures, so there will be many spiders. I was going to do a Dia de los Muertos shrine outside, but I decided to do one on my mantle ...more on all of that later.


JEWELRY

I like both of these tutorials, but different parts of them. For the first one, I like that the legs have beads on them and are bent and the head is a bead too. For the second one, I like how the wrapping is done and how the legs are done. To prevent the legs from spinning while to slide on the body bead and start wrapping, wrap a bit of tape around each set of legs to hold the legs in place. It wouldn't be on them long. After you are done with the wire wrapping. You could use the bugle and seed bead technique from the first style spider, to cover the legs. This is just my preference, but feel free to experiment with them. These are the best two spider jewelry tutorials that I could find. They use basic wire work techniques that I think any one could do with some patience. You could incorporate a loop for a necklace or earrings. You could glue on a hair clip or pin on the back to wear it that way. You could make them to decorate a wreath, table, or gift box.




DECORATIONS


If you are unfamiliar with Filet Crochet, I have used it for many crocheting projects and have written a couple tutorials to help explain it as well as how I made my skull projects. For this project, there are a few variations you can make in this pattern, you can change the boarder to just closed double crochet (DC) squares instead of the pictured boarder. This would be good if you were using it for a scarf. I have made a black widow (blue widow?) scarf before, which was in a different style than this one. The middle legs were longer. For a scarf, I would eliminate or enlarge it and incorporate it with the spider, so the scarf length and spider area would have a web pattern too. Since filet crochet is done using a graph, this is fairly easy to do. If you enlarge the current pattern or an alteration of it, it would also be great for a table cloth, a wrap or blanket.


This is supposed to be a table topper, but if you make the holes wide enough for your arms, you can double it over and put your arm through it, like an alteration of a wrap. You could also alter the pattern, so it will have a hole in the center for your head and open along a spoke, so you can wear it like a cape. For a closure, you could make a beaded spider, like the above ones, add a pin back and pin the cape closed.


Jennifer Perkins of The Naughty Secretary Club shows us how to make a spider web door rug. If you don't want to use glow in the dark paint, you can use any color paint. I recommend sticking to the type that squeezes from a tube...think puff paint. If for some reason, you don't want to paint a spider web, this is still a great idea for personalizing a doormat, so pick a motif and get painting. Mix colors, add glitter, make a lot of them and change them out seasonly...etc.



Martha Stewart shows us how to make glittery spider and web hurricane style candle holders. This project calls for frosted hurricane style candle holders, but if you can't find any frosted ones, you can use etching cream 1st, to frost the glass. Frosting the glass gives it a texture that will help the glue adhere better than a smooth glass surface. Etching cream can be found at most craft stores. It's easy to use, but follow the safety directions carefully, as it is corrosive. You can find inexpensive glass hurricane style candle holder at Dollar Tree. If they don't have any without candles in them, you can use the glass pillar candles, cylinder vases or cube vases too. Any tallish glass container that is wide enough to hold a tea light (electric or wax) or pillar candle is good. Since luminaries go outside of your house, to help light the path for trick or treaters or guests, you want something large enough to provide enough light for the path. You can also use them inside your house as mantel and table decorations.


Martha Stewart shows us how to make Glitter Silhouettes. The written instructions for this were confusing, but the video was really helpful and made much more sense. You can buy inexpensive frames from a dollar store. If you have kids who would touch these so much, that you would have rubbed off glitter all over the place, put the glass back in after glitter the frames and before adding the glittered silhouettes. I happen to have an inexpensive version of the Xyron sticker machine (creative station) that she uses, but if you don't have one or can't afford one, use Aleene's Tacky Glue and a foam brush (pick up a pack at a dollar store) to evenly apply it to your back ground and cut out. If you like this glittery idea and want to use it for a bag or t-shirt (something with fabric), use Tulip's Glitter Bond before glitter application.

Sorry that this available photo is a skull, not a spider, but the glittered spider is shown in the background of the video and there is a template for it too. If you don't have a printer, feel free to freehand your own spider and go from there.

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