decorations, Halloween decorations, spider decorations, DIY spider decoration, DIY Halloween decoration

DIY Spider Decoration

It’s almost here – Halloween is tomorrow, and I couldn’t be more excited about its arrival! I have touched on some of my Halloween decorations already, but I thought today I’d bring you a little ‘how to’ on one of the fun Harry Potter themed decorations that I put together that could easily be applied to nearly any other Halloween theme, or just to Halloween decorating without a theme at all! Which of the decorations? Today we’re going to talk about the DIY spider decoration!

For my fellow Harry Potter fans, this has a specific purpose obviously in my Harry Potter house decorating – and that’s allowing Aragog to make an appearance on Halloween here. I am putting this spider up in a tree off to the side of the property with a series of little pipe cleaner spiders leading up to it replicating the trail of spiders from the book.

This one was incredibly easy to put together, and when it’s up in place, surrounded by cheap fake spider web that I simply picked up from a dollar store, it looks rather impressive. I really do suggest this for anyone looking to try something new and fun with their Halloween decorating!

decorations, Halloween decorations, spider decorations, DIY spider decoration, DIY Halloween decoration

You Will Need:

  • Plastic grocery bags
  • Wire (I used 16 gauge)
  • Paints in a number of colours (I ended up using black, dark brown and silver)
  • Paint brushes and sponges for painting
  • Newspaper
  • Masking tape
  • White glue (for paper mache)
  • Paper towel (also for paper mache)
  • Spray on sealant
decorations, Halloween decorations, spider decorations, DIY spider decoration, DIY Halloween decoration

Take one large plastic bag and stuff it full of newspaper. This will determine the size of your spider, so take that into consideration when deciding just how big to make it. This will be the body, so keep going until you are happy with it. When you are finished, use the masking tape to seal the bag off and form it into shape.

Do the same to create a smaller bag filled with newspaper which will act as the head. Tape this to the body using as much tape as necessary to ensure that it is firmly attached.

At this point, you will want to take the wire and either cut it into 4 long lengths (this is what was recommended to me) or 8 shorter lengths (this is what I ended up doing). Cut 4 holes into each side of the spider’s body where you would like the legs to be.

If you are using the longer lengths, fish them through the body to come out on the other side and then secure them in place with masking tape. If you are using the shorter lengths, place each of the 8 lengths into its corresponding hole on the spider’s body and tape it into place firmly. Bend the wire to create the shape of legs.

Using pieces of newspaper, wrap them around the wire using masking tape to hold it in place. This will flesh out the legs of your spider.

decorations, Halloween decorations, spider decorations, DIY spider decoration, DIY Halloween decoration

Paper mache over the full body of the spider including the legs, ensuring that everything is securely in place. Once this has dried it is time to paint.
You are going to be using a similar technique to that which was used in my previous posts on the potion bottles.

Begin by painting the spider entirely black, careful not to miss any spots leaving white patches. Take first the dark brown, mixing it with the black to create a black/brown colour. Water this mixture down slightly (to ensure that you don’t get clear sponge marks from the painting) and dab the paint all over the body of the spider to create the illusion of texture. Repeat this process again with extremely watered-down silver and allow it to dry.

Once dry, spray it down with the sealant to keep the paint safe regardless of the weather.

decorations, Halloween decorations, spider decorations, DIY spider decoration, DIY Halloween decoration

And there you have it, your own giant spider decoration. I didn’t go TOO over the top on size, but I did have my German Shepherd mix Daviana sit in the picture for you so that you could have a size reference.

Do you love spiders, or are you afraid of spiders? Have you ever made a giant spider for decorating using any technique – such as black garbage bags or balloons with black crepe paper?

28 thoughts on “DIY Spider Decoration”

  1. This looks so good! Spiders are the worst though, I have a massive fear of them. Worst nightmare would be Aragog from Harry Potter being real! Great post.

    1. Thank you! I couldn’t stop thinking about what it was going to look like on display with all the other pieces in place while I was working on it haha

    1. Thank you! This one was actually the easiest of all the things I made this year – and arguably looked the most impressive when done. Perfect combination!

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