Creepy Hanging Spiders

Are you lucky enough to have a front porch? Yeah…we are!

Do you have vinyl siding, including a vinyl corrugated soffit? Ugh…unfortunately we do!
BUT, it just so happens that this type of soffit comes in handy for one of our Halloween decorating ideas. I made creepy spiders that hang from our soffits.

In these pictue you can see a few of our spiders hanging from our soffits.

**Update - You can see a short video of these guys swaying on our porch in this post.  The video seems temperamental, some times it appears & other times it is MIA.  Try again later if you don't see it.

These spiders were made in a variety of styles and sizes. They don’t have to be perfect, ours are rough. They move (spin & sway) so much that you rarely get a close look at them, so don't worry.

For storing purposes, I wrap the fishing line around the bodies & fasten the earring wire to a leg (as you can faintly see in this picture). This prevents them from getting tangled while they are stored. These were just pulled out of their storage bag (for this picture)...so they are looking a little smooshed.

Here's a brief how to -

1. For the spider’s bodies, we either wrapped and sewed black shiny fabric around Styrofoam balls or used different sizes of black fuzzy pom poms.
2. For the spider’s legs, we just sewed/secured different sizes and widths of pipe cleaners on the bottom of the body section and bent them to look like spider’s legs.
3. We then added a length of fishing line to each spider, by looping and knotting the line through the top or back of each spider’s body. By attaching the fishing line in different spots on your spiders, some will hang a little askew. We also used several different lengths of line, so the spiders would vary in heights.  I think both of these add interest.
4. We used a pierced earring wires & knotted the top of the fishing line to the notched area of the earring wire. Your spiders are done.

To hang –

1. Open each wire earring clasp and gently feed the straight end of it through one of the corrugated loops of the soffit. Our loops are tiny, so there are times I have to pull my little bag of patience out while I'm attaching these buggers. You may also run into one or two of these loops that does not go all the way through, just move on to a different loop. Once the wire has poked through, close the wire clasp and let the spider hang. The pierced earring wires are so fine that you don't even notice them. 
2. Adjust any spider legs that may have been smooshed while in storage.
3. Depending on the lengths of the hanging spiders, make sure you don’t hang them too close together, since they will get tangled when the wind blow them around.

Close up of our soffit.

Blessings, Tracy

Halloween Witch's Broom

We made this Witch's Broom many years ago. It is a really easy project and we love how it adds to the "Halloween vibe" of our front porch .

In this picture, the straw area of the broom photographed darker than it is.

See additional pictures below.

Here's a brief how to -

1. Find (or buy) an "old style" straw broom. Sand handle to remove clear varnish.
2. We taped off the metal collar between handle and straw section of our broom. We thought this collar was interesting, so we decided to leave it unpainted.
3. Spray paint the broom handle black. Wait for it to dry completely.
4. Use painter's tape to mask off your broom's handle with whatever pattern you like; we went with a wide swirl pattern. Before spraying, make sure the front edges of your tape are sealed, to prevent paint leakage. Also, remember to cover the collar and straw sections of your broom, to protect from any orange over spray. Spray handle with orange paint. Remove tape and let dry completely.
5. Once dry, mask off handle and collar of your broom to protect from over spray. Paint straw section of broom with black spray paint.
6. While paint is still wet, sprinkle glitter on the straw portion until you feel it looks right. We used mainly gold glitter & complimented it with a light coating of silver and iridescent glitters. I highly recommend adding the iridescent glitter, since it gives the broom a "magical" glimmer in different lights and at different angles (note the purple shimmers in the picture below). Let dry completely.

7. To finish, I added two plastic spiders to the handle with a small dab of tacky poster putty.

Here it is on our front porch!
Again, dark in the photograph.

This broom is really quite beautiful in person. The kids go crazy over it, being that it reminds them of "Harry Potter". This was not our intention when we made it, but it is nice to see that kids still beieve in "magic"!

Blessings, Tracy

I am linking this post to the DIY Show and Tell Halloween Surprise Party.