Saturday, October 2, 2010

Spider Egg Sack Tutorial


These are super easy and inexpensive to make. Also fast (like 10-15 mins) I originally got this idea from the same 2003 Martha Stewart Magazine as my spider porch below (which apparently is the cover of this years magazine) so if you want more details just check it out while you wait in line at Walmart! :)
What you will need:
*plastic grocery sacks
*quilt batting
*white knee highs (or old white nylons)
*large and small plastic spiders
*hot glue
*tape
*fishing line or thread

Let me explain a few of the supplies - Martha suggested using a styrofoam egg- I figured why waste my money on them when I can make my own out of plastic grocery sacks and a little tape!
Also, get your knee highs at Walmart (you get 2 for 25 cents) and for the small spiders, if you can't find them or they are too pricey, just cut the legs and butt off the bigger ones. (that's what I did) Also, if you can only find the rings, that's okay, just cut the ring part off
Now for the how to:
Take 1-2 grocery bags (I used two) and wad them up and tape them into an oblong egg shape. Masking tape works the best - I just couldn't find mine.

Then take your batting and peal off a thin layer. The thinner the better, you don't want it as bulky as this one in my picture.

Wrap it around your sacks with a "tail" at the top. (Mine doesn't really do that, I was in a hurry to get some pics for this post and was just kinda faking it!) You can trim off some excess so it is a nice taper. Hot glue together just enough to hold it in place.


Now just cover it with the baby spiders. I like to do a lot at the bottom and thin them out towards the top (like it's bursting with the weight of them at the bottom - ewwww!)


You might need a helper for this part. Open your nylon nice and wide like you would when you put them on, and slowly pull it over the bottom of your batting ball all the way to the top. Go slow so your spider legs don't snag and run your nylon.



I add a few little bits of batting at the top to fill it out a bit and make the nice taper to about 2 inches from the top.
Now glue on your mommy spiders (and a few babies if you want) to the outside. Again cluster them pretty thick (climbing all over each other) at the bottom and have a few stragglers towards the top. (I couldn't find my bag of bigger spiders when I did this so just pretend!)


Now just tie some fishing line or doubled up thread to the top and tie it off tight. You can now hang them! The more you make the better the screams! :D


Some hanging tips. I have a metal sheeting ceiling on my porch that has a seam (you have to look closely to find it) about every 18". I use a bent paper clip as a little hook and slide it under the seam and it holds. I also hook them over the staples that hold up the ceiling. You could also use tape, or if you don't have a metal ceiling, nails or thumb tacks. I also thought of using those strong magnetic hooks but mine wasn't magnetic. Just some thoughts.

Hope you and your little trick-or-treaters enjoy these as much as we do! Mine are 5 years old and still going strong!
For more pictures of how to display these go to my ARACHNOPHOBIA PORCH post HERE


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22 comments:

Miranda said...

Thanks for the tutorial Maria, even I can handle a project like this! Love Ya!

Unknown said...

This is so cute and super scary, of course. I would like to share this post with my readers. I'm sharing a bunch of Halloween ideas right now.

. said...

I'm so glad to see this!! My daughter made these last year in Girl Scouts...but they only used like 1 or 2 spider inside and for the life of me I couldn't figure out what it was supposed to be.

Unfortunately, she wasn't so sure about it either so we just threw them away the other day. We could have improved upon them. :(

Jennifer Leigh said...

I love this idea...it's so creepy and so disgusting. I'll have to try this.

Megan Gunyan said...

Oooh...it's making me shudder just looking at those! It's sad I had to clean something similar (but on a much smaller scale) off my porch this week! I hope you can check out my blog for a fun giveaway! http://alittleknickknack.blogspot.com/2010/10/felt-headband-giveaway.html

the cape on the corner said...

oh my goodness, how icky...but how awesome! this is truly a unique idea, and i love it!

www.thecapeonthecorner.blogspot.com

Unknown said...

that is seriously creepy looking. It might give my two year old nightmares... ok, and me too. I am passing this idea on to my mom, who LOVES this kind of stuff! :)

Army Wife Quilter said...

way I mean way creepy. Happy halloween

Unknown said...

This would be perfect to scare away all the kids on Halloween night. Totally spooky! I highlighted this tonight at somedaycrafts.blogspot.com.

Courtney said...

I made one of these, and it's hanging from the curtain rod in my living room. My 5 year old boy screamed a little when he saw it. So... goal accomplished!! He's a little more okay with it since I gave him some of the left over spider rings. ;)

Anonymous said...

Excellent stuff! Can you follow my blog? That'd be swell..don't really know how to do this...trying to raise funds for a medical procedure in the states...by trying to promote my spooky stuff...check me out please! Any hints would be swell...thanks!

Tia said...

so creepy i love it. It totally gives me the willies!!

Unknown said...

I never thought I'd be calling something so gross, cute, but IT IS! (notlamecrochet.blogspot)

Lucydesignsart.com said...

soooo creepy and I LOVE it!!

Unknown said...

I absolutely love this decoration. It's perfect! Thanks!

Peggy said...

I don't recall seeing this in Martha- thanks for posting- it's so gross!

Unknown said...

This is so disgusting... I LOVE IT!

You are a genius. thanks for sharing it. I saw something like it for sale and didn't think of making it! good on you!

Laura at Ms. Smartie Pants said...

I saw these in the magazine. Such a cool idea!

Lei said...

Awesome idea. Truly creepy!!!

Katie said...

Ahhh! LOVE your egg sacks way more than mine! I think I'll need to make these for next year... maybe do an outdoor web next year! I'm your newest follower and I'm hoping you'll swing by SewWoodsy.blogspot.com for my first ever link party today! This would be a fantastic project to link up!

Lorena said...

LOvE your tutorial, very informative, and by far the best spider sacks I have seen on the net as of yet.

Thanks for sharing, I'm so doing this!!

Lorena
www.ScrappingCorner.ca

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