We’re only a few days away from Halloween, and that means that kids are excited, parents are frantically trying to get everything ready, nobody has time for a big complicated craft project, and kids have hands that need to be kept busy. So I have the perfect solution for you. These spiderwebs only take minutes to make, are easy enough for kids to make, and are adorable enough to display every year. In fact, you might be tempted to put your kids to work cranking these out for every corner of your house.
Hold 8 pipecleaners tightly together in a bunch and twist their ends together. Fold that twisted end down on itself to create a tight little bundle.
Those 8 pipecleaners become the “spokes” for your web, so pull them apart and arrange them into the web shape. The little twisted up bundle you made should be the back of the web.
Twist another pipecleaner around one of the legs and bend into a gentle arc to mimic the way the silk of a spider web hangs. Twist it to the next leg, being careful not to pull the legs too close together or out of shape.
Keep twisting around each leg, creating that little arc that spans between two legs. It looks best if you vary the shapes of the arcs. Attach some a little higher on the leg, give another a little more sag, and when you finish one pipecleaner, twist another one in the same place and keep going.
You’ll create three rounds of those arcs. As you get to the top layers your pipecleaner won’t make it to the next leg, so just snip it off with wire cutters or scissors and save all those little pieces to make up the spider.
Gather up all those little bits you cut off as you were making the web and pull out four that are roughly 4 inches long for the legs, and another piece roughly three inches long that will tie the head and the body together. Take a bunch of the rest and squish them together in a tight little ball for the head. Use whatever’s left, plus a couple more pipecleaners if necessary, and wind them up together to create the body. Insert the leg pieces through the body, winding them around and through the body to get them secure. It works best if a couple of the legs are even longer than the others so they can hold the spider to the web later. Use the small piece we set aside and wind it through the top of the body and through the head, twisting it together to tie the two pieces securely together.
Use the neck piece and a couple of the legs to twist around the web and get the spider to stick onto his home.
This project is simple enough that kids can help you make it, but they also actually look good. I have these scattered all over the house, anywhere my little Halloween decorations need a little something special to finish the look. They are surprisingly effective decor for being made out of pipecleaners.
