H is for Holidays: Spooky Spider Halloween Wreath
This is a sponsored post. Oriental Trading provided me with these products for review. All opinions are 100% my own. Find my full disclosure here.
Eek! October is just around the corner! Who else is excited about Halloween? I just love Halloween and all the festivities that go along with it – the decorations, the costumes, the candy, the parties. It is all just so much fun! To get in the Halloween spirit this year, I have been working on an amazingly spooky spider Halloween wreath. Boy, are you in for a fun project with this one. Are you ready? Let’s make a Spooky Spider Halloween wreath. Here we go:
Supplies
An 18-inch wreath form – I used a straw craft wreath from my local craft store
2.5 inch wide wire edged ribbon – 6-8 yards depending on the thickness of the wreath
2 bags (144 ct) of 2 inch plastic Jumping Spiders from Oriental Trading
Hot glue gun and plenty of glue sticks
A large bow or additional wire edged ribbon to make a bow
Instructions
Remove your wreath form from the packaging and cut off any tags.
Using the hot glue gun, secure one end of the wire edged ribbon to the back of the wreath. Begin wrapping the ribbon around the wreath pulling it snug and not allowing for much overlap. I added additional hot glue to the back of the wreath on every other wrap to help keep the ribbon in place. Continue wrapping until you have wrapped the entire wreath. Secure the loose end of the ribbon to the back of the wreath with hot glue. I chose orange ribbon with a black edge, but you can use whatever kind of ribbon you have or like. I decided to wrap my wreath with ribbon for a few reasons: 1) I thought it would be easier to glue the spiders to the ribbon than directly to the straw, 2) I wanted to add some color to the background of the wreath in case glimpses of the wreath were visible through the spiders, and 3) The ribbon helped to contain the mess of a straw wreath that tends to shed.
Once you have your wreath wrapped with ribbon, it is time for the fun part! Sort your jumping spiders into three containers by color. I involved both of my girls in this task and they loved it. Not only did mama get some craft time, but we incorporated some learning about colors and sorting into our day as well. Bonus!
Begin by gluing black spiders in a circle around the face of the wreath. Watch your fingers – it is easy to get hot glue on them if you are not careful. Ouch! Play around with how you arrange your spiders. Do you want them to all face the same direction? Or would you rather create a random pattern? I went with a random pattern and have no regrets.
Continue working in circles until your entire wreath is covered in black spiders. Don’t forget to make a ring around the top and the inside edge too. I hung my wreath on the wall throughout the process to make sure I was getting good coverage and that the wreath would still lay flat against the wall.
Next, it is time to add the orange and purple spiders. I again chose a random pattern focusing on placing the spiders over gaps in the black spiders. These fun pops of color are really what make this wreath come to life. With a little time and patience and a whole lot of hot glue, you will soon have yourself your very own spooky spider Halloween wreath.
For the finishing touches, I spent a few minutes pulling off any large chunks of dried glue. I didn’t worry too much about the fine strings of glue as they created a perfect spider web effect. How appropriate for this project, right? Finally, I studied the wreath to decide what should be the top of the wreath and where I wanted to add the bow. My husband thought it was absurd that I was planning to add a bow of all things to a wreath covered in spiders, but I told him not to question my creative genius. Ha! Once the bow was tied on, my spooky spider Halloween wreath was ready to be displayed.
Didn’t this wreath turn out great? It is the perfect balance of spooky and colorful. The jumping spiders from Oriental Trading were absolutely perfect for this project. If you have never visited the Oriental Trading site, you are missing out on a great resource for all your party and holiday needs. From toys and games to party decorations and tableware to costumes and crafts, Oriental Trading has something for everyone! Check out their amazing Halloween Headquarters for all things Halloween. Still undecided about a great costume for this year? Oriental Trading has you covered there too with a great selection of Halloween Costumes for everyone from babies to adults to couples to pets. Lastly, if you need some additional inspiration this Halloween, Oriental Trading has a dedicated Halloween page full of recipes, coloring pages, pumpkin carving ideas, crafts and more. Find it at http://www.freefunhalloween.com/. Be sure to check out all these great resources!
I hope you have as much fun making your own spooky spider Halloween wreath as I did! It really came together pretty quickly once I got going on it. You could certainly involve the whole family in this project for some crafting fun. I will say that my girls were a bit distraught that I was gluing all these fun jumping spiders to my wreath, but I am happy to report that we still had some left over for some good clean jumping spider fun. Happy crafting, my friends! Wishing you and your family a safe and fun Halloween season this year!
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