So for some off-the-wall reason, our Munchkin's favorite Halloween decoration by far is the spiderwebs with the spiders. But she's completely grossed out by them and freaked out by the ones that look a little too real.
We came up with this fun variation of a paper mache craft to satisfy her need for spider decorations here at home. We also used colorful spiders to keep her from getting too creeped out but you can use any kind of spiders you want!
what you need:
* balloon blown up (not with helium) to a size you're comfortable with
* yarn (enough to wrap around the balloon several times)
* flour
* water
* fake spiders
* glue (glue sticks work best because it's already sticky. just scrape some off for the spiders)
what you do:
* Mix together the flour and water to make a paste. It should be a mix of goopy and runny. If it's too goopy it won't dry correctly and if it's too runny it won't hold its shape once it does dry.
* put the whole strand of yarn into the paste mixture (depending on how long your yarn is, you may want to cut it into sections) then wrap around the balloon in several criss-cross type patterns. After you're done, hang the balloon to dry (you'll want to put some sort of newspaper or drip pan underneath to catch any excess paste). Drying time depends on how much yarn you've used. Ours took about 4 hours (and a blow-dryer) but it's always easier to say dry over night.
* Once dry, pop the balloon (it works well to cut a small hole in the balloon near the knot so the air comes out semi-slowly; if it's not completely dry, popping it too fast will make the shape fall apart). Discard the balloon. You should be left with your awesome Spider Orb!
*Glue the spiders to the web and hang the orb to creep out your friends and family with a fun home-made decoration! You can also attach a spider to a string and hang it from the web for a fun effect!
