24 Days Until Halloween: SPIDER MOVIES

This is the last time, I swear. After this, no more spider-centricity. I want to leave you with a few creepy-crawly films to watch if you're feeling spooky this weekend (*'d ones were instant-watchable on Netflix earlier this week). Spiders do not necessarily equal fantastic horror, but as I am genuinely scared of the things --- eww, eww, eww.

• Tarantula (1955)
• Earth vs. the Spider (1958)
• The Giant Spider Invasion (1975)
• Kingdom of the  Spiders (1977)
• Arachnophobia (1990)
• MST3K: Mystery of Spider Island (1999)*
• Spiders (2000)
• Spider 2: Breeding Ground (2001)*
• Arachnid (2001)*
• 8 Legged Freaks (2002)
• Arachnia (2003)
• In the Spider's Web (2007)*
• Ice Spiders (2007)
• The Mist (2007) - I don't know if outer-dimensional spiders count, but this movie gave me a lasting case of the icks.

That was all the research on Creature Features I could muster on spiders; after that I started feeling the twitch of, 'is something crawling on me?!' panic.

And keep in mind I said these were spider movies. I did not say they were all good spider movies.

25 Days Until Hallowen: SPIDER DECOR

Cobweb Candles

My own horror at spiders has been long-lived. Since childhood, I have been petrified of anything arachnid, though absolutely fascinated with anything Halloween.

In my smallish, southern town people were always split as to whether Halloween was a "Christian" thing to celebrate, and either as a result or because we all lived so far apart in the country there were very few yard haunters.

Except this one house: they had a massive spiderweb made of ropes that they kept up year round. I loved driving by there. Around Halloween more props would come out, and a massive spider would sometimes get added to the mix. I loved it, maybe in part because I was so scared of the things.

Centsational Girl's Mantel

We're almost at the close of spider-friendly posts (thank all that is good in the world), but to cap off what you might need to throw a really terrifying spider party, here are some great decor ideas for you!

• Centsational Girl's Mantel 
• Make your own Spider Picture Frame
• Insect Chandelier  - speaking of this, a little bit of fishing wire attached by hot glue to some black plast spiders would be smashing hanging down from a cobweb-covered light fixture!
• Martha Stewart Cobweb Candles
• Spider Tree Ornament
• Spider Porch from Martha Stewart 
• Spider Sentry - My personal favorite from that issue was the Spider Egg Sac. Yuck, yuck, yuck!!
• Spiderweb Tablecloth with PomPom spiders 
• Pumpkin-carved Spiders 
• Squash Carved Spiders 



Spider Egg Sac

• Musty Wreath with Spiders from Martha Stewart
• Pepper Design's Spider Webs: 6 Ways
• DIY Spider Web Plate
• Spider Cutout Garland (slide 4 of 18)
• Grandin Road Outdoor Spider with Flashing Eyes
• Foam Ball Spiders
• Spider Window Panels
• Spider Web Door Mat

26 Days Until Halloween: SPIDER DRINKS

To add to the spider menu of earlier this week:

• Make a licorice spider to garnish drinks; black rimming sugar makes it extra-creepy. Step-by-step how-to at the link. Thank you, Martha Stewart!
• Black Widow Cocktail
• A Different Black Widow CocktailSpider Punch***
• Spider Bite 
• Spider Brain Kids' Cocktail*** 
• SKYY Black WidowSpider Cider*** 
• White SpiderSpider's Kiss
• Kahlua Cobweb
• Spider's Web

No wait, this one is for real (FROG QUEEN DO NOT CLICK): Tarantula Cocktail. As in: a cocktail made with a tarantula. *shudder*


***Alcohol-free

 (more Halloween cocktails)

27 Days Until Halloween: SPIDER COSTUMES

I think the Frog Queen is totally ready for me to move off of spiders... I can't blame her. I'm not sure I can take it much longer myself! Did I mention spiders terrify me?

Since Halloween is about scary, there is nothing scarier to me than spiders. Except maybe animatronics. Or maybe animatronic spiders... Dear. Goodness. NO. That would set my Frankenstein Complex just over the edge.  (*searches the internet for less than a second and returns with this* -- oh good, my nightmares realized)

My vision for a Halloween spider costume does not involve becoming the spider. Hell no, it involves my worst nightmare of being covered head-to-toe in the things! Since I haven't actually had the guts to make one yet, I'll give you the breakdown of my some-Halloween-far-far-in-the-future plans:

• Buy little plastic spiders
• Make a wig out of chicken wire, wig base, black wig hair, and then cover it with cobwebbing. This could either be achieved with hot glue webbing or with the stuff you buy for your house, but it should look like spiders are nesting on your head. Gross. - oh sure, this part sounds easy -- but my vision of a spider-covered Marie Antoinette wig is a little grandiose to be sure)
• Glue spiders to the wig (this lady did a good job at spidering her hair - that's what I'd be going for)
• Glittery black dress or wispy white one, also covered in spiders 
• Cobweb shawl - made in black or white with cheesecloth, to contrast against the dress color choice
• Skin covered in spiders
• Dramatic makeup

But, since I'm not brave enough (nor do I have enough free time this year) to make that, here are some quick, fun spider costume ideas:

Spiderweb Mother and Spider Baby 

...Of course, you don't need a baby for the above. You could just as easily create an 8-"legged" black wrap to go around you, or wear a shirt with a spider motif.

Spider Dog

• Another Spider Costume Idea From Martha Stewart
• Spider Princess Costume
• Teal and Lime - Super Cute, fuzzy child's spider costume
• Spider web braids for a little girl
• Hahaha - spider bun hairstyle for a little girl (or for me -- I'm doing this, y'all, just as soon as I buy some googly eyes)
• Spider hat (this year target is selling spiders that would cling to your head, I'll wager -- just an fyi)
• If you are talented with drawing and liquid eyeliner - spider eye make up option 1 and option 2
• For the visionary with time to make cool things, this is great inspiration

29 Days Until Halloween: SPIDER INSPIRED FOOD

Look, I can't talk about how much this even freaks me out as a concept. So look at all the pictures and click on the links if you are a braver soul than I, but this should give you some good ideas for starting  a spider-themed food display!

I'm terrified at spiders. That might be why I thought they'd make a decent Halloween theme--truly freaking scary. Looking at these gives me the heebie-jeebies.

Coming Soon: DRINKS 


Breakfasty Foods
Spider Egg Display

Spiders instead of centipedes (picture right), and coupled with spider eggs.

Spider Eggs










Desserts
Spider Cupcakes

Spider Spun Candy *
Candy Spiders
Spider Cakes
Bat and Cobweb Cookies
No Bake Spider Cheese Cake
Red Velvet Spider Cupcakes

Party foods/Snacks/Appetizers
Spider toothpicks - While not 'food' in the strictest sense, if you insert these toothpicks in mozzarella balls you could totally bill them as spider egg sacs! How evil is that?Caramel Cobwebs and Licorice Spiders - severed with delicious chocolate and caramel or pumpkin cake, or on top of the cupcake of your choice. Delicious!

Spider Pizza Spread

Black Widow Cheese Log











Dinner/Meals
Creamy Tomato Soup with Spider Web Topping
Fajita Spider Pizza 
Spider Roll


More Spider Recipes from Kraft

Realistic Spiders

Quick! Everyone needs to stop what you are doing RIGHT NOW and make one of these for the Frog Queen.

She'll love it: trust me. :) Just don't tell her I gave you the idea, okay? And maybe leave off your return address when you send it her way...

(Thank you, Intructables.)

READY FOR HALLOWEEN DAY 4: Spider Web Garland

I love this garland. It strikes a nice balance of spooky, crafty, fun, and different. It's pretty enough for a mantel accent, but I really like that it feels like a seasonal decoration rather than year-round decor.

We've been suffering at my house this year with the fact that -- well, the skulls are up year round. How can you tell we've done anything special for Halloween? The spider web garland over at Sevin Family (inspired from the post at Mega Spooky) strikes just the right chord to me.

And (un)luckily enough, I overbought coffee filters awhile back. So making this would be almost like performing a space reclamation service for our pantry shelves!

Something Wicked This Way Comes

A sneak peek of my soon to be released rapscallion
Wicked Webster

The EHAG Emporium updates this Saturday
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Spiderweb Crochet

Someone went and did such a lovely thing; they made crochet spider webs. That beats a doily any day!

Either that or somewhere, some how a very large granny spider is spinning webs in double crochet.

Spider Web Skirt

This is so simple it's almost silly; all you need is a solid skirt (preferably black or white) and a contrasting, thick thread.

The long strands are pinned at the top of the skirt, and then each layer of the 'webbing' is pinned to the skirt to let it fall in a scalloped pattern.

Check out MarthaStewart.com for full details!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Webbed Lampshade

This looks so good; if only I had any idea what an acetate sheet was or how to use it...

Still, I think something this PERFECT requires some investigation, don't you?

Webby Lampshade

Curse you, Better Homes and Gardens, for tempting me with a project I don't fully understand!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Pretty Centerpieces

The Wicked Bride is a fascinating creature that I in no way understand - she's getting married on Halloween, but not having a Hallowedding. Huh.

I mean, I feared that would happen to me - but in the end, we're 'balancing' things.

Anyway, I first saw the picture, left, at her blog. Can I just say how cute this would be with a few black spiders and some webbing hanging off the sides? It would be terrific.

puffy paint webbitude

It never occurred to me to use puff paint for... well, really for anything. I hate the stuff. It reminds me of this terrible neighbor who babysat us sometimes when we were kids, who always wore sweat-shirts with iron-on images outlined in the crap.

Gosh but she was not my favorite person.

Still, these webs look pretty cool. And you could do them in whatever color you wanted!

I might not want to risk my non-stick baking sheet, though. I wonder if wax paper would be okay for laying them out?

Spider Web Cake Stand Wrapper

I'm finally getting around to posting a lot of cool finds sent to me ages ago by a wonderful reader.

This is particularly fantastic! I still haven't figured out what to do about a cake stand, but if it involves a pedestal, then I think this spider web wrapper is up for serious consideration.

There is so much cool to be found on the internet!

Creating That "Lived In" Look

I tend to take my own knowledge for granted. There are things I probably haven't posted here because I figure, 'hey, if I know this then surely everyone else does too!'

Today I was thinking about authentic-looking spider webs, and how easy they are to make with hot glue. You just need a hot glue gun, a hot glue pad, and whatever item you want to coat in webs. This process typically doesn't harm the item you are webbing, but it is a little bit annoying to clean up.

Martha Stewart's Halloween Magazine was the first place I encountered this process, and Scary Terry tells you how to make a web gun for use on really big projects (this is stickier and more permanent than doing a string at a time... also, if you don't want a fully-modded gun, check out the video at the bottom of this post).

1. Put glue pads around the item you are webbing
   
2. Dab some hot glue on the glue pad
3. While it's still hot and melty, stick the tip of your gun in the hot glue
4. Draw a string of glue up from the puddle and drape it across the item you are webbing -- dab the glue gun down on a glue pad to break the string
5. Continue adding glue strings until you have your desired amount of webbing

Easy-peasy, super-nice-looking webs.


Make a Spiderman Web Gun! - Watch the top videos of the week here