Experiments in Art, Craft, and Food

Welcome to yet another Halloween post!  (Don’t miss any this month: Get the Feed (RSS) or Get Dabbled via Email)

This easy and fun homemade costume was the hit of last year’s Halloween carnival–I love how the arms all move!–so I insisted that my friend Holly write up instructions to share with you guys.

Materials:

Black turtleneck shirt
Black pants or sweatpants
3 pairs of long black socks
Black toboggan
4 pairs of white gloves
3 small Styrofoam balls – cut in half
Square of red felt
Square of black felt
Craft glue or a hot glue gun
A spool of invisible thread
Sewing needle
4-5 sheets of newspaper or tissue paper
1 long black pipecleaner

Instructions:

For the spider body:

For the spider legs, evenly stuff each sock with newspaper, but don’t overfill. With the invisible thread, sew the open ends of the socks into the holes of the gloves to close them off and keep the newspaper enclosed. Starting under the arms of the shirt, sew or safety pin the non-gloved end of each sock to both sides of the shirt – each leg should be about 3” to 4” apart depending on how long the shirt is. String each leg to each other using about 6” of the thread. The idea is that each time the child lifts his/her arms, the spider legs lift, too. Double-up on the thread for reinforcement by winding a big circle between each leg.

For the spider head:

Cut 6 ovals about 2” long out of the red felt and glue to the half balls [Dot's Note:  We asked why 6 eyes, not 8?  Well, he already has 2 eyes, duh!]. Cut 6 smaller triangles or block letter “Vs” out of the black felt and glue on top of the red felt. Surf the web for spider eye illustrations for inspiration. Put the hat on the child’s head and cuff the end to fit. Glue to balls about 1” apart, top to bottom starting at the top of the toboggan and taper the spacing of the balls toward the cuff of the hat so that the lined up balls resemble a “V.” One set of the eyes should probably be on the cuff. Center the pipecleaner on the cuff and weave it once — in and out of the hat. Twist the ends into antennae.

Here’s some shots of the spider in action… [Yes, that's my child with him, wearing a STOREBOUGHT Lightning McQueen costume.  Yes, I'm embarrassed, but I promise I didn't buy it!]

Hope you enjoy Holly’s tutorial for this very clever costume… and if you make your own, be sure to send pictures!
More Homemade Kids Costumes are coming tomorrow… Stay tuned!