Spooky Spider Pal - Tutorial with Photos

It is almost time for Tricks and Treats again.  Many children are eagerly trying on their costumes and getting read to go house to house asking for candy.

Since the special night is still a week away, some little ghouls and goblins might be getting a little restless.

You can keep them busy by doing a few cute Halloween crafts.

This Spooky Spider Pal is one craft that than take a few minutes between now and the Spooktacular Halloween Night away.

This cute spider craft is done with things most kid crafters already have on hand.  With a Pom-Pom body, and pipecleaner legs it coudln't be easier to make.

And really, look at that cute little underbite.  Those crazy wiggly eyes.  Those adorable beaded knees!

Are you ready to make a Spooky Spider Pal of your very own?  Here is how you can make this Halloween Craft with the kids (or a grown up kid at heart)

SUPPLIES

• Black Pom-poms (2 to 3 inches in size)
• Black Pipe Cleaners (4)
• Googly Eyes (colored ones like these are extra fun)
• White scrap paper (you can also use felt)
• Pony beads (16)
• Glue

INSTRUCTIONS

1. I sketched some fangs on the white paper (I used  a junk mail envelope) then cut them out.  I got my helper (my 5 year old son) to glue the wiggle eyes and paper fangs onto one large pom-pom.  Then set it aside to dry.

My son wanted to make this spider so badly
I could hardly keep him away long enough to take the supply photo.

Here is the spider face he made.
Our Spooky Spider Pal has an underbite.

2.  Take 4 black pipe cleaners (also known as chenille stems) and fold them in half to find their centers.  Then open them back up.  Lay them down, crossing each other at their centers, then twist them together for security.  It will look something like this:

3.  Fold each leg in toward the center.  Where these bends are will be the KNEES of the spider.  Unfold them a little and slide a pony bead up to each knee joint.  (You can secure the beads with glue if you wish.)

4.  Fold a small portion of the tip of the leg outward (away from the center of the body).  I bent them out approximately the distance between the tip and first knuckle of my pointer finger.  Slide the remaining pony beads up to each bend.  These are the spiders FEET.

Now, turn it right side up (feet side down) and it should look something like this:

5.  Take your glue and put a generous amount on the center of the spiders body (where all the legs meet).  Take your head that you had set aside earlier and mush it down into the glue.

Once it dries you have your Spooky Spider Pal.

Now, put it on a leash and take it walking with you on Halloween!

Flower Prints From a Gelli Plate

 

Today was a rainy day in my world.  Early in the morning a thunder storm rolled in.

I sat down in front of youtube feeling rather uninspired, and started watching craft videos.  Then, in the playlist, one by The Frugral Crafter popped up and she was making floral prints with her gelli plate.

I have an 8"x10" gelli plate and I love to use it, but rarely pull it out.  I don't know why.

A Gelli Plate is a permanent mono-printing tool.  It is a squishy plasticy material that you smear paint on, then press paint on, and it makes a LOVELY print.  The best part is that even if you do the exact same thing a second time, you're print is not going to be exactly the same.  That is the joy of mono-printing.  One of a kind prints with every pull.

In the video I watched today she made a painting of a daffodil using her gelli plate and made it look so easy that I wanted to try myself.

The flower I used first was an iris.

In the video the technique was to start with the background first, then add the image one layer of paint at a time, starting from the back and working forward.

Lindsay made it look super easy in her video.  Mine did not come out as "realistic" as her, but I do enjoy the results.

This was my iris.

 

And I liked the iris so much I decided to try my hand at the daffodil too.  In fact, I was inspired to do a triptych.  Three related prints.  I was going to do a daffodil then a rose.

Here is my daffodil.

 I didn't like the results of my daffodil as much as I did my iris.  I didn't do the rose because I had to stop and feed my son.  I might save my rose print for another rainy day.

If you want to try your hand at making flower prints from a Gelli Plate, then I suggest you watch the video below.  It is the one that inspired me.

What do you think of my flowers? Which one do you like best?

Feel free to let me know in the comments.

If you REALLY like them, PLEASE share them on Pinterest or any other social media so other people can like them too.

Hanging Post-it Note Memo Board

It is back to school time, and students are looking for cute, fun and functional locker and dorm room decor.

This DIY Memo Board fits the description.  Not only is it simple to make, it is as unique as the person using it, and can be made to hang over a doorknob, or to hang inside of a locker door.

SUPPLIES

lightweight wood plaque
post it notes
acrylic paint and brushes
ribbon (or magnets)
glue
stickers and ephemera for decorating

STEP 1

Paint your plaque

To make my memo board I used a lasercut plaque I got on clearance at Michael's.

But really, any lightweight wood plaque would work.  You can even get a pack of 6 wooden plaques and make one for all of your friends!

I painted the center of my plaque with Folk Art Sunny Yellow paint.  I painted the fancy edges with Dazzling Metallics Peacock Pearl.

I used washi tape to mask the edges I already painted while I put the paint on the center.

OPTIONAL: If you don't want to paint your plaque you can decorate it using colorful patterned scrapbook paper instead!

STEP 2

Decorate your plaque.

This is the fun part, and you're not limited on how you decorate it.  You can use stickers, ephemera, or even more paint like I did.

I used a stencil (I think it was a recollections one from Michael's) to paint blue polka dots on the yellow background.

The only thing to keep in mind while decorating is that you must leave room for your post its somewhere on the board.

STEP 3

Attach your ribbon.

If your plaque has a fancy edge like mine does, you can tie the ribbon on with a pretty bow.

If it is a plain plaque then you can use hot glue or tacky glue to tack the ends of the ribbons to the back. (I actually used this method on mine.)  If the plaque is thick enough you could also keep the ribbon in place with a thumbtack or staple.

OPTIONAL: If you don't want to hang your memo board with a ribbon you can use these ceramic magnets.  Just glue them to the back and you can stick your board to the fridge or inside of a school locker!

STEP 4

Put on your post-it notes and proudly display.

You'll notice my post-its are star shaped.  Post-it notes have come a LONG way from sticky yellow squares. Click here to check out a few of the shapes available!

HINT: Don't try to stick a whole pad of Post-its to the board at once.  Post-its are not THAT sticky.  Just stick up a few pages at time and refill as needed.

What do you think of my memo board?  Will you try making one of your own?  If you do I would LOVE to see the results!