Halloween 2016 Continued

Halloween is my favorite holiday for decorating. Last year, I went for a low budget spooky witch house to compliment the exterior of my pre-renovation house. Considering that we opened up the front porch, ripped out the massive driveway, painted everything, and got new landscaping, the yard trash look of 2015 was not going to work this year.

J lovingly (possibly under duress) agreed to help make the spider of my dreams. Yes, my dreams. I worded the request very carefully because J prefers to call a project good enough way before it is perfect. While my spider did make his debut October 2, Hurricane Matthew sent him back into hiding. Now he is back and better than ever.

My pallet signs from last year fit with the theme. The spider web is made from landscaping burlap, sewed into tubes, stitched in place, and spray painted white. I also used two cans of glitter spray paint and it was pretty worthless. I may get out there with some glitter mixed with mod podge this weekend. Glitter is always appropriate for Halloween.

We followed this guide for making the spider, with some modifications. For one, we bent the pvc legs with a heat gun rather than cutting and using angled fittings. Our body and head have an interior frame of wood dowels and tension wire and are covered in weed barrier landscaping fabric. We also had to drill holes and use pins to hold the legs in place. The spider guide was meant for a spider that stays on the ground rather than being hoisted onto a roof with a pulley. Our eyes are made from a styrofoam ball cut in half, painted with silver glitter, then covered with silver sequins. That task was as painstaking and boring as you might imagine.

I am already thinking about what to add next year - possibly some smaller (and less labor intensive) companion spiders and more webbing stretched out across the rest of the facade. J is just happy to have weekends free of spider manufacturing.