Halloween Craft: Cuddly Spiders made from Pom Poms

Help! We've been over-run by these furry eight-legged critters! They seem to favor the house plants but I've found them in the laundry basket, on my bed and even in the fridge! My son loves to hide them around the place to try to "make you jump", as he puts it, and sometimes it works!

Truth be told, I'm not a fan of spiders normally, but these ones make me just want to reach out and hug. Continuing on the theme of quick Halloween crafts they are easy to make, use few materials and are inexpensive. Here's the how to for...

HALLOWEEN POM POM SPIDERS

1 small cardboard box

A cutting compass (or something to cut a circle with)

Scissors

Yarn

4 Pipe Cleaners

Googly stick on eyes (with adhesive backs)

Ok, so first you need to create the spider's body. This is made from a pom pom. Here's how you make one...

Take the box and cut two circles (exactly the same size) out of the cardboard panels. I made mine 8cm in diameter, but the size is really up to you. The larger the diameter, the bigger the spider will be.

I used a cutting compass to cut them out but, if you don't have one, you could just cut a rough circle out with scissors. It does not have to be perfect.

Take your two circles and cut another circle inside of each one. I made this one have a diameter of 3 cm.

You should end up with two doughnut shaped pieces of cardboard (see pic on left).

Hold these two circles of cardboard back to back. Now you can begin with the yarn.



The idea is to wind the yarn around the cardboard circles until the whole thing is covered.

Hold one end of the yarn against the cardboard and then wind the other end through the middle of the circle, then out around the outside and back in through the middle.

Make sure you are pulling the yarn taunt so it lies tightly flat on the cardboard (without crushing it).

If your yarn runs out before you cover the whole circle, simply use another piece and continue to wrap it around. You don't have to worry about trying to tie it to the first piece of yarn. Just wrap it.


A little trick to make things easier is (when you start) to roll up a little ball of the yarn (small enough to fit through the center of the circle) and work with that instead of a long, long piece of yarn.

When you're finished it should look like this (below):

Take your scissor and snip a little hole into the edge of the circle, along the circumference.

Gently ease the scissors BETWEEN the two cardboard circles inside and continue to cut all the way along the circumference with the scissors, until you have opened up the circle. Be sure to hold the yarn while you cut to make sure it doesn't fall through the center of your circle.

Now take another single long length of the yarn (approx 15cm). Open the cardboard circles up slowly and tie this new piece of yarn around the bundle, in the middle of the two cardboard circles. Tie it up very tight and double knot it. This piece of yarn will hold everything together. Do not cut it as it will come in use later.

Ease the two cardboard circles off and you should be left with a pom pom! It may need a little rolling around in your hands to make it even, but hopefully it should end up looking like this (see below):

Set this aside for the moment because it's time to work on some crazy spider legs!

Grab your pipe cleaners (I chose these stripey ones to add a little fun to the design). Lay one pipe cleaner down horizontally. Then put the other three pipe cleaners across it vertically, positioning them in the middle. Fold the horizontal pipe cleaner over so that it crosses the vertical ones wrapping and holding them in place. Now fold over each of the other pipe cleaners so that they wrap in the middle too. You should be left with something like this (below):

Bend the pipe cleaners so that you make knee joints for the spiders legs and ankle joints for his feet.

Turn this leg base upside down and tie your pom pom (with the loose long yarn that is still attached to your pom pom) onto the spider legs. Wrap the long length of yarn around the middle of the leg base and tie it off underneath.

Turn it the right way up, add some googly eyes and hey presto!... a cuddly creepy crawly!

You can either cut the long length of yarn so that the spider is free-standing, or wrap it over the top of spider's head and knot it again tightly around the center, leaving the yarn hanging from his head. This way he can be hung up from his web.

Just a couple of safety tips...

Due to the number of small parts (googly eyes, bits of yarn and spiky pipe cleaner legs) I would not recommend this project for very young children who could potentially put these items in their mouths. Also, the wire ends of the pipe cleaner can be pretty sharp, so be sure to either turn those under or, if you have them, add beads to the end of the feet. Remember play safe, and keep it fun.

I plan to try to make a few more of these cute buggies before Halloween is up. I want to try some different colors and also maybe figure out some other creepy crawly shapes. I think three small pom poms held together with some more pipe cleaner legs could make a cool centipede.

If you try this one out yourself please let me know. Would love to see what you come up with.

More Halloween craft coming soon.

Jackie

My Submarine To The Future

Quick Halloween Crafts

So much for me getting the jump on Halloween!   It's only a couple of weekends away now and I'm only just getting my spooky craft on.   This is what happens when life decides to intervene on one's best made  plans. 

The good news is that the time crunch has inspired me to simplify.   For the past week I've been keeping my eyes open for "easy" craft projects that can be done fast, with minimum materials.   In my next few posts I will be sharing them with you.   So let's get this ghost ride on the road with this first spooktacular idea (ok, I promise, I'll stop with the ghost gags now)...

Spider Web Plate

I stumbled upon this craft project when the family and I hit up the Kidspace Childrens Museum's 16th Annual Pumpkin Festival, in Pasadena, California, last weekend.  I've got to say, their pumpkin festival is one of the best, especially for young kids.  

 

Aside from all the games, ghost-themed bouncy houses, rides and (of course!) pumpkins on offer, they also had a variety of free crafts available too!  My son was totally hooked by this very simple "build your own spider web" project that they were doing.   Here's what you'll need....

A paper plate (black or orange)

A piece of string

A toy spider.  

Scissors

(Yep, that's all!)

Take your paper plate and cut several slits (with the scissors) about an inch into the edge of the plate, all the way around (see below)

 

  Now take your string and add one very determined child

Encourage your child to weave the string between the slots, across the paper plate.   Once your child is happy that they have finished constructing their web then just add the creepy spider!

This craft idea would be great to do at a Halloween party with small kids.  Or, if you construct the web yourself, it could even be a cute, inexpensive, decoration to add to the Halloween decor.   

If you're intrigued by the Kidspace Pumpkin Festival and are sad you missed it, you could try out their  Halloween event on the 31st October.

Halloween at Kidspace will be open from 10am to 4pm on the 31st.  Check out the link for more details.  I haven't been to the event myself but would love to know what it's like.

More creepy crawlies coming your way soon!

Jackie 

My Submarine To The Future

My Very Social Submarine To The Future

You may have noticed a couple of new additions to the tab bar at the top of the My Submarine To The Future blog....

Oh yes!  I'm pleased to announce that My Submarine To The Future has (finally) become part of the social network!!!

My Submarine To The Future now has it's own Facebook Page and Twitter account (called "FutureSub") so please do check those out if you're partial to a bit of tweeting, or Facebooking (note to self: better start learning the techno jargon the kids are using these days). 

Both Twitter and Facebook will update you on what is posted here, on My Sub blog, but ALSO you'll find other tips,  info and updates on projects and articles I think are interesting that won't find here.

Check them out and see what you think.

Jackie
My Submarine To The Future

Make A Homemade Book Of Your Kid's Artwork

In my last post I wrote about 7 Things To Do With Your Kids Artwork. One of those ideas was to create a homemade book. Here's the how-to....

You'll need:

2 pieces of stiff cardboard
2 large sheets of paper

Ribbon or String (4 pieces each approx. 23 inches long)

Something to cut with (Scissors/Paper Cutter/Cutting knife)

Hole punch (or something to pierce holes)

Paint (or other materials to decorate)

Masking tape

Pencil

Glue

First thing we'll work on is the cover of the book. Take your two pieces of cardboard (I used the lid off a large, sturdy cardboard box) and cut them so that they are the same size. These will be the front and back covers of your book. Be sure that the cardboard you use is large enough to hold your child's artwork that will be going inside of it. Set these aside.

Now, we're going to get to work decorating! Take two large pieces of paper and gussy them up any way you want. These will be used to cover the back and front sides of the cardboard covers.

We used red and yellow paint for ours, but you can use whatever colors or materials you like (e.g. markers, stickers, pencils, crayons etc.)

Check out this hand print design we opted for. I figured when we look back on the book in many years we'll have those tiny outlines of our son's hands to remind us of how small he was when he made the artwork in the book. Also it's a great way to get him involved in the creation of the art book.

I wanted something a little different for the inside of the book cover so for the second sheet of paper I used a roller with red and yellow paint and painted straight (ish!) lines to decorate it (see below).

Once the paint had dried, I cut each of these large sheets of decorated paper so that I had 2 pieces of each design that were the same size as my cardboard covers (e.g. 2 sheets of the hand print design and 2 sheets of the roller paint design). I used a paper cutter but you could use scissors, or a cutting knife with a metal ruler. Do this one away from the kiddiwinks for safety.

Take one sheet of each of your decorated papers and use the glue to paste them to the front and back of each one of the cardboard panels.

Each of your cardboard panels should look like this once finished (below).... both covered front and back with each design of paper.

After the glue dries take the masking tape (or any other tape you have that works with your design) and wrap it around all the sides of each page, reinforcing the edges of the book cover.

...and that's it for decorating the cover pages!

Now we can get to work on making this look more like a book. We need to bind it. Measure out and mark 4 holes with your pencil, evenly spaced, along one side of one of the cover pages. These hole marks should be about one inch in from the edge. These will be the holes where you will bind your book with your string/ribbon. Using a pair of scissors, or a hole punch, pierce 4 small holes through the marks you made.

Now, take the second cover page and put it underneath the first cover page (that has the holes) - LINE THEM UP EXACTLY. Put the pencil through each of the holes in the first page and make 4 marks on the cover page underneath it. Take off the top cover page and punch holes through the marks on the bottom cover page.

Now you need to make holes in your child's artwork too, so that you can bind it. Take your child's artwork and position it between the cover pages. Line it up with the binding edge (i.e. the edge with holes in it).

Mark each piece of artwork with punch holes the same way you did the cover sheet (i.e. use your pencil through the holes in the cover sheet to mark out where the holes in the artwork should go ). Punch them through.

Eventually you should have several pieces of your child's work with holes alongside one edge that line up with the holes in the cover sheets. Now you're ready for binding!

Take your ribbon (or string) and cut 4 pieces, roughly 23 inches in length. I keep the ribbon pretty long so that I can add more artwork to the book, as and when it arrives.

Thread each length of ribbon through the first cover page, then through all the artwork enclosed and finally out through the last cover page. Tie it into a bow on the spine of the book.

Be sure not to tie the book too tight - you want to be able to open the book and turn the pages fully without it constricting, or damaging, the artwork enclosed.

The book and pages should be able to lie flat when open.

And there we have it!

Your fully bound Homemade Book Of Your Kid's Artwork!

As a finishing touch I added a small picture of a single hand print on the front of our book, with a sticker of the number 3 (my son's age when he made the artwork enclosed). You can personalize your book with your child's name, or give the book a title, or theme. The options are limitless!

Let me know if you try this one out. Would love to see your homemade art books!

Happy Ventures!

Jackie

7 Things To Do With Kid's Artwork

By the end of most weeks I usually find myself buried in a pile of kid's artwork which can end up getting crumpled, torn and kicked about if I don't find a home for it pretty swiftly. Since my son started school there is even more artwork to worry about, as a steady stream of painted paper now flows into our house on a regular basis.

I realized that I wasn't the only momma managing this mountain of montage after reading a recent posting on a discussion board that I follow. Oh, but what to do with it all?

Check out this list of 7 Things To Do With Kid's Artwork for ideas....

1. Create an Art Wall
Give your child their very own wall in your house and hang up their/your favorite pieces of artwork. Your child will feel proud that their efforts are prominently displayed and you'll get an interesting feature for your wall!

There are, of course, different ways of doing this. I simply mount the artwork on inexpensive construction paper, using double-sided sticky tape, then I can switch out the pictures from time to time for variety. You can get very creative though, with a little imagination. Check out this Curtain Rod idea or this Rotating Art Display both seen on Ohdeedoh.

2. The Fridge Door
A classic. Can't go wrong with this one. Couple of magnets and you've got yourself an easy way to brighten up the kitchen.

3. Photo Books

With so much technology at our fingertips these days, it's easy to create a fancy customized photo book of your child's artwork all online. Simply photograph the artwork, download it on to one of the many sites offering "create your own photo book"options (e.g. Kodakgallery, Shutterfly, Snapfish) Then get busy making your own album of your child's artwork. These photo books can be a little pricey for printing and shipping but the results can be well worth the expense. Consider making a book yearly.

4. Art Cards

Use your child's artwork to make cards for birthdays, get well cards, postcards, holiday cards, gift tags and wrapping paper, etc. The recipient gets a one-of-a-kind, handmade keepsake. Your child experiences sharing their work and also gets a kick out of mailing it too!

5. Go Online

I'm back with that newfangled technology again! How about creating a private blog for your child's artwork? Photograph your child's artwork and then post it up on to one of the many blog sites available. This way you can store everything online. If privacy is a concern be sure to set the settings of your blog account so that only you and your family members can view it. The nice thing about this way of storage is that the capacity is limitless and, as long as you are willing to keep downloading photos onto your site, you can just keep adding to it.

6. Divide and Share

This is an idea I have written about before...a shared gift of artwork. Divide one of your child's paintings into pieces (ideally 4) and frame each piece. Send a letter along with each framed picture to four of your closest family members explaining that the painting enclosed is part of a set, only given to a chosen few, and that together they make up one larger entity Each piece is unique in it's own way but belongs to a greater whole (like your family and it's members). This idea becomes very special if the painting you use is unique in some way too... like your child's first painting for example.

7. Homemade Art book

Compile all of your child's original artwork pieces and then bind them together to make a Homemade Art Book. Decorate it yourself and add details to remind you of how old your child was when they made the images enclosed. As your child creates more work you can open the binding and add new work to the book.

My son did a hand print design on his book so that, when we look back on it in a few years, we will be able to see how small his hands were when he painted the pictures. We also added his age to the book and if you have more than one child you will want to include their name too.

Watch out for my next post which will be a how-to-tutorial showing you exactly how you can make your very own Homemade Art Book.

Happy Ventures

Jackie

My Submarine To The Future