Easy Spider Garland DIY

This is my first year going through the holiday seasons as a mom of a more “aware” baby. Basically that means that while our 16-month-old is still not old enough to totally “get” everything we do, she’s waaay more interested and aware of things than last year at this time. So I feel like we can start to introduce some holiday moments with her, little by little. I thought I would do some Halloween decorating this year that she would appreciate, so I decided to make one of those spider garlands with some pom poms and pipe cleaners to make our fireplace mantel more festive. This post is sponsored by JOANN, and I could find everything I needed for the mantle in one trip! They had everything I needed for my project plus a lot of cute Halloween decorations (linked at the end!) to add to my mantle. The garland was super easy to make but also one of my favorite Halloween projects I’ve ever done—it’s just too cute!

Supplies:
–black pom poms (I used 2″ pom poms but they can be varying sizes)
–black pipe cleaners (4 per spider)
–hot glue gun
–small googly eyes
–bakers twine and large eye needle
–yarn for tassels

First, take two pipe cleaners and twist them together in the middle, creating an “X” shape. Fold the X in half so you have 4 legs of equal length. Repeat with two more pipe cleaners so you have two sets of legs. Next, part the furryness of your pom pom and put a large drop of hot glue near the center. Stick the twisted side of your legs into the glue and allow the glue to set. Repeat on the opposite side with your second set of legs. Next, use a small drop of glue on the back of each googly eye and attach them to your spider face. To finish, bend your legs upwards right next to the base of the pipe cleaners, then bend them back down about 1/3 of the way up the leg. Bend the last 1/2″ of each pipe cleaner back up again to create the feet and repeat on the other side.
To hang your garland, thread some baker’s twine through a large eye needle and sew through each spider’s core so they are suspended on the string (try and get them near the top of their core so they don’t flip upside down). Once all your spiders are threaded, use some hooks to hang your garland in your desired spot and make some yarn tassels to hang on each end. That’s it! As you can see, I didn’t want my spiders to be lonely on the mantel, so I added in a few other fun Halloween decor items from JOANN like those glitter spiders, sparkle trees, Edison bulb lamps, spooky house, carveable foam pumpkins, and furry owls. It was so hard to narrow down my decorations since they have so much to choose from, but I knew picking out those owls that Todd would comment on them. When I got home, he said, “I like those owls!” as soon as I put them out.  I like that there are some fun elements in this that feel like something Lola can enjoy (the house and lamps light up too!), but it still feels like a grown-up Halloween display. Hope this garland is something that you’ll have fun making this spooky season! xo. Laura

Credits // Author and Photography: Laura Gummerman. Photos edited with A Color Story Desktop.