DIY Papier-Mâché Spider Halloween Decoration

DIY Papier-Mâché Spider Decoration

These creepy crawlers up the spooky factor in just about any living space.

Published on September 29, 2021

night crawlers spider wall decor — Photo: Frank Frances

The very scary spiders climbed up (and down) the living-room wall. For these eight-legged invaders' bodies, we inflated two different-size balloons and covered them in papier-mâché, then glued the parts together and spray-painted them black. For legs, eight lengths of floral wire, bent and wrapped with paper tape at the joints, were sprayed black and poked into holes in the body. We kept our arachnids monotone, cut holes in the abdomens, and mounted them with Command hooks. But you can up the fear factor by painting on the red markings of black widows, or suspending them in a dark corner or hallway. Gotcha!

Created by Naomi Demañana

What You'll Need

Materials

2 balloons (one larger for body, other smaller for head)
Newspaper
Bowl
Whisk
1 cup flour
1 cup water
2 tablespoons kosher salt
Dowel or broom handle and string
Hot glue gun
Black spray paint
Thick paper floral-wire stems, 16 inches long (Dried Decor Bendable Wire Stems 16")
Paper tape
Command hook (optional) (Command Medium Sized Designer Hooks in White)

Instructions

Blow up balloons. Tear newspaper into strips about three inches wide.
In bowl, whisk together flour and water until they form a thick, glue-like liquid. (If it feels too thick, keep adding a little water at a time). Add salt—to prevent mold—and whisk one more time.
Dip newspaper strips into mixture, squeeze off excess, and paste onto a balloon. Repeat with more newspaper strips, covering each balloon in two layers.
Set dowel between two chairs; set more newspaper underneath (to catch drips). Tie string to each paper-covered balloon and then to dowel, so it can hang. Let hang until paper dries (about a day).
Pop each balloon with a pin, and pull balloons out of papier-mâché structures through holes where knots were. Glue large and small papier-mâché pieces together where holes are to create spider body. Spray-paint black.
Bend a piece of floral wire slightly at eight inches and again at six. Wrap bends in wire with tape to look like leg joints. Repeat seven times to make remaining legs.
Use knitting needle or knife to poke holes in body for legs. Add a little hot glue in each hole and stick a leg in.
To hang, stick a Command hook on wall, poke a hole in underside of spider, and suspend