Spider Decorations for a Creepy, Crawly Halloween

First and foremost, let's talk about themeing. There are all kinds of wonderful spider props you can use to turn your front yard into a gauntlet of giant spider nastiness.

My favorites are from Rubies, which makes a variety of sizes of fuzzy, flexible spiders that look real enough to make people cringe as they approach, and big enough to be intimidating in the near dark outside your door.

Rubies has spiders as big as 30" and 50" across, each with flexible legs so you can pose them just so. They stand on their own legs and in a stiff breeze with sway eerily. Placed in a string web (see below), they can cling to the web, and with a tug on a hidden string will bob menacingly. Rubies makes smaller ones, but the big ones are just downright scary. Excellent!

Making a web out of string is cheap and easy, and gives you something to anchor fake spiders to while looking fairly accurate and interesting. You can also make a lot of them and put them wherever you like.

First start with simple white string. Most supermarkets and local hardware stores have it. You can build a circular web, or a fan-shaped web. Both are going to give you a cool effect, especially when you add some spiders.

Circular Webs

Cut enough string to make the size circle you want. Tie, glue or otherwise attach the ends together so you have a closed loop. Next, lay the loop on the ground in a general circle and cut rays that will extend beyond the end of the loop and will cross through the center of the web. Tie each ray to the loop as it crosses it, and tie each ray together at the center. Once you have at least 6-8 rays going through the loop, build some smaller inner loops, tying them to the rays as you go around the circle. Leave the inner rings a little slack so that they will droop when you hang the web. You can attach the web to a wall, where you may need to pin the ends of the rays and key points of the web so it will drape properly, or hang it so it stands in mid-air, letting key parts droop to get that characteristic spider web look. Attach fake spiders.

Here's Another Way to Make A Circular Web

Fan-shaped Webs

These are even easier to make: Find a central point you want the web to start from, and tie several long strands together. Attach this tied bundle to a point where the knot won't be seen (like from an anchor point inside a 2nd story window). Fan the long strands to the ground, or other surfaces like furniture, and attach the strands as best as possible. Outside in the yard, thin, round metal stakes work well and are nearly invisible. Once the long strands are fanned out, attach cross strands, providing enough slack so that the strand bows from support to support. This will make it look like a Spider-Man-esque wrist shot. Add cross strands in regular intervals, tying them to the down strands until you have a good looking web.

Note: You will want to attach the cross strands while the long strands are on the ground - doing it on a ladder is a pain, so stretch out your long strands and weave the cross strands in from the floor. Hang , stretch out and stake or tie down. Attach fake spiders.

Finishing Touches

Every drugstore, supermarket and prop shop has those bags of cotton webbing. Tear fine strands of the webbing from the mass and drape over the spider web to give the strands and sections in between a spectral feel that will move ominously in any breeze.

Voila, you have big webs for your big spiders, and it won't cost you much to do it!

No spider decorations are complete without some unfortunate slobs to get caught in their devious traps. There are lots of ways to accomplish this, many of which are cheap or almost free.

You can create a full body victim, or just enough parts to show that your industrious spiders are packing away snacks for later.

You can even drop some props in the vicinity to show that the spiders are eating trick-or-treaters, pizza guys, your favorite sports rivals, etc.

Almost Free! - Make a Clothing and Paper Dummy

If you have some old clothes and some newspaper, you can make a clothing and paper dummy. Get a long sleeved shirt, some jeans/slacks and some shoes. Roll up sections of newspaper into arm and leg sized tubes, and stuff them gently with more crumpled up newspaper. This will fill out the sleeves and legs of the clothing. Fill the chest cavity of the shirt with more slightly crumpled paper. This will look like a decent body when in your dark yard, behind a string web, and surrounded by menacing giant spiders. Wrap and drape in more bagged webbing, cover in little plastic or rubber spiders and there you are, a poor stiff.

Fairly Inexpensive - Web Bundles

You can buy a variety of rubber body parts and foam bones. Create a string pouch just like you did for the string webs. Take strands of string and loop them so the ends meet at the top. Do this as many times as necessary to make a fair sized pouch that will hold your body parts. Spread bagged webbing around the outside of the pouch to hold everything in and make a save-a-snack pouch for your spiders. Hang it from convenient spots like the roof line and lamp posts. Rubber heads in these pouches are especially effective, or if you are so talented, maybe paper-mache heads as a cheaper alternative. The ghastlier the face the better.

Here's a Detailed How-To For More Ambitious Victim-Makers

If you have a particularly well done spider house, you can dress as victims, draped in webs and spiders, or you can show your guests and trick-or-treaters that they bend their knees (do spiders have knees?) to your will.

There is a wide variety of spider-themed jewelry, props and accouterments that can turn you into the spider queen. Match them with a slinky black dress and black wig with spiders crawling through it, and you're good to go.