DIY Pom Pom Spiders

I love the really scary side of Halloween, but I seem to be drawn to children’s crafts the most. These pom pom spiders are no exception – don’t let the gloomy photos fool you – they’re nothing short of adorable. The spiders are quick and easy to make, especially if you have a pom pom maker. Getting a pom pom maker changed my life. Seriously, they are so cheap, and you can wind the wool around without having to poke it through the hole in the middle of a cardboard circle. If you’ve ever made pom poms before, you’ll understand how much quicker this makes the process. You could bash out 10 of these in an evening with this handy device, no problem! I made a variety of small and large spiders; a spider family if you will. You can hang them from ceiling so they brush people’s faces as they walk past, or keep a couple as a cute little desk friend.

You will need:
Black Wool
Pom Pom Maker
Pipe Cleaners (4 per spider)
Googly Eyes
Hot Glue Gun
Black Thread

This is what the pom pom maker looks like. There are two halves to it, which connect with a metal pin. To begin, simply tie the wool around one half of the yellow circles.

For a really fluffy pom pom, wrap the wool around until you can wrap no further! Your pom pom maker should now look like above.

Push four pipe cleaners through one of the grooves in the middle of the pom pom maker. Use a sharp pair of scissors to cut the wool on each pom pom in half (along the groove in between the yellow semi-circles.) Use one long piece of wool to tie around the middle of the pom pom, so the wool and pipe cleaners are tied together.

Bend the pipe cleaners into leg shapes, use your hot glue gun to add a couple of googly eyes, and you’re done! If you wanted to make these really realistic, you could add four googly eyes instead. If you’re hanging your spiders on the ceiling, simply tie the black thread around the middle of the spider. They’re not heavy, so a couple of pieces of sellotape should hold them up just fine.

If you’re decorating for a Halloween party, you’ve made a great start already! My spiders lovingly pat me on the head as I walk through the sitting room to get to my sofa. What a brilliant way to get into the spooky festive spirit. I’ve never really been one for minimal decor – I’m a maximalist! – so I expect I’ll fill my space up with lots more creepy friends before the month is out. It’s important to have the right atmosphere for all those seasonal horror movie binges, right? At least now I’ve finished all the Ru Paul’s Drag Race episodes on Netflix (my achievement of the week) I can move onto the scary stuff.