Halloween Rock Spiders

There was a white spider climbing on my computer last week. A real one!

When I first thought about making rock spiders, I thought only of black spiders. I made black spiders and a black glitter web last year on the blog here and here and also for work. But after freaking out about the white spider, I decided to go crazy and paint the spiders white AND lots of other colors, with different kinds of eyes (you choose which ones you want to do) and glitter! I didn’t paint any patterns but you could – so many possibilities!

I realize that spiders have more sections to their bodies but this is a craft, not a science lesson (though you could add the cephalothoraxe using a second smaller stone and a stronger glue like E6000 and of course! 6 more eyes).

Materials:

Rocks

Acrylic paints (including white)

Wax paper

Brushes

Pipe Cleaners

Crafter's Pick the Ultimate Multi-Purpose Non-Toxic Water Based Glue

Options: 
Googly Eyes

Small plastic gems

Sharpie markers

Medium Sharpie paint pen

Fine Glitter

Mod Podge

I like this glue because it holds very well and is non-toxic; I also tested E6000 which worked well but is smelly (and toxic). Your choice-- but don't let the kiddos work with the E6000. And BTW- hot glue DID NOT work.

Cut 2 pipe cleaners in half.
Wrap one half section around the other three in the middle and twist in place.

Spread all the pipe cleaners out and up-- away from the center then bend them down in the middle of each leg to make the spider joint. Set aside.

Paint the rocks on a piece of wax paper. For black spiders just paint the rocks but for lighter colored spiders, they might need a white base coat and then up to 2 layers of the colored paint.

Use a skewer or a toothpick to hold the rock steady while painting the surface – (you don’t really need to paint the bottom).

Once the paint is dry, you can decide if they need glitter. Brush Mod Podge on the rocks first, then add the glitter over a little paper plate and fold the plate in half for easy return to the bottle.

To avoid having glitter run rampant around your house it’s helpful to brush the rock surface with a dry clean brush once the glitter/Mod Podge has dried to release any excess glitter. If you really need your project to be glitter tight- add layer of Mod Podge over the glitter.

Add glue to the bottom of each rock and press the center of the pipe cleaner legs in place.

Carefully add eyes- jewels or googly eyes. Wait until the glue on the rock and leg connection has set up before drawing the eyes on with a sharpie paint pen (if you go that route).

I would love to see yours when you make them.