CRAFT: Pipe Cleaner Spiders

Spiders have taken over our yard on this first full day of fall.

OK, so maybe that’s not what you were expecting to see there, but after our visit to the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County last Saturday, T got inspired at the Spider Pavilion exhibit and the good crafters at The Squirrel King to weave his own web of spider-ful fun.

T crafting the inspirational spider at The Squirrel King’s craft booth at NHMLA.

While we didn’t have all the super-cutesy supplies on hand that The Squirrel King folks did, I managed to dig up a pack of crafting pipe cleaners (ooh, sparkly ones!) and… regular cotton balls. Nope, didn’t have any of the fuzz-free, craft-specific pom-poms in a ton of awesome colors, but T didn’t let that stop him.

I also thought up a way to make the spiders without any glue at all. I did find a bag of googly eyes, but T didn’t care much to finish the homemade ones with eyes like he did the one at the museum’s craft station. Sweet! Glue-free crafts… Are. The. Best. Oh, I mean, I totally would have helped him glue eyes on if he’d wanted to, but I was thankful to skip this step after a long day out at the museum (thanks, T!).

So want to make your own spiders? Here’s how to get started.

Supplies:
Craft pipe cleaners
Cotton balls or crafting pom-poms (about 1/2-inch sized)
Googly eyes (various sizes) (optional)
Glue (optional)

Instructions:
1. Gather four pipe cleaners, either all the same color or mixed.

2. Take one large cotton ball, or two small ones, and wrap the pipe cleaners around the cotton by folding at the center and twisting a few times to secure it. The “fur” of the pipe cleaners really helps to grab the cotton, so much so don’t be surprised if you wind up with a lot of “hairy”-legged spiders.

3. Bend the pipe cleaners into leg forms. Depending if you are having them stand up or hang, bend them accordingly. Really, you can pretty much do whatever you want here. Just don’t twist too much back and forth or the wires could break.