30 October 2011

Paper Mache Spider


My series of Halloween posts wouldn't be complete without a Craft Project. 
Below, find out how you too can make this adorable Paper Mache Spider




I love the assorted bags because you get the
weirdest most random sized/shaped balloons


Plenty of colours to choose from


Seeing as we are make a spider, I thought a black balloon would be fitting


Blown up and tied


Ready for the paper mache


Paper Mache Ingredients: Flour, Water and Salt


1/2 cup flour (I used a mixture of Whole Wheat
 Pastry Flour and Tapioca Starch) and 1 teaspoon salt


Mix dry ingredients before adding in 1 cup of lukewarm water


Pouring water from my venti Starbucks cup


Blend together 


Using sheets of old newspaper, tear pages into long strips


Sorry Lady Gaga...


Dip strands of newspaper into the paper
 mache mixture, fully coating each strip


Begin covering the balloon by layering the wet newspaper


Continue layering the strips until the entire surface of the balloon is covered


Tip: Make sure to mix the flour/water/salt really well to avoid clumps like mine


Once fully covered, let it sit overnight to dry (Depending
 on how damp the paper is, it may take 2 days to fully dry)


You will find out a little later the reason I left a small opening at the top


Fully dried out


Ready for painting




6-pack of paints: Red, Yellow, Green, Black, White and Blue


With a free brush!


Black paint


Warning: This black paint is deceiving because...


There is nothing black about it! 


Why the hell is this paint BLUE?


But I made the best of it and continued painting...


After 2 coats of black blue paint


The top of the balloon actually began expanding and breaking through 
the paper mache because it was drying in the sunlight "It's ALIVE!!!"


Time to pop the balloon with a sewing needle


I don't know about all of you, but I still wince each time I have
 to pop a balloon... it's not a fear, just an irrational hesitation ;)


POP!


Looking inside


Poor balloon :(


Now that the hardest part is over and we have the shell of the spider's
body, I cut out 2 large circles from an old white gift box to use as "eyes"


Hot Glue Gun: A crafter's weapon of choice 


Armed and loaded


"Whites" of the eyes glued on


Time to draw in the "pupils" with a black Sharpie fine point marker


"Dough eyes"


Isn't Henry a cute looking spider?


Yes, I named him Henry :)


I was scratching my head trying to figure out what I could use as
arms and legs for my spider, until I found these at the Dollar Store




The blue ones work perfectly


I bent the ends slightly to form a right angle, that way
 they would be easier to glue onto the sides of the spider


Bent a total of 8 pipe cleaners, 4 for each side


Used my glue gun again to stick them on each 
side, holding for 30 seconds to completely dry


Finished product!


Tomorrow you will see why I left that hole at the top of his
 head. Bonus points to anyone who guesses the right answer!

11 comments:

Haley @ Health Freak College Girl said... [reply]

this is too cute!! definitely need to try it out :)

Jolene - EverydayFoodie said... [reply]

I guess you are going to fill it with candy and you'll have a pinatta :-)

Very cute spider!

Living, Learning, Eating said... [reply]

Pinata? Candy?

Living, Learning, Eating said... [reply]

This is kind of random, but do you know if it's possible to export a wordpress blog to blogger?

Anonymous said... [reply]

This is adorable!
I'm guessing that you'll fill it with candy and let trick-or-treaters reach in to grab their treat?

Anonymous said... [reply]

That's cute! Actually, without legs it reminds me of something else. There are those inflatable eggplants that are being hung in grocery stores (and not only) around Japan which are very cute but I still don't know their purpose. Now you know that you can make a paper mache eggplant too :) .

I hope it's not a pinata because it is too cute to destroy. hair maybe?

Lauren said... [reply]

That is amazing! Hahah I love it :)

Alex@Spoonful of Sugar Free said... [reply]

Happy Halloween, Kelsey! And too cute spider! I use the exact same method to make pinatas! Not that you would want to bust this little guy open....

Kris | iheartwellness.com said... [reply]

You are so cute!! Lol, I love your blue spider ;) What a fun idea!! Crafts are something I love, but rarely do right now....

xxoo

Stephanie said... [reply]

Very cute! I love papier mache. But mine always seems to collapse, for some reason.

shredding Austin said... [reply]

This is a very cute paper mache spider! A lot of children will surely enjoy this one especially during Halloween. The materials are readily available such newspaper or even shredded paper strips. Thanks for sharing the tutorial.

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