DIY Spooky Pipe-cleaner Spiders

Witches, warlocks, skeletons and specters all form the tapestry that it is Hallowe'en. But the deft and nimble spider is the artist that weaves her silken web that holds the fabric together. She works away in silence, skillfully stitching her threads to create her Hallowe'en masterpiece.

Muhahahaha!!!

…..sorry I may have gone a little bit overboard there.

In this Instructable I will show you:

1. How to construct a spider using pipe cleaners and a polystyrene ball.
2. How to effectively join pipe-cleaners together.
3. Multiple ways to decorate polystyrene balls

Right lets us begin!

You will need:

1. Pipe cleaners: mine are 30cm/12" long. I used a total of 20 pipe-cleaners.
2. Polystyrene Ball: mine are 5cm/2" in diameter
3. A Ruler or Measuring Tape
4. A Drill Bit: I am using a 4.5mm steel drill bit
5. Hand Drill (very optional)

Optional extras for decoration:

1. Black Paint
2. PVA Glue
3. Gold Flakes
4. Googly Eyes
5. Thumbtacks
6. Paintbrushes

You can decorate your spider a multitude of different ways. I will be using an undecorated polystyrene ball throughout this Instructable so it is easier for you guys to see. You can choose to decorate yours before or after completing your spider. I will outline some decoration tips in Steps 18-20.

To bore a hole in your polystyrene ball all you will need is something pointy! For this I am using a 4.5mm steel drill bit.

Optionally you can use a mini hand drill to help you bore the hole (pic 3). Just place your drill bit in the hand drill and twist it tight. On a side note I think this drill bit might be the largest my hand drill can handle as once I placed it in, I could not get it back out...…. Oh well, I guess that's a future me problem.

1. Using the line on your ball as a guide (pic 4), line up your drill bit and start twisting.
2. Keeping your drill bit as straight as possible continue to twist until you bore completely through your ball.
3. Twist back out your drill bit and ta da! a perfect hole.
4. This ball will be the body of your spider.

I did try using an apple corer for this step and the sheer carnage was enough to turn me off. Polystyrene everywhere!. This is why I highly recommend a drill bit, minimum mess (see pic 8 for proof).

I did this part by eye but you can easily use something like a tube to wrap your pipe cleaner around if you so wish. The important thing is the size of your loop is smaller than your polystyrene ball. My loop measures 3.5cm in diameter.

1. Grab your first pipe cleaner and start to bend it in half, stopping when it looks like pic 2.
2. Crisscross each end creating a loop at the top.
3. Tightly twist the two ends around each other to secure your loop (Notes pic 4)
4. Twist a few more times until you are happy that your loop is nice and secure, I twisted mine a total of 5 times.

It is time to combine the work we have done so far.

1. Straighten out your pipecleaners as best you can.
2. Keeping both ends together push them straight through the hole in the polystyrene.

Look! It looks like a small man.

In this step I will show you how to effectively twist two pipe-cleaners together. This will also be our first introduction to The Magic White Pipe-cleaner.

The Magic White Pipe-cleaner is well admittedly just a regular pipe-cleaner...… BUT it is far easier to see in the pictures. So for you the reader I will switch to white whenever I am trying to explain something that would ordinarily be hard to see in black. You at home stick to your chosen color. Now watch as The Magic White Pipe-cleaner disappears after I complete each step.

1. Grabbing your new pipe-cleaner (pipe-cleaner 2) place it on top of your first pipe-cleaner (pipe-cleaner 1)
2. Fold pipe-cleaner 1 backwards onto itself.
3. Repeat with pipe-cleaner 2.
4. Straighten both pipe-cleaners so that they are now aligned (Pic 4).
5. Twist tightly where the two pipe-cleaners meet.
6. Repeat the same on the other side.

And there you have it, the little man has now turned into a very tall looking man (Pic 6).

Once again I will be using The Magic White Pipe-cleaner to show you the way!

1. Take your newly added pipe-cleaner and weave it through the loop.
2. Using the same pipe-cleaner go through the loop a second time to secure your pipe-cleaner in place.
3. Repeat on the other side.
4. Join a new pipe-cleaner to each end.
5. Your project should now look similar to pic 5.

The legs of your spider can be as long or as short as you like, it all depends what kind of look you are going for. I will be making my spiders first legs 15cm/6" long.

1. Using your ruler measure out 25cm/6" on your pipe-cleaner.
2. Bend your pipe-cleaner at this measurement.
3. Loop back through the middle loop.
4. Repeat on the other side.
5. Join a new pipe-cleaner to each end.

For this step we are repeating exactly as we did in step 6.

1. Repeat step 6.
2. Join a new pipe-cleaner to each end.

This step is basically step 6 & 7 again except this time we are making the legs 1 inch shorter.

1. Using your ruler measure out 12.5cm/5".
2. Bend your pipe-cleaner at this measurement.
3. Loop back through the middle loop.
4. Repeat on the other side.
5. Join a new pipe-cleaner to each end.
6. Repeat again to make another set of shorter legs (Make sure to join a new pipe-cleaner each end!)
7. You should now have 4 legs on each side (pic 4)

The Magic White Pipe-cleaner Returns

1. Loop your pipe-cleaner tightly through the middle loop.
2. Do this twice more to really secure the legs.
3. Repeat on the other side.
4. Join a new pipe-cleaner.

Yes I know more legs. But trust the process, all will be revealed!

1. Make another set of shorter legs(12.5cm/5") repeating on the other side.
2. Join a new pipe-cleaner.
3. Make yet another set of shorter legs.
4. You know the drill. Repeat on the other side and join a new pipe-cleaner to each side.
5. You should now have 6 legs on each side.

Now back to the long legs.

1. Make another set of long legs (15cm/6"), repeat on the other side.
2. Join a new pipe-cleaner.
3. Make another set of long legs.
4. Join a new pipe-cleaner.
5. You should now have 8 legs on each side.

Fear not, I promise you from here on out there are no more legs. Do not cut off the access pipe-cleaners, we will need them later.

Now to address the elephant in the room. I know what you're thinking. I can hear you questioning: "Why does my spider have 16 legs?!?" & "The last time I checked spiders only have eight legs!"

To which I will pose the question to you:

When was the last time you actually checked? Go on, go check, I'll wait.....

Are you back? OK, yes you are right, spiders DO only have eight legs. In my defense I did tell you to trust the process.

We are now going to group our legs together into sets of two. The purpose of grouping the pipe-cleaners like this makes for thicker legs and a more sturdier spider!

1. Taking your first 2 long legs, bend them back so they are very close together. This is your first group!
2. Now group your next two legs together.
3. Now your next two legs.
4. And finally group your last two legs together.
5. Repeat on the other side.

See? Eight legs, I know none of you ever doubted me.

Take each group of legs and twist them tightly around each other. Your spider should now have an appropriate number of legs and look like pic 5.

Now for the fangs! You thought you saw the last of The Magic White Pipe-cleaner didn't you?

Making the fangs are pretty much the exact same as the legs only a lot shorter.

1. Attach another pipe-cleaner if you need to.
2. Measure 2.5cm/1" and bend your pipe-cleaner at this point.
3. Repeat this a second time.
4. Repeat on the opposite side
5. Weave in any pipe-cleaner lengths you have left by continually wrapping it around your loop.

Similarly as with the legs you are going to group the fangs together until you have two. Twisting them tightly together until they are nice and secure.

Bend your spiders fangs inwards to give them an organic look.

The final shape of your spider is completely up to you! I like to bend the legs this way as I think it gives the spider a nice realistic look.

1. Starting with the longer back legs, bend your first leg backwards at the 5cm/2" mark.
2. Repeat on the other side.
3. Bend your next set of shorter legs backwards the exact same way.
4. Now bend your longer front legs forward at the 5cm/2" mark.
5. Repeat with your last set of legs.

To create this look I am using black paint, PVA and some gold colored flakes. Your polystyrene might need 2 to 3 coats of paint to achieve a nice even look. I poked a small stick into my ball to make it easier to paint.

1. Add 2-3 coats of black paint.

Now to use every crafters least favorite phrase..... let it dry completely.

1. Dab on a tiny bit of glue.
2. Using a dry brush, lightly add your gold flakes.

It is very easy to push thumbtacks into your polystyrene ball to create a cool scaly effect.

You can also stick different size googly eyes on to your ball to create a very spooky (slightly disturbing?) look.

Congratulations! Now go forth and create as many spiders as your heart desires. Pin them to your walls, your ceiling or even your costumes. Let your imagination and spiders run wild!