I’m so excited to show you how to make this easy DIY Halloween spider wreath!
Yup – it’s finally time to reveal the Halloween themed wreath I started making in August! I have been meaning to make one of these yarn wreaths – with my DIY Christmas spiders – for years, but kept forgetting until the day before Halloween. Not this year! This year I was really on top of things.
Supplies:
- Foam wreath (or use a pool noodle, like I did)
- Yarn
- Thread (to match yarn)
- Glue
- Beaded spiders (see my Christmas spider tutorial)
- Two screws (for hanging)
- Wire (for hanging)
- Ribbon (optional – for hanging)
How to Make This DIY Halloween Spider Wreath:
After I made my orange and black beaded spiders (using this tutorial of mine) and turned a pool noodle into a wreath (it’s still holding strong!) I was ready. I glued the end of a piece of yarn to anchor it.
Then I started wrapping the yarn around my wreath form. Oh boy. No one seems to mention in their yarn wreath tutorials what a boring and never-ending task making a yarn wreath is. In the beginning, I hated wrapping the yarn so much I almost abandoned the idea again. I persevered (mostly because I’d already shared my pool noodle and plans), and spread it out over about a week of re-runs of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. An excellent choice because a) I loved (and still love) that show and b) the campy-scary plot lines were perfectly themed.
But yeah, I think it took about seven hours to wrap this darn thing. I am sure there are a million ways to do this, but I wrapped the yarn firmly, with gaps, and then when I had a few rows done, I simply pushed the yarn over. It sped up the process instead of perfectly lining up each one individually.
When I was done, I tied off the yarn in the back. To attach the spiders, I ran some white thread through one end of the eye pin and tied it tightly, with the knot at the back. I wanted them to dangle a bit, like they’re crawling around. You could also use a dab of glue and affix them by their bodies, but this way they can be removed if I ever want to re-work this DIY Halloween spider wreath.
I used the same thread to dangle a spider in the middle.
To hang the wreath, I originally just wrapped a piece of black ribbon around the wreath:
But then Hubby came up with this genius idea: he twisted in two screws (with a touch of glue on the ends) and then once the glue dried overnight, he wrapped picture hanging wire around the screw, fashioning a little loop. We hung the loop on a screw already in our front door and it’s completely hidden.
I only did one layer of yarn and, in certain light, the orange of the pool noodle seems to make the cream a bit orangey. It works for my orange, black and white colour scheme but for other noodle-users, I recommend a darker yarn or double wrapping the yarn to hide the pool noodle. If you’re using a wreath form, which is typically white, it wouldn’t show for this project but it might pop up from under dark yarn – just an FYI.
Ta da! I just how this DIY Halloween spider wreath turned out. It’s simple and pretty, but still a teeny bit creepy for Halloween.
For the first time, I’m thrilled with our condo-issued orange front door! It really works for Halloween front door decor. You can, of course, use any colors for your DIY beaded spiders but I chose classic Halloween colors. Here are some creepy crawly close ups:
My neighbor tells me that her little girl loves this wreath and she always wants to come over to touch, examine, and pet each spider. I’m totally cool with that because it really makes me smile that this brings her so much joy. If it didn’t take a billion hours to wrap the yarn, I’d make her a wreath too!
What do you think of this DIY Halloween spider wreath? Do you think you’d make one?
wow…really pretty! i made spiders this weekend too but nothing as elegant as these!
Thanks!!Ooo, you made spiders too? Did you blog about them?? I am behind on my blog reading, I am going to pop over to yours and check 🙂
Nagyon jól néz ki, és a leírás is szórakoztató 🙂
Hát, köszönöm szépen!
This is great! Glad you perservered and got to share the results 🙂
Thanks! Haha, once I blogged about starting, I felt more motivated to finish. Thanks for helping me stay committed by reading along, lol!
So delicate and beautiful, Tanya!
Thanks Julia! I was going for something kind of subtle (so the condo won't notice when I leave it up waaaay past Halloween), so I'm pretty happy with the results.
This is fantastic!
Aww, you're so sweet! Thanks 😀
So cute! I love Halloween stuff that isn't gory, and this totally fits the bill.
I'm not really into the gore, either. I'm actually not normally into Halloween (it smells weird – the decorations, the makeup, the kids in polyester costumes) but I like the spiders. So this is really just another excuse to make and use them. Next up: a spider themed Easter wreath, lol!
I love this wreath. The spiders are totally glam!
Thanks Carol. They are pretty sparkly when the sun catches them. No wonder my little mini neighbor was enticed!
I absolutely LOVE this wreath!! I had a spider theme to our front door last year and made magnetic black spiders for the door and a picture frame with a web in it. I loooove the look of these spiders. I'm seriously considering making one now even though I've done the yarn wrapped wreath before and it truly is dreadfully boring! haha Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Christine! Your front door decor from last year sounds so pretty! I love silhouettes and that sounds silhouette-y to me. Some people make many of these wreaths, so maybe we quickly forget how dreadful they are to make? The result is worth it, I think. I hope you make one and share photos 😀
Mi adore! What a gorgeous wreath! Those spiders are so pretty! Perhaps you'd consider selling some in your Etsy shop? ;-)Do you have a hook in your door that stays there all the time? I've been loving the look of wreaths lately but I'm a little afraid of what the hook damage will look like.
Thanks Mari! I am going to be selling some in the Etsy shop next year – for Christmas (what they are meant for) and maybe groups of them for Halloween. I didn't get my butt in gear to make more this year (my Grandma sells them for me at craft shows and they always sell out, so I'd have to make extra). And now the shop is closed 🙁 But when I get back home I'll start making them again for sale. Thanks for the vote of confidence!There is a nail in the door (so classy) the former owners installed and painted over. So I do have a wreath hung up all year round. Normally I have a wintery one up that I leave all through the summer because I have not yet made a summery one. You can kind of see it in this post:http://dans-le-townhouse.blogspot.hu/2012/09/reader-q-our-television-solution.htmlThere are some thin, metal over-the-door hooks for wreaths that might work for you. But as long as a wreath is always up, the hook or nail isn't really a problem.
Thanks for your reply! I think I'm going to take the plunge and do it. We are repainting the door this weekend so it's glossier and I'll have to add a hook or nail!Man, I love the tv mount in that post! No wires = so perfectly streamlined.I'll be looking forward to your Autumn/Christmas spiders!
I say go for it. You can always fill and touch up, especially if your painting the door and have some extra paint. But you'll have to make a zillion wreaths because you know you're going to want to switch them up 🙂 Share photos?? I'm such a snoop, huh?I love a life with invisible wires . . .
So cute – and those spiders are really beautiful. I just hung up my first wreath at our house. When we lived in the condo, I would make a wreath for every season, but got lazy when we moved…and the laziness continues, because I bought mine 50% off at the craft store, ha! I've always wanted a feather wreath, and on sale it was cheaper than buying all the supplies. It's dark brown, orange, yellow and blue feathers – well they all look brown but when the light hits them the other colors pop out (if that makes sense). I just used some of those 3M sticky strips to apply it to the door since I had a major fail with an over the door hanger (front door wouldn't shut, oops). PS – I LOVE HALLOWEEN. I think we finally found something we don't have in common, t. (Is the apocalypse coming? Oh, right, not until December).
Oh my gosh. We have something NOT in common?? You know, it's good though. Life with us could get super boring with us constantly exclaiming "Oh really?? ME TOO!" Ha ha ha. Given that you are so wicked, I'm not surprised you heart Halloween. Do you have an awesome costume planned???
I was going to do full-on medieval Robin Hood/Maid Marion costumes this year (I consider them the original Katniss & Peeta, ha!) – but once I started researching English long bows, I thought maybe I was going a bit too far and decided on a nice dinner out for our anniversary (sans costume) instead. I used to do custom design for theater, so I can get kind of crazy in that department… although I do still want an English long bow… my neighbors with a rooster are SO lucky I don't have a bow set… yet.
Wow, that does sound pretty intense. A dinner with the over worked Hubs will be so nice! Happy anniversary!!You can always do the bow for another special occasion, lol. Roosters? Oh boy. That made me laugh.
Your spiders always enchant me: so elegant. I love the one hanging in the center of the wreath. Will you offer any of these when your Etsy shop opens back up?
I promise I will!! For Christmas and Halloween!! And I'll give blog readers a head's up so they get first dibs, plus a sweet blog friend discount.P.S. Thanks for the compliment. It's making me smile you think they are elegant 🙂
Love the spider wreath and I want to make one too now however my eyes opened wide at the beautiful lace framed on your wall. Lovely!
Thank you!!The embroidery was made by a relative in Hungary. I think it took almost a year to make (by hand) and it was a wedding present. It just arrived in the mail, a total surprise. I couldn't bear to stain it or ruin it on the table, so I had it professionally mounted on grey silk and framed. It cost about $300 which hurt, a little, but the embroidery is priceless so I feel good it is protected. Plus the grey with white frame made it look really modern. I think a similar effect could be had with a large store bought frame and thrifted embroidery.
Oh I love it- it turned out well. I make christmas spiders too but yours are so much nicer. I love the eyebally-looking beads on the yellow & centre spider. Where did you find those lovely beads? Now I'm going to go on the hunt for more beads (that I don't really need) so I can make some yellow and orange spiders for halloween.nice work!
I am sure yours are GORGEOUS! We can be so critical of our own work. I know I am.I look for vintage necklaces when yard saling that I salvage cool beads from. The ones you like are from such a necklace. I like that it makes them a bit more special. I recommend checking out some thrift stores or even estate sale. Happy (bead) hunting!!
LOVE this idea! I actually think I might try it, but I'll do black and white stripes!
Oooo, that would look so cool!! I had SO much white yarn, I figured I should use it up. But stripes would look awesome, I totally agree. Good luck and share when you're done 🙂
Your spiders are so cool and realistic, I found myself scratching!!
Great idea using screws and wire for hanging wreaths.