Spooky Tree with Glittered Spiders

Sometimes it's fun to be a little scared! My little 3yr old loves to have me tell her sad and scary stories.  Halloween is a good time to have a little fright in your life, especially while knowing that you are safe and loved.

Today we made a "Spooky Tree", and it was great fun!  I got the idea in the most unlikely place.  My Grandma "Dee" has a dear friend named Mary, an Amish lady from Charm, OH.  Most Amish homes are quite stark, but Mary belongs to a more lenient church that allows her to decorate her house a little bit - not that she decorates for Halloween!  The tall leafless branches were striking against the white wall of Mary's living room, and I knew I'd have to find some bare branches for my fall centerpiece for my dining room table.

We wandered out to the side yard and found a couple dead limbs.  They are about three feet long; I was looking for drama!  I spray painted them black, then silver and added a few shots of earthy green.

After the branches were dry, we dropped a few black river rocks in the bottom of a clear glass vase. We ppositioned the branches, and filled the vase with more rocks.  The rocks have a nice shiny luster and are heavy enough to anchor the big branches in place.  

Now for the really spooky part!  Everything creepy is spooky when you're three - or even when you're 33 - so we added SPIDERS - little plastic spider rings made faux faberge fabulous with a little glitter! 

Take a little glue and dilute it with a few drops of water.  Hold by the ring and brush the glue all over the plastic spider. Hold the spider over or in a bowl and shake with glitter to coat.  We used silver and gold, but black or purple would be really fun too! 

While the spiders are drying, start to pull some fake spider webbing into long thin strands.  Most people use far more webbing than is needed.  The trick to making it look real, or not so fake, is to really stretch and pull it, using very, very little.  Hang the strands on the tree, from branch to branch.




Adelae counting spider legs while they dry

 Once dry, cut off the ring portion of your glittered plastic spiders. Strategically place your spiders on, or dangling from, the webbing.  I love that without any adhesive these little fancy spider friends just hang from their webs!

Dramatic, fun, cheap, easy, and just the right amount of spooky - what's not to like!?