For Halloween I needed a lot of spiders! But the price to buy them was way to high. We planned on turning one of the trees in our front yard into a huge spider home. We needed spiders of different sizes and a lot of them to make this look right. I came up with this idea to make realistic (at night) looking spiders that were budget friendly. Have fun making these.

Step 1: The Supplies

Styrofoam balls of different sizes. You can also use pear shaped ones for the body. You will need 2 for each spider, 1 large for body and 1 smaller for the head. For these pics I used 1-1/2” for the head and 2-1/2 for body. For larger spiders, use best judgment for the difference between head and body.
Chenille stems for the legs
White Glue
Toothpicks
Fishing line
Large needle
Small washers or beads
Monster mud- 1 part latex paint 4 parts sheetrock walling mud
Bamboo skewers
Piece of foam to hold spiders as they dry
Red puff paint or googly eyes
Black, red or whatever colors you want, acrylic paint
Brushes for mudding and painting
Scissors

Step 2: Making the Bodies

Push a toothpick into the larger ball. Put a dab of glue on the end of the toothpick and push the smaller ball on until it is snug against the large ball. Let dry.
Note: for really large spiders there are large chenille stems available in black and other colors that will make large legs. I recommend getting the 1-1/2” Styrofoam balls to use as joints for the legs when you put them together.

Step 3: Getting Ready to Coat With Monster Mud

Cover your work space with plastic or paper, as you can see from the pics working with monster mud can be quite messy. Push bamboo skewers into a large enough piece of foam to hold about 6 spiders at a time. Push the spiders on to the bamboo skewers to hold. 3. Cover spider with monster mud. Make sure you cover the foam completely but you don't have to fill in the holes. Let dry. The spiders will look like they have fur.

Step 4: Painting the Spiders

Paint spiders using acrylic paint. Let dry. I used a #8 flat brush as it was on the stiff side. Use a back and forth motion when painting the spiders as this keeps the furry look intact. Try to get paint into as many of the holes as you can but its not necessary to be perfect. Let dry. I only put on one coat of paint but you can do as many coats as you want to achieve the look you want. While my spiders were all black, you can make your spiders look as real as you want by adding stripes, hourglasses etc. You can also use UV paint to add a glow under black lights. Point of caution: even though you have covered your spiders with monster mud it is not advisable to use spray paint to paint your spiders. Normal spray paint eats styrofoam and will destroy all of your hard work.

Step 5: Adding the Eyes and Legs

Paint or glue on eyes. I used red puff paint for a 3 D effect. Cut 4 chenille stems in half. Fold each stem piece in half, then open up. Coat one tip of chenille with glue, push one end into the body. If necessary, use a toothpick to poke holes along the sides of the body to push the legs in. Let dry. If necessary do touch up painting.

Step 6: Hanging the Spiders

Tie fishing line on to a washer or small bead. Thread the line onto the needle and push up through the spider body and pull through until the washer/bead is just about to the body. Add some glue to the washer/bead and pull thread until washer/bead is snug against the body. Let dry and paint the washer/bead black. Let dry completely. Hang or wire spiders to your spider home, add spider egg sacks and food cocoons. Add additional spider webs. Sit back and enjoy the screaming as guests see your spiders hehehe.
Note: you can forgo the line and use the chenille legs to attach spiders to the spider webs