An Art-y Halloween

White paper plates with black yarn spiderwebs and black plastic spiders on top

Make Halloween about more than just the candy with these fun Halloween crafts.

Paper Plate Spiderwebs

Paper plate spiderwebs may just bring you back to grade school days. This is an especially good project for a crowd, making it perfect for any Halloween party.

Things You'll Need:

  • Paper plates, large or small
  • Orange and/or black yarn
  • Clear tape and/or stick pins
  • Plastic spider rings

Directions:

  1. If you have multiple kids making webs, have them write their names on their plates so they’ll be able to find the right one when the party ends.
  2. Cut long strings of yarn and attach to the plate, web-style, with tape. (Pins also work, but you’ll need an adult to bend the backs in and tape down the sharp points well so no one gets a finger pricked.)
  3. When the web is formed, affix spiders to the web using tape.

Trick-or-treat Buckets

Trick-or-treat buckets are so much fun and easy to make!

An ice cream pail can easily be wrapped in felt or another material, using fabric glue to attach. Decorate with additional fabric, fabric paint or fabric markers. Options are endless: think ghosts, monster faces, mummies and jack-o-lanterns. Or use patterned fabric, then cut out solid-color letters to label with names or fun Halloween phrases (“Boo!”, “Trick-or-Treat!”, etc.). Use the plastic handle attached to the pail or replace or reinforce with a sturdy length of rope.

Trick-or-treat Bags

Trick-or-treat bags made with duct tape are hearty enough to hold huge loads of candy!

Things You'll Need:

  • Black duct tape
  • Halloween-patterned duct tape
  • Sharp scissors

Directions:

  1. Cut about seven lengths of black duct tape to twice the desired height of your bag. Lay these strips of black duct tape upside-down and side-by-side on a work surface.
  2. Cut patterned tape lengths to extend the full width of the black tape. Place sticky-side-down and side-by-side to cover all of the black tape. Lay the patterned tape perpendicular to the black tape. The solid black will become the bag’s inside and the patterned the outside.
  3. Trim all edges with scissors, then fold the rectangle in half to form the bag.
  4. Seal the side edges with additional duct tape, pressing the corners inside the bag at an angle to miter them. Pieces of duct tape fastened across the inside corners of the bag will help press the tape down and hold the bag’s shape.
  5. Attach a strip of black duct tape around the top of the bag to add contrast and hold the two shorter carrying handles. Each handle is made from two pieces of duct tape, back-to-back, which are attached to the inside of the bag.