Projects: Giant Spider
OK, let's say this up front. Spiders, of ANY size, scare the crap out of me. But what scares me must scare others so I figured I had to have a giant spider in my haunt. My brother came to the rescue one day with the mysterious words "I've got a little something for you in the car." What he had was the most enormous inflatable spider I had ever seen!! This thing is huge - bigger than my car as you'll see from the photos below. I'm making a sort of hood for it out of fake fur that I can attach eyes (automotive reflectors) and fangs from. I'll detail more of the process as I go along. I just can't WAIT to unveil this Halloween night!
Click on any of the thumbnails below to view the full-size image in a pop-up window.
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In the spirit of getting my entire family involved I had my Mum sew the various pieces of fake fur together to make a "hood" for the spider. This wasn't that easy given the bulk of the material but it turned out great. THANKS MUM!
I wanted to test fit the straps on the "hood" so I set it up in the backyard. Again I was struck with just how big this thing is. Wow! Anyhow, I got the straps measured and will sew on Velcro for easy assembly/take-down. I had the idea to elevate it a bit rather than have it sitting on the ground - the kid-sized picnic table was just right. Of course on Halloween night it will be covered by a black tarp. The fangs are a vinyl boat bumper cut in half and filled with Great Stuff foam insulation.
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Here are some shots of the spider on Halloween night. I only got 5 of the 8 eyes sewn on but it didn't matter - it really freaked people out! I had a fog machine going from behind and a strobe light going off into the fog - gave the spider a really creepy look. Next year I'll try and add motion.
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