The holidays are here! Candy hungry zombies and adorable ghosts will soon be knocking on your door. Now is the time to make sure your haunted homestead is ready to receive the shambling hordes. Deck out your doorstep in style with a cute beaded spider or create a fun handmade pendant for your newest necklace. These charming spiders are wonderful for Christmas, too. A delightful web of spider ornaments are perfect DIY decorations for the tree or around the house. This is the perfect time to gather your little ones and make homemade decorations that they will love. Learn how to make spiders with Craft Wire!
Halloween is a scream with a cute little spider companion on your newest jewelry design. Imagine a countertop full of these lovely little critters! They are so easy to make and are a great craft to share with the kids. Spend a spooky night with your grandchildren or little ones and have a fun beading adventure. These projects are so simple and every design is a one of a kind. There is no right or wrong way to finish these fun spiders.
While Americans don't typically include spiders in their canon of Christmas creatures, the arachnids are yuletide mainstays in some parts of the world, namely from Ukraine to Germany. This is largely due to the legend of the Christmas spider, a European folktale that offers a mythical backstory for tinsel on Christmas trees.
In one version of the story, it is said a widowed mother and her children were too poor to decorate their Christmas tree, so friendly spiders spun elaborate webs on the evergreen. When the family awoke on Christmas morning, they opened the curtains and the sunshine hit the webs, turning them silver and gold (sometimes said to be the origin of tinsel). The family had good fortune from then on. It's likely the legend is linked to the idea that spiders are lucky. Whatever the reason, Ukrainians decorate their Christmas trees with spider-shaped ornaments (often made of beautiful beads) to this day. Make your own good fortune beaded Christmas spiders and start the tradition in your home this year.
Beaded Spiders For Christmas Decorations and Halloween Decorations
How To Make A Beaded Spider With Soft Flex Craft Wire
Learning how to make a spider with Soft Flex Craft Wire is super easy for a designer. Spiders are also a fun project for a beginner beader or somebody that is new to wire wrapping. You do not need advanced techniques or precise skills to make your spider come alive. Every design is going to be unique and every design is going to be amazing. Any perceived flaws are just going to give your little arachnid character.
You won't need a full set of beading supplies to embark on this Halloween journey. For a simple spider, like the one in this video, you will need 20 gauge craft wire in your choice of colors. You will need a set of basic tools. And finally, you will need a mix of your favorite beads. One fun thing about these decorative spiders is that you can use beads that you love that do not fit in other designs. Pick a larger bead for each segment and smaller beads for the legs - or leave the legs bare. There is no correct way to finish your design!
It is easy to create a spider for any occasion. Halloween spiders can follow the colorway we associate with the spooky season - oranges, reds, and black. And a Christmas spider just needs a merry little mix of reds and greens. If you just love the look of these adorable spiders, make a color spectrum for any time of the year!
How To Make A Beaded Spider
You do not need to be an arachnologist to create a beaded spider. Want a crash course on their basic anatomy? First, all spiders have eight legs. Make sure you give your little critter eight legs to scamper around on. Next, you need two beads for the body segments. Spiders have a cephalothorax and an abdomen. The cephalothorax is a fused head and thorax (chest). This will be the smaller bead at the front of the spider. The abdomen is the bigger bead. This is your spider's belly. The slender waist that connects these two body parts is called the pedicel. Your pedicel can be a messy wrapped area of wire or adorned with seed beads. Finally, if you want to get creative, you can add pedipalps to the spider. But this is totally a flourish and not necessary.
There you have it! Impress your friends with your knowledge of the arachnid! Just know that your beaded spider can be designed however you like - break the rules if you want to. There is no right or wrong.
Beaded Spider Beading Party
When Sara Oehler and Kristen Fagan get together, you can expect a lot of laughs and a wave of creative energy. The two sat down with coffee, Soft Flex Craft Wire and beads and had a blast making a little holiday magic. This was was a ton of fun. We all enjoyed watching Kristen try to figure out which end of her spider was the butt and which end was the head. We watched Sara question her decision to use tiny seed beads for the legs. In the end, we saw the pair create two unique spiders. If you need a lift, this video is sure to elevate your spirits and give you some project ideas.
Sara's spider is perfect for Halloween jewelry or decorations. This elegant little guy looks expensive, but all Sara needed to complete the look was seed beads and Czech Glass beads.
Kristen's Spider was a merry little Christmas critter. This guy is sure to liven traditional Christmas decorations and ornaments. The bamboo beads Kristen used gave her spider mass and pop. We joked that he was so much larger than Sara's little creation. During the video, I joked that, "Sara's spider is dainty and elegant. Kristen's is a roommate that eats your food and leaves the bathroom door open."
Halloween Spider With Eye-Catching Legs Using Craft Wire And Beads
Want to give your beaded spider even more pop? You have to watch this video and see how James Browning turned his craft wire creation into a masterpiece with an amazing set of legs. Every spider is truly a work of art! James made sure his little spinner was strutting their stuff with a set of lovely bejeweled gams!
Pick a theme or a colorway. It is so easy to make this project. And make sure you share your new favorite craft with friends. What is better than bonding with creative friend and spending quality time making a memory with beads and good conversation? This is a great chance to craft with children, too! Have them make a pipe cleaner spider if they are too young to work with craft wire!
How To Make A Beaded Spider And Wire Wrapped Spider Web
James showed us how to make even more enhancements to a beaded spider. He gave these spiders cute little twisted legs for a decorative textured look. He also added pedipalps to the spiders heads.
James showed us how to create a fun little spider with just two beads and Soft Flex Craft Wire. He then showed us how to design an accompanying web. It was a fun watch. James made some mistakes in this video - his wire length was too short for his little spider legs, but rather than get frustrated - which most of us would probably be guilty of, James powered through his oopsie and made a delightful piece of art.
VIB Group Member Designs
We gathered a small assortment of fun spiders from our VIB Facebook group. This collection of creepies really shows how each spider can look unique with a new bead or color of Craft Wire. You can make your little spider dark and menacing or pink and pleasant. Every spider is an opportunity to personalize your decoration to suit your tastes.
We would love to see your work too. Join us today!
Designed by Soft Flex VIB Studio Member: Zakiyyah Tanzil
Designed by Soft Flex VIB Studio Member: Melissa Martinez
Designed by Soft Flex VIB Studio Member: A Crafter's Paradise
Designed by Soft Flex VIB Studio Member: Janet Carter
Designed by Soft Flex VIB Studio Member: Julie Petersen
Designed by Soft Flex VIB Studio Member: Donna Butler Ohori
Designed by Soft Flex VIB Studio Member: Heather Drinane
Designed by Soft Flex VIB Studio Member: Liz Georges
Designed by Soft Flex VIB Studio Member: Terry Schroeder
Designed by Soft Flex VIB Studio Member: Stacy Leigh Meissner
Designed by Soft Flex VIB Studio Member: Sheryl Sutherland
Designed by Soft Flex VIB Studio Member: Sandra Acuna
Designed by Soft Flex VIB Studio Member: Nancy Thompson
Designed by Soft Flex VIB Studio Member: Amy Stapleton
Designed by Soft Flex VIB Studio Member: Sue Purdy
Designed by Soft Flex VIB Studio Member: Kathy Gillenwater
Designed by Soft Flex VIB Studio Member: Rosanna Brafford
Designed by Soft Flex VIB Studio Member: Suzi Tice James
Join our Facebook group – VIB. Stay in the know. Stay up to date. From our bead shows to our video shows and sales, you can stay in touch with us. The community is full of artistic and helpful beaders and crafty people. Inspire and be inspired. Share your pictures and get the beading bug from others!
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Blog contributor Thomas Soles loves Jazz Age writers and crunchy french fries. His favorite gemstones are Lapis and Pietersite. His favorite hobby is day dreaming. And his favorite mustache is Freddie Mercury's. As you can see, he has a healthy (or possibly unhealthy) sense of humor. You can write to him at Thomas@SoftFlexCompany.com