HOME TOUR

I know I said it earlier in the week during our Spooky Cute Halloween Home Tour, but not all my self-labeled “brilliant” ideas work. When I asked my hubby to nail some sticks to the wall above our mantel he gave me that inquisitive, “what the heck” look but said instead, “ok but I’ve never nailed thin sticks before, it might not work.” I’m literally married to the greatest man on the planet.

I wanted it to be off centered so we purposely made the center point of the web further to the right of center. This gave me the imperfect look I was going for. Our mantel is perfect for this kind of thing because the whole wall above the mantel is centered between two columns that extend to the ceiling. This made it easy to prop the sticks against the walls of the molding, meaning we only really needed one small nail to hold them in place as they “rested” against the walls above the mantel. The small nail holes are not visible at all when we take them out because of the grasscloth wallpaper. It’s the most forgiving wall covering of all time and perfect for the creative projects this space sees.

Once I had my 6 sticks nailed to the wall in that off-center star pattern, I used all my stick remnant pieces to make the “webbing” that goes between sticks, giving you that clear spider web effect. I purposely looked for sticks that were relatively the same thickness and had a slight bend to them which helped make the circular look to the web.

Stick pieces are light and it took very little hot glue applied to the nailed sticks to get them to attach. Hot glue is my best friend these days. Cheap, easy and a super strong hold. I used a handheld set of pruning shears from the garden to cut the branches. It made a mess on the floor but was easily vacuumed up and meant I didn’t need to keep getting off the ladder and walking outside to cut sticks. It worked well to hold a big piece of stick up and figure out exactly how long it needed to be to extend perfectly between the nailed sticks. No hot glue went on the grasscloth, just the loosely nailed sticks that were already up on the wall.

Alternatively, if you’re wanting this project to last past one season, you could build it outside rather than directly onto a wall, fixing the 6 long spider web “stems” together in some way and then gluing the smaller sticks onto them. My quick and easy version is definitely a one hit wonder. Once we take the nailed sticks down, it will crumble back into a pile of sticks. I’m ok with that for now because another “brilliant” idea is sure to be attempted.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this fun and inexpensive DIY. It doesn’t take long to create a super cute Halloween decoration that will delight all ages. My boys absolutely love this and don’t want me to take it down. It might end up with Christmas lights strung on it.

SUPPLIES

8 or so long, slightly curved sticks, relatively the same thickness

Hot Glue

Small Finishing Nails

Hammer

Pruning shears

QUICK INSTRUCTIONS

1. Find all the sticks you may need, we used about 8 or 9 long sticks of the same thickness, you’ll use 6 as the main stems, the rest are used for the “webbing” between giving you the spider web look.
2. Nail 6 sticks in a star shape extending out from one another to a flat surface so sticks are stable on the wall. We used the smallest nails we could find in the toolbox.
3. Grab stick remnants and starting from the farthest outside you want your web to go (this ensures you have long enough pieces to work with), work your way in, cutting the sticks to the right length as you go. You want the stick “webbing” to rest on the main nailed stick “stems” while extending between the main nailed stick stems (this ensures the hot glue remains on the nailed sticks versus your wall).
4. I used this tutorial from Jen Johnson on Eighteen25 to make the cute (but not scary) pom pom spider. I just skipped the eyes part.

These beautiful pictures (all but my progress shot picture) are by Ruth Eileen Photography. She takes the best pictures, whether it’s home decor or family shoots or weddings, definitely contact her for your next photography session.