Cheap trash bag Halloween decorating
In a burst of festivity, I decided we should have some Halloween decorations in the house. Something 1) dramatic, 2) super cheap, and 3) didn't require me to go to the store. Behold: trash bag spiderwebs.
To make these, lay a trash bag out flat. Trim off the sides and bottom so you're left with two big rectangles of plastic. Cut each piece into an approximate square (eyeballing it is fine.)
Fold one of the squares in half diagonally to form a triangle. Fold that triangle in half two more times. This is slippery stuff, so use a few pieces of tape to fasten the layers together on the loose side. It will help hold the shape together when you're cutting. If any of your tape pieces end up on the web itself after you've cut it out, remove them before unfolding.
If winging it makes you nervous, use a black Sharpie to sketch some guides on the plastic: draw a "stem" from the folded point out to the end of your triangle. Then sketch some scallops that come off the stem. With a scissors, cut out the negative shapes and unfold your web. Tape several webs together and add extra strips of plastic to connect them if you like.








65 comments:
What a great idea!! Super cute, cheap, and easy! Thanks!
This is a FANTASTIC idea! (How come I couldn't think of it? Just not that creative...) They will look great on my front doot on Halloween!
That should be "door", not "doot"! I need to proofread before I hit "publish"...
Cool!
Great idea! I love it. Going to make some with the kids this weekend.
Well, aren't you creative, Lady Spider! Very cool!
Sorta like doing snowflakes, huh?
Mum
just fantastic!
Ton idée est trop génial ! Merci :)
What an awesome idea! ;D
Hope you have a great weekend!
Miki.
Seriously?!? This is awesome! Thanks for the great tips!
Those are awesome. Was that a one take thing or did you do a couple first?
This looks so cool! I'm going to have to try it.
x Katherine
GENIUS! Thank you so much for sharing!
Love this!
That is super creative and super cute! Love it! Especially love that it's just about free. There's something you don't find much of online anymore! ;) Thanks for sharing, Jessica!
Mine came out looking like a naughty black negligee. My husband asked if I could wear it. Obviously I'm a spatially challenged and couldn't figure out which sides to cut/not cut. Cute idea, but I'm a DIY newb.
Fantastic spiderwebs. What a great and creative idea!
Loulou @ Loulou Downtown
Kirsten, that's hilarious! I hope you find a way to, um, make use of your creation. Bree, no practice ones first. It worked out the first time.
This rules! Thank you, Im off to get my scissors.
This is really great, gonna show my mom this cause she likes to do decorations on the house per every season. Thanks for sharing.
GREAT IDEA! I linked to my blog, http://justapeekbyabbey.blogspot.com/2011/10/wish-i-thought-of-this.html
This is amazing- but seriously, how do you come up with these things?? I love it.
My trash bags are white :( They'll have to be ghosts!
This is å great idea!!!
Like the idea - and it just so happens that we were planning to do some Halloween decorations tomorrow and have some black plastic bags around (thanks to my basement project from hell).
Not sure I can figure that spider web thing out, but I love the idea of just eyeballing it. Precision is just not my thing..
Thanks for sharing!
Swenja
uh oh..mine looks like a black snowflake! LOL. I think I need more details. Let me try again.
J
Jessica... Second time was a charm! Thanks for sharing that...it was fun..atleast for the first 2 now I'm done..LOL
I think a heavy duty garbage bag might work better for me..my bags were kind of flimsy, which made my webs really fragile. ; )
But it's a great project!!!! I love it.
J
Those are neat...but I have a sinking feeling mine won't come out as nift...
So clever!! I love it, love Posie
These will be a Perfect party decoration for my son's birthday/Halloween party.
Thanks!
Cute and so simple!! Love the cost of the project, too. Thanks for sharing!
Wow, how innovative! And very dramatic too.
I LOVE this idea!! I'm having a toddler (and parent) pumpkin carving party Saturday afternoon, and I was trying to think of some low-cost high-impact decorations for the backyard. This will be perfect for along the fence. Thank you!
I need more details on the cutting part!
Awesome idea! Going to have to do this project with my daughter!
I think I know what is going on my front door Halloween night!
i loved this...I tried it and mine did not turn out half as nice. how did you hang it???
awesome, totally doing this! in one week, eek!
Guys, I've added a little diagram for cutting, in case it's helpful.
Liz, I just taped the ends of the web to the painted window frame with clear tape. It's semi-gloss paint, so the tape peels off easily. The other ends of the web seem to adhere to the mustard-colored paint pretty well with just static cling. I helped it out in a couple places with some scotch tape stuck down lightly. The walls have flat paint, so they're not quite so peelable.
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Thanks for the diagram! I have a hard time following stuff without a video or a diagram. :/ The same way I can't read board game instructions, gotta learn as I go!
great idea!
i have to make some of these!
I linked to your tutorial on my blog - thanks for sharing!
doro K.
wow, what a great idea, and perfect to be backlit in my large windows facing the street : )
Just made one! Turned out great! Off to make several more! Great tutorial.
Very good idea
Its always Great To Save Money!
:D
By the way, the pieces I cut out totally look like bats -- I'm going to hang those up too!
Love this simple idea, very clever.
that is great style for any home
i would like to apply this style in my home for decoration.
These are fab! I made some with my 2 boys and they loved them - thanks for the tutorial!
i love that idea
thanks!!!!
Love this! It looks so hard but when the steps are broken down it actually looks doable! haha What a fun handmade Halloween decoration. Whoever figured this out has a true gift!
LOVE!! Why oh why do my town trash bags have to been green?!
How effective!
This is one of my favourite Halloween posts! I have featured it on my "5 Great Finds" today.
http://jugglingmotherhood.com/2011/10/31/5-great-finds-halloween-edition/
Thanks so much!
So cute! thanks for sharing.
Love your blog and your neat ideas. Thanks so much.
Thanks for your great and clever ideas and designs. I am going to have to try this for Halloween
Thanks for the tutorial! I made some for my front porch :)
http://catshy.blogspot.com/2011/11/fall-felt-wreath-no-2-halloween.html
I loved this idea since I saw , so I finally decided to try it last weekend (last minute, I know!!!).
I posted mine in my blog, but send everybody here to check yours, they look much more better than mines!
Thanks!!
This is really great, gonna show my mom this cause she likes to do decorations on the house per every season. Thanks for sharing.
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
This worked great! The best part is it sticks to my window without any tape! Thanks for great idea!
This is way too cute! We featured this awesome trash bag craft on our Top 13 Eco-Friendly Halloween crafts round-up! http://familysponge.com/create/holiday-craft-ideas-create/top-13-recycled-halloween-crafts/
I don't know if someone already mentioned this but the parts that you cut out for the spider web look a little like bats. We took those parts and hung them up as well.
I liked this idea ever since I saw it. I have a giant spider that has needed a web for a few years now. This year I made him one using your tutorial. I really like it. See my post here.
I'm sitting on the terrass and just cut open one trash bag...just to try. Then thought to google how to make a spiders web and ended up here. This is great!! I guess I have to use my cut bag for something else cause this idea is way better. Thanks!
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