“Spider on the Couch” Trick for a Halloween Treat

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Plastic Spider. Photo by Cecilia Kennedy

The “spider on the couch” trick dates back to medieval times when, for some reason, the month of October was particularly boring and members of royal households everywhere were looking to scare up some fun. They would suddenly shriek, “There’s a spider on ye couch!” and all the servants would come running, armed with brooms and torches. Then, much to the amusement of the royal family member pulling this prank, the servants would find a yoga ball dressed up as a spider. (Disclaimer: This previous historical trinket is brought to you by newly discovered documents that have materialized from my imagination.)

Now, I’m not a member of a royal medieval family, but I do like a good “spider on the couch trick,” so I thought that a blood curdling scream, at precisely 10:15 a.m. would be just the thing to get everyone to shake a leg and hurry out of the shower. However, Nate and Alex don’t scare easily and they both knew I was making a spider out of a yoga ball, so they didn’t hurry up with their showers. In fact, when Nate finally did see the giant spider on the couch, he walked by and said, “It needs fangs.” So, I made some fangs and, I must say, fangs add the perfect final touch to most everything I can think of at the moment, including homecoming dance attire and the Sunday church outfit.

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Yoga Ball spider for Halloween. Photo by Cecilia Kennedy

In any case, it took me longer than I thought to make this Halloween spider decoration. I mean, a yoga ball, in my opinion, is the perfect “easy” canvas for attaching black wrapping paper, accordion folded paper legs, scary eyes, and fangs. However, I couldn’t find black wrapping paper, so I tried to use a black plastic tablecloth. The tablecloth was too large and clumsy to wrap, tape, and staple to the yoga ball, so I ended up wrapping, taping, and stapling a plastic lawn bag to the yoga ball. The whole thing took at least 1 ½ hours and I was sweaty and hungry by the time I finished.

I don’t think the yoga ball appreciated being shoved into a trash bag, but the result is still worth the effort. If you decide to take on this project, you might not get the laughs or shrill cries of terror you may expect, but you can still end up with a creepy, Halloween-themed piece of exercise equipment to shove between your legs for thigh and glute strengthening. Bring on the candy!

Your Turn:  Do you decorate for Halloween?  Do you like to make or buy decorations?

 

Published by ckennedy

Author of the DIY blog: Fixin' Leaks and Leeks. Paper/Rock Writing Consultation, Sole Proprietor.

27 thoughts on ““Spider on the Couch” Trick for a Halloween Treat”

  1. how fun and laughed at the casual reply “needs fangs”
    and my hubs does not have much stuff from childhood (by choice) but in one of his boxes is a wooden box (light pine colored) and when you open it – surprise – out comes a spider – it is on a strong piece of metal and made with some seriously good workmanship.
    and also, to connect to your scare tactic, we have a rubber insect – looks like a palmetto bug – and I have scared folks with that a few times.
    lol
    anyhow, fun post and wishing you a nice day (and happy halloween)

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  3. I love your trick and I love the spider you made. Nate was right about the fangs…lol. So much for scaring them..LOL. I totally should run this trick with my kids as they all hate spider. Just came here to check on you and, just wanted to let you that I have nominated you for ” The Sunshine Blogger Award” Please come, check out my post about it whenever you get a chance. Stay blessed and stay connected.

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  4. Pingback: Cider House Blues (Before and After) – Proscenium

  5. We put up a single inflatable dragon about as tall as our house. His eyes glow red, his wings flap, and it looks like he has fire in his tummy.

    This was my compromise with my family. I don’t like anything scary, and that includes spiders.

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  7. I love your spider! We have some decorations that we’ve had for a while that we put out every year, but there are fewer and fewer kids in our small town. I just really like having a spooky pumpkin!

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  10. I’ve learnt so much more from this one post than I ever learnt in history at school. Although we skipped last year, me and my partner hold our own Halloween Carve Off competition, where we try to outdo each other with pumpkin carvings. Been some pretty cool offerings, but I think we’ve run out of steam. Not of the standard you see on the internet. Some are phenomenal. We LOVE Halloween, it’s our Anniversary 😉 It’s not as big a holiday here as in the US, but we’re catching up slowly.

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  12. your spider is adorable.

    i collect interesting spiders. every time that i go to Target around Halloween i look for more interesting spiders. last year i brought home a skeleton spider. this year i brought home a skeleton raven.

    keep up the good work.

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  13. Haha! That’s great!

    Yes, I love Halloween and I love to decorate. I still decorate my house both inside and out even though my kids are grown and left the nest many years ago! It’s my favorite time of year!!! Most all my decorations are store bought with the exception of a few my kids made when they were in elementary school.

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