Veggie heads
Create a colorful clan by securing surplus garden produce onto pumpkins with toothpicks. If the pumpkin’s rind is too tough for toothpicks to pierce, drill holes for them with a metal skewer.
Mighty Spideys
Marching down the dining table, long-legged visitors add arachnid appeal to a Halloween meal. Their twisty limbs can also cling to furniture, banisters, or any other place that could use a little creepy-crawly cool.
To make each spider’s head and body, use tacky glue to join a small and a large black pom-pom. Glue 2 small jewels to the smaller one for eyes, then set the pom-poms aside to dry. Use wire cutters to cut 4 equal lengths of 18-gauge paper-wrapped floral wireand carefully straighten the wires. Set them on waxed paper, apply black acrylic paint with a brush, and let dry. Twist the strands together at their center points to create an 8-pronged starburst. Bend the joined wires to resemble spider legs, as shown. Glue the spider body atop the legs’ center point and let it dry.
Witch-Topper Poppers
Packing the punch of piñatas without the mess and tears, these spellbinding little hats spill goodies when the tags are pulled. Display them on hooks or a branch. When it’s time to pop them, take each hat down, then hold the cone in one hand while pulling the string with the other.
The Brim
1. Trace a 3½-inch lid on black construction paper and a 1½-inch lid once on cereal-box cardboard and twice on white paper. Cut out all the circles, then stack the black and cardboard circles as shown, securing them with a glue stick. With a pushpin, pierce a center hole.
2. For the pull string, knot a 10-inch length of baker’s twine to make a loop with a 1-inch-long tail. Thread the loop through a yarn needle and pull it through the brim’s center hole. Tape the tail ends down as shown.
3. Write Boo! on the white circles. With the twine between them, adhere them back-to-back with glue.
The Cone
1. Trace a 9-inch plate on the black paper. Cut out the circle, fold it in half, and cut along the fold.
2. For the hanger, knot a 10-inch length of twine into a loop. Tape it to a halfcircle as shown. Roll the paper into a cone with a 2¼-inch opening and secure it with tape.
3. Roll a 30-inch length of black crepe paper streamer and cut fringe through all the layers.
4. Starting at the cone’s bottom edge, use a glue stick to attach the fringed streamer, winding it around and slightly overlapping it as you go. At the tip, trim the excess. Glue the end down.
Assembly
Set the cone in a paper cup, pointed side down. Fill it with treats. Add a line of white glue around the cone’s edge and add the brim, with the tag side out. Let the glue dry before hanging.
