Cheap trash bag Halloween decorating | How About Orange

October 21, 2011

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 side and bottom seams so you're left with two big rectangles of plastic. Cut each piece into an approximate square (eyeballing it is fine.) Each square will make one spider web.

Fold one of the squares in half diagonally to form a triangle. Fold that triangle in half two more times to narrow it. This is slippery stuff, so use a few pieces of tape to fasten the layers together where the loose folded edges come together. It will help hold the shape together when you're cutting. (If any of the tape turns out to be on the web itself after you've cut it out, remove the pieces before unfolding or the web won't be able to open up.)

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, like in the diagram below. 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.



94 comments:

Unknown said...

What a great idea!! Super cute, cheap, and easy! Thanks!

Kathy in FL said...

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!

Kathy in FL said...

That should be "door", not "doot"! I need to proofread before I hit "publish"...

lp said...

Cool!

Unknown said...

Great idea! I love it. Going to make some with the kids this weekend.

Grandma G said...

Well, aren't you creative, Lady Spider! Very cool!

Sorta like doing snowflakes, huh?

Mum

NOTyourrunofthemill said...

just fantastic!

Unknown said...

Ton idée est trop génial ! Merci :)

Miki said...

What an awesome idea! ;D

Hope you have a great weekend!

Miki.

Kerrianne said...

Seriously?!? This is awesome! Thanks for the great tips!

Bree said...

Those are awesome. Was that a one take thing or did you do a couple first?

Kitten's Lost Her Mittens said...

This looks so cool! I'm going to have to try it.
x Katherine

Brooke said...

GENIUS! Thank you so much for sharing!

Allison said...

Love this!

Anonymous said...

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!

Kirsten said...

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.

Loulou said...

Fantastic spiderwebs. What a great and creative idea!


Loulou @ Loulou Downtown

Jessica Jones said...

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.

Unknown said...

This rules! Thank you, Im off to get my scissors.

fondos para twitter said...

This is really great, gonna show my mom this cause she likes to do decorations on the house per every season. Thanks for sharing.

~Abbey~ said...

GREAT IDEA! I linked to my blog, http://justapeekbyabbey.blogspot.com/2011/10/wish-i-thought-of-this.html

sweet and lovely crafts said...

This is amazing- but seriously, how do you come up with these things?? I love it.

Piecing it back together said...

My trash bags are white :( They'll have to be ghosts!

I.M said...

This is å great idea!!!

hennymats said...

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

jade said...

uh oh..mine looks like a black snowflake! LOL. I think I need more details. Let me try again.
J

jade said...

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

Unknown said...

Those are neat...but I have a sinking feeling mine won't come out as nift...

posie blogs Jennie McClelland said...

So clever!! I love it, love Posie

Chris said...

These will be a Perfect party decoration for my son's birthday/Halloween party.

Thanks!

Rose Clearfield said...

Cute and so simple!! Love the cost of the project, too. Thanks for sharing!

Shalini said...

Wow, how innovative! And very dramatic too.

Unknown said...

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!

The Zehn said...

I need more details on the cutting part!

Tara said...

Awesome idea! Going to have to do this project with my daughter!

Lorie said...

I think I know what is going on my front door Halloween night!

Liz McCoy said...

i loved this...I tried it and mine did not turn out half as nice. how did you hang it???

Lil Mama Stuart said...

awesome, totally doing this! in one week, eek!

Jessica Jones said...

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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sam said...

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!

Unknown said...

great idea!
i have to make some of these!

I linked to your tutorial on my blog - thanks for sharing!

doro K.

juniperberry said...

wow, what a great idea, and perfect to be backlit in my large windows facing the street : )

Anonymous said...

Just made one! Turned out great! Off to make several more! Great tutorial.

Motor City Horror Club said...

Very good idea

Its always Great To Save Money!

:D

Anonymous said...

By the way, the pieces I cut out totally look like bats -- I'm going to hang those up too!

Punky Prep said...

Love this simple idea, very clever.

facebook fan page said...

that is great style for any home
i would like to apply this style in my home for decoration.

Alice Darkling said...

These are fab! I made some with my 2 boys and they loved them - thanks for the tutorial!

Laura (Recetas Trucos y Tips) said...

i love that idea

thanks!!!!

Rose Ribbon said...

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!

Mrs. Q. said...

LOVE!! Why oh why do my town trash bags have to been green?!

Mika said...

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!

angry birds rio said...

So cute! thanks for sharing.

EightTreeStreet said...

Love your blog and your neat ideas. Thanks so much.

EightTreeStreet said...

Thanks for your great and clever ideas and designs. I am going to have to try this for Halloween

Cathy Pascual said...

Thanks for the tutorial! I made some for my front porch :)
http://catshy.blogspot.com/2011/11/fall-felt-wreath-no-2-halloween.html

Thrifteando said...

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!!

Y8 games said...

This is really great, gonna show my mom this cause she likes to do decorations on the house per every season. Thanks for sharing.

♥ maaria said...

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Anonymous said...

This worked great! The best part is it sticks to my window without any tape! Thanks for great idea!

Jadah {Family Sponge} said...

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/

Anonymous said...

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.

Krysta said...

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.

Anonymous said...

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!

Melissa said...

I can't wait to try this out! I am featuring this very creative idea on my blog, today! I hope you'll stop by to check it out!

Anonymous said...

Cute! A $1 plastic table cover would work just as well

Kayla said...

This is so cute- what a great idea!!

Anonymous said...

This is awesome! Just made it and its up on our wall. Mahalo!

kathy said...

I'm going to use a large black plastic tablecloth that you can get at Dollar General. I think I'll make a template for it first out of craft paper. :)

Anonymous said...

cool

Anonymous said...

Has anyone actually tried it? Mine looked like a hot mess!

Jessica Jones said...

Looks like some of the other commenters have; read above.

Anonymous said...

Great idea, thanks!

Press Print Party said...

I loved this idea and blogged about it here: http://www.pressprintparty.com/diy/5-super-easy-halloween-decorations/

Anonymous said...

By the third one, I think I have the hang of it! The key I found is to make the web pieces (the parts that stay attached) fairly thin (the one I like are about 3/4 inch wide, maybe a little less in some places. Also, the one I didn't draw out before I cut came out square, so something wasn't lined up right (so seriously, use your Sharpie!). These are so cute, I can't wait to put them up :)

Unknown said...

Just a quick note to let you know that we featured this design in our Halloween Craft Countdown on our blog, and also on our Twitter feed. It's such a lovely design!

Our blog post is here: http://ideas.stitchcraftcreate.co.uk/free-halloween-crafts/

All the best,

- James Brooks @ Stitch Craft Create UK

SAHM I AM said...

My first two attempts at this went horribly wrong. Then I had my totally non-crafty husband give it a try, and out came a perfect web. In case this helps others who were thinking the way I was, here's where I went wrong:

Where the instructions say, "the open side, temporarily secured with tape". My interpretation of the "open side" was the "cut" side...it was totally open. This results in a hot mess. Instead, the "open side" is only open where the folded halves come together! The "cut" side is on the top!!!! Totally folded together is on the right. God Bless....I normally consider myself somewhat crafty but this one got the best of me! Determination (and sweet husband) prevailed. Turned out cute, FINALLY!! Thanks for the great idea!

Jessica Jones said...

I'm so glad it finally worked for you!

Tina B said...

I found that using clothespins to hold the bag edges worked better than tape - made it easier to cut accurately and then open up.

Remei Gómez Gracia said...

Oh WOW! It looks AMAZING! I'm totally trying this with my students! Our classes are gonna be the spookiest! :D
Thanks for sharing!!!

Anonymous said...

Great idea but what do you mean by 'eyeballing it'?
Would you be able to put more images up of the process of making it. I'd really love to give it a go but I don't quite understand. Very inventive though you have a great creative eye :-)

Sonia Vecino Ramos said...

Loved it! Thanks so much for the idea. I did it with my students in class and it was wonderful. :)

Anonymous said...

While the idea was good, I'll admit that eyeballing it didn't not work out well for me. It makes it harder to cut if your triangles aren't aligned symmetrically. I am quite artsy and it didn't work for me... they just kept breaking apart. Might need some new/tough trash bags or some sharper scissors though! Thanks for the idea.

Unknown said...

I amazed myself cuz I sure couldn't cut straight for nothing hahaha foorreeal,, sooo cool and so different no cobwebs this year,, since all my neighbors got their white fuzz blowing all over neighborhood,, I like to be different they always try to kinda do what we do to the front yard,, NOT THIS YEAR THANKSSS

Unknown said...

I keep getting snowflakes what am I doing wrong please help

Golden said...

Thank you for sharing this creative and practical idea! How did you get the spider webs to connect (as shown in the picture)? Did you use a kitchen bag or contractor bag? Thank you!

Unknown said...

How do you get the spider webs to connect like they do in the picture? Love this idea! So striking and practical! Thank you for sharing!

Jessica Jones said...

I made several individual spider webs and then taped them together. Sometimes I cut an extra strip of trash bag to use as a connector. I used black trash bags. I guess they're kitchen bags? I'm not sure what a contractor bag is.

Meowrisa said...

If you're having a hard time figuring out the readable instructions like me, check out this Youtube video to give you a little more insight on this great idea. http://youtu.be/OVtO1-yRkDQ

Anonymous said...

I folded the triangle wrong, keeping 1 point to the bottom and make a skinny triangle. When it was cut, it make a corner web...which worked out ok too!

Anonymous said...

thanx super easy and awesome

Unknown said...

Just made tow of these yesterday...super fun!! Easy, inexpensive. Once you get the idea of what your doing, I got even more creative and made different shapes, lol! Thank you, this is awesome!!!

Karen said...

Brilliant idea! Looked really impressive in our office Halloween decorating competition. Thank you!