Halloween fun: Simple spooky spiders

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Doing projects together are one of the primary orders of business when I visit Bubby and Mac, as I did this past weekend. I like to have most of the items with me in my Grandma Bag, so I set out last week to accumulate ideas and came across this spider craft on Pinterest.

After tweaking just a tad, it turned out as easy and inexpensive as could be. Plus, our simple spooky spiders had just the right amount of creep factor to make it festive fun for four-year-old Bubby.

simple spooky spiders.JPG

WHAT YOU NEED:

Rock bodies — one per spider, about silver-dollar size

Wiggly eyes

Long pipe cleaners/chenille stems — four per spider

Black marker/Sharpie for drawing mouths, if desired (Bubby desired)

Craft glue

Hot glue gun and glue, for use by adult only

WHAT YOU DO:

 1. Glue desired number of eyes on spider bodies, using craft glue.

2. Line up four pipe cleaners per spider...

...then twist together a few times in the center to connect them.

3. Give twisted legs and rock bodies to an adult (preferably a grandma) to attach legs with hot glue on bottom center of rock body, glopping the glue at the spot legs are twisted together. Let dry a few minutes before next step, to ensure legs are good and stuck and glue is no longer hot.

4. Use black marker to draw spooky—or smiley—spider mouths on each spider, if desired.

5. Bend each spider leg into creepy crawly position.

6. Sit back and appreciate your handiwork.

Mac, at 16 months, didn't care much about creating his own spider, which was fine with me as I'm pretty sure there'd be more wiggly eyes in his mouth than on the spider. He did, though, get quite a kick—and harmless scare or two—out of the completed spiders Bubby placed among his "collection of scary things" on the living room window sill.

Simple. Spooky. Success.

Today's fill-in-the-blank:

One of my favorite Halloween projects to do with kids is _________. (Links are welcome!)

Fare thee well

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Last evening, PawDad and I had a farewell chit-chat on the trampoline with Bubby and Mac.

This morning, we're on our way home.

Farewell to thee, farewell to thee
Thou charming one who dwells in shaded bowers
One fond embrace ere I depart
Until we meet again.
      ~Queen Lydia Kamakaeha Lili’uokalani

Today's fill-in-the-blank:

I recently bid farewell to _________.

Love, Gramma—snail-mail style

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When Bubby was a little over two years old, I made him a nifty mail box for receiving snail mail from Gramma. I wrote a post on it, which you can see right here.

So you don't have to click on that link just yet, here's the photo of that original stickered-up sensation:

grandma mailbox_first.JPG

Bubby loved emergency vehicles of all sorts at the time, so that's how I adorned his box. The mini mailbox also included his name in stickered letters, but as I don't use his real name (nor Mac's) on the blog, I couldn't show how perfectly his name in red block letters fit across one side.

I've not been as consistent in my snail-mail sending as I intended, but each time I did, I'd ask Megan to place it in Bubby's box and raise the flag so he'd know mail from Gramma had arrived. More often than actual snail mail, though, I'd place a little something in the mailbox for Bubby to find each time I left his house after a visit, notification of such courtesy the little red flag.

Last time I visited Bubby, I noticed as we lay on his bed reading his bedtime story that his mailbox was up on a shelf he surely couldn't reach. "I broke it," he told me, when I asked why it was way up there.

Seems Bubby loved his grandma-mail box so much, he used it as a garage for his Matchbox cars. It was used so often and filled so to the brim that it ended up dented beyond repair and no longer has an attached back.

"I'll just have to make you new one," I told him, knowing I still had several empty boxes remaining at home (reference the original post for why that is).

"And I really need super heroes on this one, Gramma," he said.

Well, super heroes it would be, then.

As I had planned to make a grandma-mail box for Mac anyway—his first—I went ahead and made a new one for Bubby, too.

Per his request, Bubby got super heroes of various sizes and styles. Super heroes are his favorite thing in the world right now, especially Batman and Spiderman.

Mac's favorite things? Well, those would have to be Mickey Mouse and dinosaurs, so that's what adorns his little grandma-mail box (more dinos than Mickeys, but that's okay).

Just like Bubby's original grandma-mail box, the boys' names are featured in red block letters on one side of their box. Though just like with the original mail box, I can't show you that side as it would reveal the real names of my grandsons (and heaven only knows what might happen if I were to reveal that information online, right?).

I can show you this, though—the censored versions of my latest grandma-mail boxes for my boys, packed and ready to tote in my Grandma Bag to the desert this Friday:

Now Bubby will have two grandma-mail boxes. Which will surely please him, as they make not only super spots for snail-mail love notes from Gramma, they make pretty darn good garages, too.

Drive-thru garages, from what I gather.

Today's question:

When did you last mail a child a letter or other snail-mail sentiment?

18 things I love about October

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Leaves dancing in the street.

Snow on Pikes Peak.

Taking the sunshades down from my kitchen skylights.

Pumpkin-flavored anything and everything. (Except pumpkin-flavored macaroni and cheese. Which I have tried...and didn't like.)

The anticipation and excitement of little ones looking forward to Halloween. Not just my grandsons but even those I hear in stores, chattering away to Mom about the costumes they want, what their friends plan to be, the candy they love.

Lady in White, which I watch this time of year every year.

Sweater weather.

Sock and slipper weather, too.

Kids in Halloween costumes. Especially when they look like this:

Or this:

(Megan will surely one day pay for the cuteness she foisted upon her boys.)

Indian Summer. Far less hot and harsh than regular summer.

No more watering or worrying about the flowers and more in the front yard, back yard, side yard.

No more fans scattered about the house.

Snuggling once again with my cat Abby, who was continually pushed away during hot weather.

Blankets back on the beds. And curling up under them for my nightly read.

The first wafts of smoke from wood burning in a neighbor's fireplace. (We typically wait til November to burn a fire in ours.)

Caramel apple taffy.

Visits with my grandsons. We always visit in October. This year I'm fortunate to have two visits planned—one at the end of this week, another at the end of the month. An extra-special reason to love this October in particular.

Today's question:

What do you love about October?