Two Spiders, a Mini Witch Hat, and Not Much Time to Overthink
The Olympia Boss Society meetup for October was speed connecting, my favorite, with witch-themed costumes encouraged but never required.
That said, I'd double-booked myself that day and went back and forth between not going, going, and not going again... until two days before, when I finally decided let's do it. So I had way less time than last year to debate my costume (looking at you, Ada Lovelace).
First Thoughts
When I first heard the theme I thought immediately of the Scarlet Witch from Marvel while the person next to me thought of Elphaba from Wicked. Both great choices... but with limited time and no interest in investing in a full cosplay outfit I knew something far simpler would be required.
My first legitimate idea was adding a spider to my outfit and making a play on the World Wide Web as someone (or something) has to weave all those webs... plus I had played on the term tech witch at an OBS coffee meetup the year before. Then I noticed an Instagram story showing witch hats and started overanalyzing whether making my costume simply my hairstyle was enough if there were supplied hats... I needn't have worried as they were decorations.
So I went to my Halloween bin and realized I'd given my pipe cleaners to the kids, couldn't find the googly eyes, ordered both items, analyzed again, and canceled both... though I did find the spider I'd almost used last year. The night before the event I was still thinking of some kind of spider and laid out a dress I told myself looked slightly web-like. The next morning, still debating, I looked through the Halloween bin again (found the googly eyes!) and then checked the kids' craft area (black pipe cleaners! Score! but now I'm curious why they only had black left?). And with that it was kind of decided as I gathered up the supplies, tried to work a bit, changed up my reMarkable sleep screen, and put together the eyes. Then after getting the kids from the bus, I jumped into getting dressed, doing my hair, and attempted both versions of the spider.
During this process I shared the spider idea with Ada and the pun made her smile which felt like a good sign.
A Tech Witch Sleep Screen
Midmorning the day of the event, while trying to concentrate on my work, I debated changing the sleep screen image on my reMarkable Move that I keep in my purse. I figured having one more thing fit the theme worked plus I could simply build on the image I created last year. Rather than taking the time to hunt through all my photos I realized it would be quicker to download the image from Simply Customize It. Once downloaded I then re-added it to the app as a new template, uploaded it to my Move, used it in a notebook, traced what I wanted, hid the template, and finished the drawing off.
I next emailed the PNG to my computer where I then opened it up in Pixelmator Pro to make more changes before exporting it as a new image and, again using Simply Customize It, uploading it as my new sleep screen image.
SimplyKyra LLC
If you have a reMarkable and want an easier way to add custom templates or set sleep screen images check it out in the App Store. Works on iPhone, iPad, and Mac.
Two Spiders in My Hair
The last time I made a spider hairstyle both kids were in elementary school and I surprised them when I picked them up from school. That first time I made a large spider from a single bun where I had combined the pipe cleaners together for longer spider legs and added the eyes to a hair clip with hot glue. I debated reusing it for a hot second then remembered I gave it to the kids after and we have since moved twice so counted it as lost. This time around I decided to instead make two smaller spiders each with shorter legs with only four pipe cleaners used per spider.
What I Used
- Black pipe cleaners: four per spider
- Googly eyes: two per spider
- Bobby pins: two per spider (eyes) with more (optionally) for flyaway hairs and holding down legs
- A hot glue gun: to attach each eye to a bobby pin
- Hair ties: two per spider
- Decorations: hat (or more... optional)
Making the Eyes
At some point, several hours before, I sat down to make the eyes and plugged in my glue gun. My kids had claimed my old glue guns a while ago so I’d recently bought a Boswell hot glue gun that came with copper nozzles. I was hungry, waiting for my husband’s meeting to end so we could eat, and figured it was the perfect time to make the eyes... when I was done I attempted to save time by taking the nozzle off while the gun was still hot... then watched it pee glue. At this point, while writing this, I still need to heat the gun back up again so I can peel off the excess glue and add a nozzle to it.
Anyway... the eyes are easy once you're set up. I wanted to be able to place each googly eye individually in my hair without the bobby pin showing so I simply attached each eye to the end of the pin. Glue on one, stick together, hold long enough it partially dries, and then lay down to finish drying. I wasn't patient per se so I kept an eye on them in case they shifted.
A Few Warnings
Before beginning your hair first a couple of quick warnings...
If your current top and/or your planned outfit doesn't have a wide enough head opening I highly recommend you change before you start. I learned this the hard way with the first spider years ago... and even this time around I didn't take into account trying to put my lanyard on afterwards.
Additionally this is an arm workout... or I was simply tired from an actual arm workout earlier. I had to take the odd break to shake out my arms. Plus... between this, the warmer sweater dress I chose, or just life I overheated in the process and decided to change my leggings before heading out.
Doing the Hair
Preparations
Start by laying out your supplies, changing your outfit if needed, and deciding how many spiders you want. I chose two so I divided my hair into two sections (a top and bottom one using a curved dividing line) and used a loose bun to keep the top hair separate when working on the bottom first. I then switched back and forth between the two areas building up the two spiders as I went.
Base
Each spider essentially needs a bun that has pipe cleaner legs (mid bun making) and eyes stuck in. The base for each bun, the way I do it, is a simple ponytail but I chose to take it a step further by French braiding my hair into that pony.
I did this base with both spiders by doing a main French braid to the spider's location before extending it with a braid and temporary ponytail tie so it didn't come out... then I did a smaller secondary French braid grabbing the hair left in that section as I approached the spider location from the other side. I then combined the two braids and fastened it with a ponytail tie, which let me take out both the extra braid and that first hair tie.
Add Pipe Cleaners
With the pony in place the next step is the pipe cleaner legs. I started by trying to thread the pipe cleaner through my pony but the tip got stuck both on my hair and on my hair tie making it really annoying.... not sure if you ever played it but I pictured something like the game Kerplunk. After a couple I changed it up and instead stretched a part of the hair tie out and threaded the pipe cleaner under it, halved it, and folded it at that point making two legs on one side of the spider rather than one on either side. I repeated this until I had four pipe cleaners in making eight legs.
Make the Bun
This next part is a bit tricky as the pipe cleaners get in the way, but essentially you simply need to make your bun. Here I gathered all my hair making sure none of the pipe cleaners got taken up. I then twisted it in and used a second ponytail tie to hold it in place.
Quick side note: skip the first pony, gather your hair, twist, bun, and hold it in place with the hair tie. This is a super simple way to get your hair up after a shower without it dribbling down your back (braid) and without ponytail creases as it dries.
Finishing Off
Now it's time to clean up your spider by using plain bobby pins to gather the flyaway hairs in. Once you're happy with the bun it's time to set the legs by bending them away from the head, folding them in half back towards your head, and then bending the tip to make a little foot. Repeat with each leg. I then looked at both buns with my mirror and my phone, tried to line up the legs for four per side, and decided where their face should be. On that side I stuck both the eyed bobby pins and suddenly the buns became adorable. I then gave the legs another inspection and any trying to escape got a bobby pin to keep the foot attached to my head. The first time around, on the single big spider, I attached each foot individually but this time around I only did it with the feet that needed it so the other ones could lift and shake.
I told the kids what I was going to do and they disappeared... then when I was close to done Zoey forgot what I was doing, called to me, and came in to tell me we had a spider problem (she'd seen one in the house). I simply pointed to my head and asked "You think so?"... She laughed and said she'd forgotten I was doing it.
The Hat
The week before, I'd picked up two small witch hats from Daiso as a simple emergency backup for the night. I loved the purple one I grabbed but it had pumpkins on it so I decided to use the webbed black one to fit the theme. The base had a simple hair clip and I debated seeing if I could clip it to one of the spiders but I was running out of time and worried it would wreck the spider... instead I clipped the hat straight to my head and declared my hair done!”
The Spider That Didn't Make It
Then there was the spider decoration I bought last year. I pictured her hitching a ride on my shoulder and had grabbed some quarter-inch black elastic from my sewing days to attach it. But by then I had hardly any time left, felt rushed, threaded it the wrong way, fixed it, and noticed one arm band was now too tight.... I put it on, confirmed the tightness, and realized it wasn't worth it and so took off the spider... for the second year in a row the spider was attempted and then abandoned... sorry, buddy.
That said, I kept the elastic on her and she's now fastened to my opened office door and keeping me company.
The Night Itself
At Connection Night I realized the hats I spotted in the Instagram story were in fact decorations, most people wore their own hat, and I'm so glad I dressed up. The costume scratched that creative itch, brought back the hairstyle I did years ago, felt unique to me, and, most importantly, made my kids smile.
And just maybe, another time, the big spider will finally get her night out. I hope you enjoyed this and I'd love to hear about and see your spiders if you do create them.
Hope you have a great week!
Did this save you time?