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Mendo Lake Family Life

Spooky Spider Web

By Richela Fabian Morgan

Editor's note: When you look at a piece of duct tape, you may just see the mother of all adhesive tape. But in the eyes of artist and duct tape devotee Richela Fabian Morgan, it's crafters' gold. She is so fond of it, she's written two books about it. Here's just one of the numerous projects she has conjured up.

Spider Web Door Sign

Materials: oversized sheet of paper (ideally 18"x24"), black, orange, and gold duct tape, parchment paper

Tools: pencil, ruler, scissors, white grease pencil

1. Fold the oversized sheet of paper in half lengthwise, then fold in half crosswise. From the folded corner, draw a diagonal line to the opposite corner. You should now have two triangles. From the same corner, draw two more diagonal lines, dividing each triangle in half.

2. Starting at the bottom left corner, draw a slightly U-shaped line upward, connecting to the left end of the diagonal line above it. From this point, draw another U-shaped line to the next diagonal line, and repeat until you reach the top right corner of the folded paper.

3. Starting approximately 2" inward from the bottom left corner, repeat step #2.

4. Starting approximately 4" inward from the bottom left corner, repeat step #2. You should now have 1/4 of a spider web pattern.

5. Carefully cut out the top two lines of the web pattern, cutting each drawn line approximately 1/4" thick. Leave the middle part intact. Unfold the paper. This is the web template. Set aside.

6. Using black duct tape for the front side and gold duct tape for the back side, make a double-sided duct tape fabric measuring 18" high and 24" wide. (See instructional video: (tinyurl.com/y9zfyv8p.)

7. Take the web template and place it on top of the fabric. Trace the template onto the fabric. Remove the template and cut the web pattern out of the fabric.

8. On the parchment paper, draw a spider. (You can also do a Google search for "spider drawing" and trace any free illustrations.) Cover the drawing with orange duct tape. Flip over the parchment paper, and you can still see the drawing. Cut out the drawing. Remove the parchment paper from the back of the spider and place it on the web.

9. On the parchment paper, draw "Boo!" in large bubble letters. Cover the drawing with gold duct tape. Flip over the parchment paper, and you can still see the letters. Cut out the letters. Remove the parchment paper from the back of the letters and place it on the web.

Richela Fabian Morgan is a duct-tape artist and crafter specializing in paper, adhesives, and found materials. She has written several craft books, including her most recent Duct Tape Bags (Clarkson Potter, 2016) and the bestselling Tape It & Make It: 101 Duct Tape Activities (Barron's Educational Series, 2012). Find out more about her work at richelafabianmorgan.com.