Create Spooky Outdoor Halloween Decor With Two Pumpkins and Rebar

Tools and Materials

• Craft paper
• Pencil
• Rebar
• Manual rebar bender and cutter
• Ball bearings
• Disc sander
• Tape measure
• Speed square
• Torch
• Mallet
• Welder’s gloves
• 2 pumpkins

The first thing I did was create a template on some craft paper. Using several images from the internet as reference points, I built a spreadsheet to give me the correct sized spider parts to fit whatever sized pumpkin I ended up using, in essence creating a “Spider-Pumpkin Calculator”. I estimated the sizes of the pumpkins I was going to be using and created the shapes for the body accordingly. I also marked where the joints in the legs were. I would use these marks later to help me know what length to cut my rebar and where to weld them together. 

Working off of my template, I bent and cut the rebar accordingly. I used a manual rebar bender and cutter tool for this. It makes the work pretty quick and easy.

I also used some other metal bars I had lying around. I cut these at equal lengths with a cut-off disc in a right angle grinder. I cut eight equal-length pieces to connect the legs to the body. As I went I lay the pieces out on the template I had drawn up. This would make it easier for me to quickly weld everything together later. 

My random box of nails really came in handy here. I took a long nail and cut off the head. Then I sharpened each end using a disc sander. 

Then I heated and bent them to create what would later become the jaws of the spider. 

I cut off the ends which I would later weld onto two ball bearings. I love how organic I managed to make this metal look!

In my video you can see that I cut all of my pieces and then welded them together. I found that it was easier to cut all of the cutting out of the way, and then I was able to quickly weld everything together. Make sure to practice all safety precautions when using welding tools, gloves and a mask are an absolute must! 

In order to weld the legs at an angle, I propped them up on a piece of rebar two-by-two and welded them in place. 

I created the head by welding two ball bearings together. Then I welded each of the sharpened jaws I had made before to the front of the ball bearings. 

To weld the legs to the body, I propped up the body on a piece of scrap metal. Then I stood the legs at the angle I wanted and welded them onto the body. In the video I only filmed myself tack welding them, though I did go back later and do a full weld on them as well.

Finally I welded two sharpened pieces of rebar in the middle. These were made to hold the larger pumpkin in place. 

With my metal frame complete, it was time to add the pumpkins! I specifically looked for some of the funkier looking pumpkins as they really add to the effect of the spider overall. I impaled the bigger pumpkin with the two spikes I had placed in the middle of the spider, and then wedged the small pumpkin underneath it.

Voila! A spooky pumpkin spider sure to haunt even the most seasoned trick-or-treater! I made a few of these to decorate my lawn for Halloween and I love how they turned out!