Halloween crafts are the best…you have so many choices between the spooky, the cute, the gory, and the magical. Here, we went for cute and happy! This DIY spider craft is such an easy one…the kids will love stringing beads onto the pipe cleaner legs!

You can choose to add more or less beads to the spiders legs to create fun, colorful patterns!

What you’ll need:

• 1 1/2-inch wooden knob (doll head)
• 3/4-inch wooden bead
• Acrylic paint
• Paintbrush
• 5 black pipe cleaners
• Colored beads
• Aleene’s Tacky glue
• Scissors
• Black permanent marker

1. Paint wooden knob and bead with paint and let dry.

2. Thread 8 beads onto 4 pipe cleaners, spacing them out every inch or so. Leave a slightly bigger space between bead 4 and 5 for the body.

3. Glue pipe cleaner into wooden knob and twist the 4 pipe cleaner legs together around that pipe cleaner.

4. Slip wooden bead over the pipe cleaner and glue in place. Trim the end off the pipe cleaner sticking out the front of the bead.

5. Draw on eyes with black marker.

I’m obsessed with the idea of costumes that transform. Not like Optimus Prime or anything cray like that, but rather the idea that your costume can easily become a completely different one with a few crafty tweaks.

Last year I did this fun story for Scholastic Parent & Child Magazine (R.I.P.) and this year I produced this playful one for Today.com.

Look how easy it was to transform a pumpkin into Piper from Orange is the New Black, a magician into Jon Snow from Game of Thrones, and a cowgirl into a perfect picnic. Visit Today.com for all of the DIY instructions!

Who says monsters have to be big and scary? These little guys can fit in the palm of your hand and will definitely make you smile.

You can watch a video about how to make them over on Parents.com.

Customize the color of this lantern by dying the doilies in any shade (or shades) You’d like! You can buy lace lanterns in many shapes and sizes at Factory Direct Crafts. (I made this beauty for the September issue of Woman’s Day magazine)

You don’t have to spend a ton of cash or take up half the room with a great looking study space for your kids. This DIY kids’ desk is a great project to tackle before they need to it the books!

What you’ll need:

• two 12- or 14-inch L-shaped brackets
• 2 16″ x 36″ wood panels
• Elastic ribbon
• Paint
• Paintbrush
• Screw eyes
• Elastic cord
• Screws
• Drill
• Stapler

Make it:

1. Paint both panels and let them dry.
2. Mount both L-shaped brackets to the wall to create the desk panel. (Screw desk into the brackets for safety)
3. To make the backboard of this desk, stretch elastic ribbon around a 16″ x 36″ wood board in a grid and staple to back. This is great for showing off an A+ or recent artwork.
4. Insert two screw eyes into either side of the panel’s front (about 5 inches up from bottom).
5. Thread elastic cord through the holes and knot on one side. This can hold an open textbook or notebook.
6. Mount board using the appropriate screws for your wall.

Originally published in the September 2014 issue of Scholastic Parent & Child magazine.