# Spider Medallions > Press homemade cornstarch clay into a spider ice cube tray to emboss 3D spiders, then let them dry and paint them. Thread them on ribbon for Halloween necklaces and bracelets that make a fun non-candy treat. - URL: https://www.funlittles.com/halloween-crafts-kids-spider-medallions/ - Ages: 4+ · Difficulty: medium · Mess: medium - Time: prep 30 min, activity 45 min - Works for: one-on-one, small group, whole class · one batch serves about 10 kids - Skills: fine-motor, printmaking, painting, creativity - Cautions: corn, ingestion-risk ## Materials (one batch) - 1 cup Cornstarch - 2 cup Baking soda - 1.25 cup Water (household) - 1 piece Saucepan (household) - 1 piece Spiders and spiderwebs silicone ice cube tray - 1 piece Drinking straw (household) - Pastel satin acrylic paint (pink, yellow, aqua) (optional) - Shimmery metallic acrylic paint (silver, gold) (optional) - Black acrylic paint - Small fine-detail paint brushes - Ribbon, yarn or twine - 1 piece Plastic toy spider (optional) - Plastic skull rings (optional) - Glow-in-the-dark paint (optional) ## Substitutions - Instead of cornstarch: Store-bought air dry clay (Gives a much smoother texture and skips the cooking. It replaces the whole cornstarch clay recipe. The author thinks it may not crack the way cornstarch clay did. ASIN B000J07LF8 is in the post.) - Instead of spider ice cube tray: Plastic toy spider pressed into the clay (Gives a flat printed effect instead of the 3D embossed look.) - Instead of satin acrylic paint: White clay painted afterward with metallic acrylic paint (Paint the background metallic and the spider black once the clay is dry.) ## Safety - An adult cooks the clay on the stove. Let it cool until it is comfortable to touch before kids knead it. - The clay and acrylic paints are craft materials, not food. Don't let kids eat or mouth them. - The finished medallions, plastic spiders and skull rings are small parts and a choking hazard for children under 3 or kids who still mouth things. - Necklaces on cords need supervision. Take them off before sleep and before climbing or playing on equipment. - Acrylic paint can stain clothes once dry. Cover clothes and the table, and wash hands after painting. ## Before you start - Make the cornstarch clay (adult, stovetop) and let it cool before kids handle it. - For a large group, get extra spider ice cube trays and make more clay. - Plan two sessions: pressing the medallions, then painting once the clay has dried for a few hours. ## Steps 1. Adult: mix 1 cup cornstarch, 2 cups baking soda and 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups water in a saucepan. 2. Adult: cook over medium heat until it looks like mashed potatoes, then take it off the heat and let it cool. 3. Knead the clay. For colored clay, split it into balls, squirt about 2 drops of pastel acrylic paint into each ball and knead until the color is even. 4. Press small balls of clay gently into the spider shapes in the ice cube tray. Use just enough pressure to get the imprint. 5. Gently flip the clay out of the tray to find the embossed spiders. 6. Poke a small hole near the top of each medallion with a straw. 7. Let the medallions dry for a few hours until they are firm to the touch. 8. Paint the spiders black with a small brush. On white medallions, paint the background a metallic color. 9. Once the paint is dry, string ribbon, yarn or twine through the hole to make a necklace or bracelet. ## Tips - Too much pressure makes the clay hard to take out. Use just enough so the clay gets that spider imprint. - I definitely prefer the embossed effect from the ice cube tray over the flat printed effect from a plastic spider. Doesn't the 3D effect make the clay look even better? - The colorful spiders came out great, and the kids preferred them to the white ones. They still wanted the spiders themselves black, so we painted just the spiders and left the background colorful. - The painting involves a lot of detail, so choose smaller brushes and the kids can do their best coloring just the spiders. - The cornstarch clay cracked a wee bit. Air dry clay might not do that. - I was able to make about 20-25 spiders, including one big one, with 1 cup of cornstarch. For a large group, get a few more ice cube trays and make more clay. ## The original post by TurkeyMom (2016) Are you one of the parents hoping that your child receives pencils, stickers and tattoos instead of junky candy on their annual Halloween trick or treating? I certainly am one. I'm all for letting the kids have fun with their candy hunting mission on Oct 31st but a few non-candy Halloween treasures don't hurt either. Everything in moderation right? If you want your child to receive few candies and few non-candy treasures, how about YOU as a family make it a mission to pass out some non-candy Halloween treasures as well? TA DA! Introducing these cute little spider medallions and other Halloween themed jewelry. How to have fun with this spider craft ? Make medallions! Materials - [Spiders and Spiderwebs ice cube tray](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NNV1886/?tag=blmemo-20) - [Corn Starch](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JPT9BFW/?tag=blmemo-20) - [Baking Soda](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002SKVZIQ/?tag=blmemo-20) - [Metallic Acrylic Paint](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00RHUUJYI/?tag=blmemo-20) - [Americana Black Acrylic Paint](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000YQMPHQ/?tag=blmemo-20) - [Satin Acrylic Paint](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007GHIEP8/?tag=blmemo-20) - [Halloween themed ribbons](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009S1O46I/?tag=blmemo-20) - [Fine Art Paint Brushes for Acrylic, Oil, Watercolors](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0035XKDJM/?tag=blmemo-20) The recipe for cornstarch clay is in our [**cornstarch clay play**](https://www.funlittles.com/homemade-cornstarch-clay/) post. If you need additional details head on over there. However here is the short version of the play clay recipe. Mix - 1 cup cornstarch - 2 cups baking soda - 1 1/4 – 1 1/2 cups of water Cook them over medium heat until you reach a mashed potato consistency. Remove from heat and knead. If you want a much smoother texture and don't want to be bothered by making the clay, go ahead and purchase **[Air Dry Clay](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000J07LF8/?tag=blmemo-20)** and continue the same process. [**More Halloween Crafts here**](https://www.funlittles.com/category/holidays/halloween-holidays/) If you are planning on making spider crafts for a large group, I suggest you purchase few more of these ice cube trays and make a larger quantity of the clay. I was able to make about 20-25 spiders {including one big one} with 1 cup of cornstarch Separate your clay into multiple balls and start gently pressing them into the ice cube tray. Too much pressure makes the clay hard to take out. Just enough pressure so the clay can get that spider imprint. Gently flip the clay balls over and find the spiders printed on them. I definitely prefer the embossed effect over the actual printing effect which you will see further below. Doesn't the 3D effect makes the clay look even better? Let the clay dry for a few hours and once they are firm to touch start painting them. After this step it is all about coloring them. You could go about painting the background one color and the spiders another or scroll down and see how the spider craft looks if we use colored clay. Spider Medallions using colored clay We made the regular cornstarch clay and separated them into balls. Then I squired 2 drops of pastel colored satin acrylic paint into them and incorporated the color evenly through out the clay. I got my paints at Target but I found a similar **[Satin Acrylic Paint](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007GHIEP8/?tag=blmemo-20)** online We used pink, yellow and aqua and created these happy little colorful spiders. Remember to make small holes with a straw so you can string them and make medallions. These colorful spiders came out great and the kids preferred them to the white ones. However they wanted the spider print itself to be black and we chose to paint just the spiders black and leave the background colorful. We used **[Americana Black Acrylic Paint](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000YQMPHQ/?tag=blmemo-20)** for this. Since the painting involved a lot of details, we chose smaller brushes so the kids could try to do their best in coloring just the spiders black. Colorful background but black spiders. The cornstarch clay cracked a wee bit. { Maybe **[Air Dry Clay](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000J07LF8/?tag=blmemo-20)** won't do that} So these spiders were made a little bit differently. We did not start off with colored clay. We simply used white clay and took the spider prints and had them dry. Later we used shimmery **[Metallic Acrylic Paint](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00RHUUJYI/?tag=blmemo-20)**to paint the background and used regular **[Americana Black Acrylic Paint](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000YQMPHQ/?tag=blmemo-20)** the spider itself. Just the one big black spider was printed with a plastic spider and not the ice cube tray. If you want more of a 3d embossed effect go for the ice cube tray. But using a regular plastic spider, you will get a regular printed effect like the one you see in the middle. You can see the difference between using a ice cube to take prints and using a plastic spider to print on the clay itself. String pretty yarn/ ribbons through the holes and make FUN spider medallions for your Halloween Party. We also used our plastic skull rings and printed on the clay and made bracelets. Perfect to go trick or treating. Extra tip: Use glow in the dark clay by adding some glow paint to the clay and made the process even more FUN!