Christmas Hope and/or Disappointment

We're smack-dab in the middle of the holiday season, and for me the holidays are always a mixed bag of emotions. It's possible to start the season with a heart full of hope and joy, but only find the cold slap of sobering reality as that wonderful Christmastime fails to live up to expectations. Most of us have experienced this before I think.

I received an anonymous comment on my Better Homes and Garden December 1963 post that just might be a microcosm of this yuletide scenario, or maybe I'm simply stretching something beyond reason in a lame attempt for comedic effect. Well, whatever the case might be here is the comment...

Hey David,

Great Blog.

I was wondering if there are directions for an Angel made of paper in that issue. I'm looking for those directions and you're the first person that seems to actually own that issue. Thanks for helping out a total stranger, if you can.

Thanks for the compliment about my blog Anonymous. I'm happy to try to help out during this festive time of year. I had hoped to find those paper angel directions for you, but I must tell you up front, I didn't exactly find you're looking for.

I flipped thru the magazine looking for paper angels. On page 40 there is this paper angel hanging on the wall...


And then on page 48 there's these tabletop paper angels...

Each of these these pics have a footnote to a "Buying Guide" page number that can tell you where to buy things like the bedding and the glassware respectively. But disappointingly no directions on how to make them.

However, if you're (or anyone reading this) interested, the Wise Men from the cover have instructions on how to make them...


Also there are these medieval squire and maid figures on page 41...

And unlike those angel pics, if you look closely at the top you'll see they have a "How-to" on page 80...


So here's the instructions and pattern fromn page 80...

Although I didn't find any instructions for a paper angel, it's not time to totally give up hope yet Anonymous. My copy of this December 1963 issue of Better Homes and Gardens is not 100% intact. There are a few pages that were removed from the back that might have had the directions. If you're sure there are directions for a paper angel in this issue my suggestion is that you check Ebay. There were a number of sellers offering this very issue of the magazine at the time of this writing.

Well, at the very least this gives me an opportunity to post two more fun holiday themed retro ads from this issue...

When was the last time you saw a Santa Mister Magoo in a advertisement? I apologize for the text on the right side getting cut off.

How about this swell and very pink ad for 7 Up. I wish 7 Up would return to this style of logo design.

Revenge of the Cobweb Machine

Last year I wrote about my homemade cobweb machine, but unfortunately wasn't able to properly demonstrate what it could do since my can of ancient cobweb fluid had dried out. If you haven't read my original post you can click here to read it if you wish.

Surprisingly that little post of mine has turned into one of my most popular pages. So to kick off the Halloween season I thought I should revisit my machine, and hopefully really show what it can do.

Since professional cobweb fluid those big shot Hollywood types use is essentially thinned rubber cement, I had the idea why don't I try using plain old rubber cement in the cobweb machine.


I bought a 4 oz jar of regular and readily available rubber cement at Home Depot for $2.19. Poured about half of it into my web machine, and let the machine loose on a old garden lattice.

It worked great! As you can see from the above picture I got very good coverage, and even managed to bridge the gap between the garden lattice and the step ladders I used to support it.

At first glance the webs look almost perfect, but on closer inspection I found a minor flaw.

If you carefully examine the picture above you'll notice little drops of rubber cement throughout the web. Maybe most people wouldn't notice this, but I thought I could do better.


Another flaw I found was with my machine itself. You see that threaded rod sticking out almost four inches from the top. The webbing was getting caught on it, but that's nothing a few minutes with a hacksaw wouldn't fix. I sawed the rod off flush with the top of the wing nut.


Next I mixed the the remaining rubber cement with some thinner. I didn't measure at all, but I'd say I had about 40% thinner to 60% rubber cement mixture. Also if you're keeping an eye on cost, my 16 oz can of thinner was purchased years ago at Michels for $7.25.

Again, I filled my machine, and let it do it's thing. I got some very nice and delicate webs.

A wasn't able to rid the webs of droplets completely, but I do believe they were much smaller and less noticeable.

So the you have it. Both regular rubber cement and thinned rubber cement will make excellent realistic spider webs. Well, spider webs that look like they we made by spiders used in those famous drug experiments.



I checked online, and a pint of professional web fluid was going for around $20. If cost is a big concern you might be able to come out ahead my mixing your own fluid. But frankly, if I were you I think might just buy a can of the professional stuff to save me the chore of mixing my own.

Halloween Craft Corner: Cobweb Machine

Spooky spider webs enhance any homemaker's Halloween decor. Unfortunately attempting to apply the "Bag-O-Webs" from the corner thrift store usually ends with mixed results at best.

But fear not dear reader, I'm here to save you the potentially humiliating embarrassment of shoddy webbing. If you're savvy enough (and I think you are) you to can make your very own Cobweb Machine just like the big shots in Hollywood use.

Years ago as a mere college student I drove to a theatrical supply house in search of a cobweb machine for a Halloween video project. I was told on the phone the machine cost $100, and since I had never seen a web machine before I expected it to look complex - something like a cotton candy machine turned inside-out. To my surprise it was just about at low tech as you can get, and decided on the spot I could build my own. Check this out...

On the left is a cobweb machine I found online for $99 (it's interesting to see inflation has not touched the cobweb machine market), and that's NOT including the electric drill. On the right is my homemade cobweb machine made for less than $5 (if you decide to make one for yourself your mileage may very). But whatever your construction cost, purchasing the cans of cobweb fluid will now be your biggest investment (purchased online or at your neighborhood theatrical supply house).

A cobweb machine is essentially a cup on a treaded rod with some fan blades. That's it. The trickiest thing is attaching the fan blades to the cup. My blades were made from some scraps of paneling. I used a transparent cup so I could see how much fluid was left. Now place your assembled web shooter into to your electric drill, and fill the cup about 3/4 full of web fluid.

The are no special holes for the web fluid to shoot from. You simply tighten down the wing nut on the top until the lid is tight, and then back up the nut ever so slightly. You just want the teeny tiniest hairline crack between the lid and the cup. Now give your electric drill it's all. Don't hold back, you want the machine to spin at top speed. You should now be spraying realistic webs like crazy. Gone are the days of drudgery and disappointment with those spider webs in a bag.


To demonstrate this magical web machine I set up a spooky little tableau in the above photo. On the left is the not-so-scary before photo, and the right is the terrifying cobwebbed after photo! Please click to enlarge, and experience it in spine-tingling detail!!!

Yes siree, that's some mighty fine looking webs... Oh so dramatic... Umm, are you buying this?

Okay I'll level with you, those webs in the after shot were Photoshoped. You see I had every intention of dazzling you with real fake cobwebs created by my homemade cobweb machine, but when I dug out my old can of web fluid from the basement it was empty.


Who knew that after 10 years of sitting in the can the web fluid would eat right through the side. Man that web fluid is like a really, really slow acting Alien blood!

Also it's no accident I set up my spooky little tableau outside. Cobweb fluid is basically thinned out rubber cement. If everything had gone to plan for the demonstration I'd only want shoot the webs outdoors because little droplets of fluid can spray all over. So unless you're planning to completely redo your home (new furniture, ceiling, walls, floors), I seriously suggest you don't use your cobweb machine inside.

Gee I guess we're back to buying that "Bag-O-Webs" from the corner thrift store.

UPDATE: I have a post that shows what plain old rubber cement will do if used in the cobweb machine. You can click here to check it out.