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Decorate with this Natural Spider Repellent

Horse chestnuts are a natural spider deterrent and do double duty as decor!

I’m not one of those women who screams and jumps on a chair at the site of a spider.  (But, if it were a mouse…!)  However, I do find them to be an annoying fact of life.

It seems that in late summer and early Fall they want to show up inside my house more often. I don’t want them to!

A few years ago, a friend told me about a natural spider deterrent that I’ve been using ever since.

The fun thing about this spider deterrent, is that it also doubles as decor.

Can it get any better than that?

Use Horse Chestnuts as a Natural Spider Repellent

Set out horse chestnuts while they are still green for a colorful decoration.

Let me introduce you to these little miracles:

horse chestnut

We call them “horse chestnuts” (also called conkers) here in our neck of the woods.  And, yes, we also found them out in the little woods right below our house.  My youngest son just went and fetched them right off the tree the other night.

They grow on a tree and are NOT edible. If you have pets, consult your vet before using them in your home as they may be poisonous and cause can cause serious harm if eaten raw. (Maybe that’s why spiders don’t like them?)

Some would consider this natural spider repellent solution an old wives’ tale. But, I was desperate and tried it. It worked for me!

Every year when the weather starts to cool down and the spiders want to come in to warm up, I set these little babies all over the place.

The first place they go is in the bathroom windowsill ~ since that’s the first room that spiders appear in.

in windowsill

I  line them up like brave little soldiers and they looks so pretty in the light.

After the green shell falls off, the remaining hard brown shelled nut is still a natural spider repellent.

When the chestnuts are fresh from the tree, they are green with a prickly shell.  As they dry, the outer shell will crack and fall off.  Then they will look like this:

bowl of chestnuts

I actually think they’re really pretty sitting around in bowls.  I set them all over the place.  Sometimes I’ve even put them on a large platter and nestled a big candle in the middle.  It looks lovely and “Fall”.

I don’t ever remember having such a large selection of green ones before, but find that they look quite stunning in jars, too:

jarful of horse chestnuts

I’m sorry to say I’m not sure if where they can be purchased.  {Do any of you know?}   

But, I do have some more Fall Decor ideas for you! Here they are:

***Disclaimer:  Before you fire me an e-mail shouting that you’ve tried horse chestnuts and they DO NOT work, rest assured that I am no scientist,nor do I have scientific proof that this method works.  I’m just a housewife that looks for every way possible to make my life simpler and bug-free.  Perhaps it’s like a placebo medication, but I’m convinced this little trick works.  Obviously, results are absolutely not guaranteed.

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3 Comments

  1. It sounds like something worth trying. I wonder if it would work outside? Every morning when we open our front door there is a web across the top half of the door. Which is totally annoying.
    These chestnuts are not edible as far as I can discern. I love the ones you can roast at Christmas. You see them in bins in the grocery stores and they’re from Italy. So i did some research as we have them on our street.But horse chestnuts, growing here in North America, arent edible. Although ,they’re not only great for decorating but pest control for spiders! Thanks for sharing,Rita Joy.

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