Thread: Simple Lantern Prop......

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I added a Crow's Nest prop to my Haunted Pirate Ship haunt last year. It was kind of a last minute set up, so I didn't have time to really work on it. I got a plastic half wine barrel planter from Orchard Supply, set it up on the mast and then threw a half skeleton pirate inside as a lookout. To this I added a sword and a small oil lantern.



I didn't think about trying to add light to the lantern, but Ghost of Spookie gave me an idea to use battery operated tea lights and foil to light it up. So this weekend I took another small lantern and gave it a try. I think the results turned out pretty good.

I took the lantern apart, placed aluminum foil inside around the back half of the glass and then placed a battery operated "Flicker" candle inside:







Here is a picture of it hanging in my garage. There is still a lot of light coming in from the windows and I had a tough time getting a clear shot with the flash turned off!.



Here is a picture of it hanging from the door in my "Man Room"....Again, there is backlighting from the light coming in through the windows, but I still think it works pretty well......

That'll look great for next year.

Oh great! Another project to add to the to do list.
It really looks good.

Snazzy lantern there!
Another idea is to spray the outside of the glass with a glass frosting spray to give the lantern an eerie glow.



Here is the result:

So where do you buy flicker candles at?

That is a great idea...love those easy to do things that add ambience to a haunt!!

I found the flicker tealight candles at the local dollar store here last Halloween season.

Mic214 it came out great! and the light from it looks really visible too. Have to laugh though because I haven't done this yet to my own lanterns, and am kind of surprised actually how much light that little tealight gave off with the reflective backing. Great pictures; thanks for sharing them.

I'm definitely going to go looking for that frosted glass spray Haunter posted about. Really nice effect. I'll probably soot it up a bit too.

Here's my take on the lantern prop. I just picked up the "junior" lantern at the Salvation Army for $4. The two large lantern were brand new online. They received a coat of black spray paint and then the steel wool to reveal the original paint underneath. I can't remember which post I recently read about that technique, but it works really well.



My catch was that my wife wanted to use these lanterns for camping this summer, and I could not use the kerosene in the yard at Halloween. Here's my solution. Tea light flicker candles mounted on pizza box doodads. Those things that keep the top of the box from touching the cheese.



Fortunately, the legs fit right into the holes surrounding the wick.



I then temporarily "frosted" the glass by rubbing a bar of soap on it. That way, the soap could be washed off when it comes time to camp, and we really need all the light we can get.

Ghost of Spookie,

It was a great idea you had and I think it turned out pretty well. I like the idea to frost the glass and using the little plastic "Barbie tables" from the pizza boxes to put the candles on....!

I need to figure out a way to raise and lower the lamp so I can turn the candle on and off. I may have to rig up a pulley system for it.....

Originally Posted by bamtunebam

So where do you buy flicker candles at?

I got the Flicker candles at Michaels Crafts store. We are fortunate to have one here in town!

Originally Posted by mic214

the little plastic "Barbie tables" from the pizza boxes

I was going to refer to them as "Barbie tables", but I thought the members without kids wouldn't know what I was talking about! That's funny.