Laboratory Lights

$30 - $40 (based on 2020 prices)

Makes two lights 

 

Lighting is one of the most overlooked aspects of haunting and one of the main aspects that can destroy a display. If overdone, it can quickly ruin the show by revealing all of the tricks; if underdone, it can hide everything in a blanket of shadows. Over the years, I have tried to prefect the fine balance between too much and too little light: just enough to set the mood and cover imperfections. These lights were part of this process for 2020’s laboratory. I could put them in sections where I wanted additional light to illuminate specific props meant to draw the guests’ attention.

• Two Edison glass cloche table lamps (roughly twelve inches tall)
• One 10 oz. can of interior/exterior, fast-drying spray paint in flat black*
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint in metallic bronze*
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint in olive*
• Two pieces of white copy paper with vintage advertisements printed on them
• One piece of yellow copy paper with electrical warning signs printed on it
• Four tablespoons of black tea (e.g. Darjeeling, Earl Gary, English Breakfast)
• At least four tablespoons of dark roasted coffee grounds
• One pan large enough to soak the copy paper
• One 4 oz. bottle of all-purpose tacky glue*
• One bag of plastic gears in varying sizes (roughly sixteen gears per bag)
• One 8 oz. can of oil-based interior wood stain in Jacobean*

1. Remove the glass cloches from the lamps, cover their bulbs with plastic, and, on a newspaper-lined surface in a well-ventilated area, give their bases two even coats of black spray paint. Although I used two coats, you can use more or less depending on your desired coverage. Keep in mind, though, that this is the base coat and much of it will be covered by other paints during step two.

2. Once the paint has dried, detail the bases by apply a layer of metallic bronze. You want to give the illusion of worn metal, so gently brush the paint along the raised surfaces in a quick, back-and-forth motion. It may work best to experiment with a scrap of cardboard first. Also, to enhance the aged patina, randomly smudge olive paint on the bases with either a paper towel or sponge.

3. Boil enough water to completely submerge the two sheets of paper with vintage advertisements printed on them and pour it into the pan. Add the tea. The longer you allow the tea to brew, the darker the stain will become. Likewise, greater amounts of tea will produce a richer stain. I found that a combination of English and Irish Breakfast brewed for over ten minutes produces a nice, deep brown. Submerge the paper into the tea mixture and soak it until it reaches the color you desire. I soaked mine for eight hours and scattered the loose-leaf tea over the top of the paper to add spots. Remove the paper from the water and allow it to dry. Although it can be time consuming, this process works best if you stain each sheet of paper individually.

4. Cut or tear apart the paper. You can either isolate distinct images or use random sections. Cover the surfaces of the bases with the cuttings. This process works best if you move in stages: apply a layer of glue to one section, press the paper down until it sticks, and repeat the process.

5. Accent the bases with plastic gears, using superglue for a sturdier hold. You can either arrange them randomly or strategically place them in clusters. Also, you can use wood stain to give them a grimier appearance.

6. On a newspaper-lined surface in a well-ventilated area, paint the cloches with the wood stain. I discovered that applying a thin coat and patting it with paper towels produces a hazed appearance. Likewise, brushing the rims with a swift downward motion creates the illusion of grime buildup.

7. Once the stain has dried, reattached the cloches to their bases. If you do not plan to access the bulbs, you can glue the cloches in place to prevent them from sliding off during the haunt.

8. Using the procedures in step three, coffee stain the paper with electrical warning signs. I elected to stain these with coffee rather than tea to give the labels a hue which contrasted with the tea-stained advertisements. You, of course, are free to just stain everything with either tea or coffee to save time.

9. After the paper dries, cut out the labels, leaving a small border around their edges, and roughen their surfaces with sandpaper. Then, glue them to the cloches. As you do so, try not to obscure too much of the lights, since this will dampen their glow and hide them.

10. The props can be enhanced further with additional details to cater them to your haunt’s theme, such as a swarm of insects crawling across the glass or a collection of aged bones scattered across the bases. 

*You will not use the entire bottle’s content for this project.