Jarred Fingers

$10 - $15 (based on 2020 prices)

Makes three jars 

 

I wanted a prop in the laboratory that showcased the different stages of decomposition and decided to do this with six fingers in jars. They were relatively quick and easy to make. Although I kept them rather basic, you can embellish them further, staining the labels and ageing the bottles and their caps.

• Three 8 oz. clear plastic bottles with metal caps
• One 0.3 fluid ounce bottle of red food coloring*
• One 4 oz. bottle of clear, all-purpose tacky glue gel*
• Two corpse fingers (learn how to make them here)
• Two decomposing fingers (learn how to make them here)
• Two severed fingers (learn how to make them here)
• Four sheets of colored paper (green, red, white, and yellow) with specimen labels printed on them
• One 4 oz. bottle of all-purpose tacky glue*

1. Thoroughly wash and dry the bottles. If there is any sticker residue, use rubbing alcohol to remove it (soak a paper towel in the solution, let it sit over the area for a few minutes, and wipe away the remaining glue).

2. In a plastic container (because the food coloring will stain, use something disposable or that you won’t mind dying), pour in your desired amount of clear glue gel and slowly add red food coloring to the solution until it achieves the sanguine hue you desire. Then, poor the blood glue into the bottles. For visual interest, make the blood in increasingly darker hues for each bottle to correspond with the different stages of decomposition.

3. Evenly divide the fingers and place them inside the bottles, positioning them so they are as visible as possible. Although I paired them together (two corpse fingers in one jar, two decomposing fingers in another, and two severed fingers in the last), you can mix them up.

4. Cut the labels out from the paper, leaving a slight border around each one. To give the prop more visual appeal, use different colors for each label: white for the identifying tag, red for the biomaterial stamp, and yellow for the protective seal.

5. Once the blood glue has dried, reattach the caps and glue the labels to the bottles, ensuring they do not cover too much of the fingers. 

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