Bug-Infested Flour Sack

$7 - $10 (based on 2016 prices)

Makes one sack

This prop disgusted several of the haunt’s visitors and unnerved a friend who stopped by earlier in October to witness the prop-building process. Due to time constraints, I was only able to create one, but I would have loved to make quite a few more (some with bugs and others without).

• One 5 lbs. flour sack
• At least four tablespoons of dark roasted coffee grounds
• One pan large enough to soak the flour sack
• One yard of black fabric
• One 2 oz. bag of spider webbing
• One 0.07 oz. tube of super glue
• One bag of plastic cockroaches (roughly two dozen bugs per bag)

1. Boil enough water to completely submerge the flour sack and pour it into the pan. Add the coffee. The longer you allow the coffee to brew, the darker the stain will become. Likewise, greater amounts of coffee will produce a richer stain. Submerge the sack in the coffee mixture and soak it until it reaches the color you desire. I soaked mine for two days and scattered the coffee grounds over the top of the fabric to add spots. Remove the sack from the water and allow it to dry.

2. Cut small squares (roughly 2” x 2”) out of the black fabric. These will serve as backing for the holes to give the illusion that they are deeper than they actually are.

3. Once the flour sack has dried, turn it inside-out and glue the fabric squares to the areas where you will create holes. If you want more creative leeway, skip the second step and sew the black fabric inside the sack to form a lining.

4. Turn the sack right-side out and snip holes in the cloth. The best means to do this is by holding the sack and the black fabric apart (this will prevent you from accidentally cutting the lining) and making a small nick in the sack.

5. Use a bag of old spider webbing to fill the sack. You are basically creating a pillow. Try not to overstuff the prop. You want it to have lumps and slouch when placed upright.

6. Once you have stuffed the flour sack, sew the top closed. If you want the prop to have a rustic appearance, stop at this point (if this is the case, you might consider bypassing steps two, three, and four to simply create worn sacks as decorative filler for your haunt).

7. Since I wanted something more arresting, I used scissors to transform the small cuts made earlier into tattered holes. For believability, vary the size of each hole and fray the ends.

8. Glue cockroaches to the sack. I did both the front and the back (pictured), but you could cover just the side which will be displayed to save time. Try not to over think your application (a random pattern produces the best results). For added detail, arrange the bugs to make it appear as though they are crawling out of the holes. NOTE: The particular cockroaches I used were made with a slick plastic which did not adhere with hot glue. As a result, I used superglue to affix them to the prop.

9. If you plan to display these props outdoors in windy conditions, you might want to give them additional weight by adding small sandbags or rocks in the base during the stuffing process.