Rusted Sickles

$10 - $15 (based on 2016 prices)

Makes three sickles

No haunted farm is complete without a collection of rusty tools. While many of these items came from my grandmother’s shed (you cannot argue with free and there is no competing with Nature’s process for weathering steel and wood), I elected to give the few props that came in contact with either myself or others a rusted patina. For this, I simply re-purposed cheap weapons bought at a party store with some paint and papier mache handles.

• Three plastic sickles
• One 10 oz. cans of interior/exterior, fast-drying spray paint in metallic silver
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint in flat black*
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint in flat brown*
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint in flat maroon*
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint in flat white*
• One newspaper
• One 4 oz. bottle of all-purpose tacky glue
• One 4 oz. bottle of wood glue
• Once yard of dark-brown twine

1. On a newspaper-lined surface in a well-ventilated area, give the sickles a few even coats of metallic spray paint. I used two, but you may apply more or less. To achieve a nice coverage, select a paint which adheres to plastic.

2. After the metallic paint has dried, dab maroon paint onto the sickles. I used an old paintbrush with splayed bristles; however, a sponge or paper towels will work well. Concentrate your application on areas where rust would naturally form, particularly along the edges of the blades.

3. Once the maroon paint has dried, repeat the process with brown paint. During this application, be careful not to cover too much of the maroon paint.

4. Apply a slight flecking of black paint. You can do this by either quickly flicking a paintbrush or using an old toothbrush and strumming your finger across the bristles. Since this process flings paint everywhere, it’s best to perform it outside.

5. Make the papier mache paste by mixing ½ cup of glue and ½ cup of water in a bowl. Try to use a sealable container. This gives you the ability to store the mixture for a day or two between applications. Also, to give the paste added support, use a combination of all-purpose glue and wood glue (stray away from school glue because it is washable and will dissolve in the water).

6. Cut the newspaper into strips, soak them in the paste, and apply them to the handles. To make the process more manageable, keep the strips at a reasonable size (mine were roughly six inches long and two inches wide). Similarly, only apply a few layers at a time and allow each layer to completely dry before adding more (I did two layers during each application and let them dry for twenty-four hours). If you plan to use these props as weapons, you want the handles as sturdy as possible; therefore, more layers are best.

7. Give the handles a few even coats of white paint. This covers the newspaper’s print and gives the prop a blank canvas for the painting process. You could bypass this step by using white copy paper rather than newspaper for the papier mache. 

8. To give the handles a grimy appearance, water down brown paint and brush it over their surfaces, ensuring the liquid settles into all the cracks and fissures (you can also use a spray bottle for the application). Allow the mixture to sit for a few minutes and then wipe it clean. Once you have achieved the look you desire, repeat this process with black paint to add further detail. You may want to experiment with the consistency prior to doing all of this: the more water you add, the fainter/lighter the wash; the less water you add, the deeper/darker the wash.

9. For additional detail, wrap twine around the handles and glue it into place. You could also add bones or feathers to cater the prop to your haunt’s specific theme.

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