Here's a really quick and easy way to make a great accent piece for your haunt: LED tea light candles. These candles can add a great bit of lighting detail to any room scene, crypt or tombstone, and they are totally portable so you can place them anywhere!
Here's what you'll need:
- Chop Saw (or any other saw to cut through plastic PVC piping)
- LED Flicker Tea Lights (I just picked up a 24-pack at Pat Catan's for $19)
- 2" PVC pipe (as many pipes as you want to make as many candles as you want)
- Metal Cutting Wheel Blade for the Chop Saw
- 1-3/4" Bi-Metal Hole Saw Bit
- Large sheet of 1/4" Foam Core Board (can be picked up at Pat Catan's or Michael's)
- Drill
- Hot Glue Gun and a LOT of Glue Sticks
- Spray Paint
To begin, fit the Metal Cutting Wheel Blade to your Chop Saw (DO NOT use the standard wood cutting blade to cut the PVC). Once the blade is fitted, simply cut the PVC into varying lengths.
Once you have cut all the PVC pipes into varying lengths, rotate the chop saw blade to 30 degrees and cut the angles to the top of each PVC length. This will give the candle the appearance of being melted.
When all of the PVC pieces have been angled, it's time to grab the drill, the 1-3/4" Bi Metal Hole Saw Bit and the Foam Core Board. Drill out circular discs in the foam core board with the bit - you'll need one disc for each candle.
When you have all the discs cut out, simply slide them down into the candle lengths, setting them deep enough to hold the LED tea light just below the surface of the lowest end.
After all of the discs have been inserted, grab the hot glue gun and glue sticks. Start by running a bead of the hot glue around each disc. This will help support the disc when the LED tea light is dropped in. Once all of the discs have been glued, it's time to start running the heavy glue drips around the angled top of each candle. Apply liberal amounts of hot glue around each top, allowing it to dribble down the sides of the candle. Continue to apply the drip around the entire top.
PLEASE NOTE: You only want to dribble the glue around the OUTSIDE edge of the PVC, as getting any on the inside will prevent the LED tea light from properly dropping down into the candle.
After the glue dribbles have dried, simply take the spray paint color of your choice and coat each candle. I used an antique white for all of mine because most will be set up in low light areas and will be set up in clusters of two or three. I also ended up repainting all of my old candles so that all the candles throughout my haunt will have the same classic antique white look.
When the paint has dried, you are ready to go! Drop in the LED tea lights and place your new candles anywhere you want. With these battery-operated tea lights, you don't have to worry about plugging anything in, they still have a nice flickering effect when turned on, and they will run for approximately 72 hours before the battery runs out. And it will add a creepy yet safe accent to your haunt. Simple!!
(A box of this year's candles.)
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