Goldie's Bubbling Halloween Cauldron

I made a piece that can be added to a cauldron to make it look like it is bubbling. This piece was made to fit around a person sitting in a large cauldron, so they look like they are submerged in bubbles or a hot liquid.

Step 1: Step 1

I took a large round piece of cardboard and cut a portion out of the top and the bottom, that gives it an axe shape. The size you cut this will depend on the size of your cauldron and the size of the person whom sits in it. One portion that is cut out will go around their waist or chest and the other section will go around their legs.

Step 2: Step 2

I covered the cardboard with aluminum foil. I cut wiffle balls and round styrofoam balls in half and then hot glued them to the cardboard base, these will represent bubbles in the cauldron. (I would recommend using all wiffle balls of various sizes and eliminate the styrofoam balls.) I used orange christmas style lights and then attached them to the board and tucked them into holes of the balls. I attached them with 2" boxing tape, you may want to attach them with something else. I have one set of lights set to flash and one set to stay on constantly. It is important to put in the flashing light bulb before the next step.

Step 3: Step 3

Turn the lights on and see if you like the arrangements of your lights. You may want to move some of them around if you have too many lights in one area. If you are happy with the arrangement and how the lights flash then proceed to the next step.

Step 4: Step 4

You will need a can of Foam Insulation Great Stuff. Make sure you put on some latex gloves to protect your hands. Place your project on some newspapers to protect everything else from the Great Stuff. Add the Great Stuff and let it sit and dry.

Step 5: Step 5

After it dries you can plug the lights in and see how it looks. It should have a lava look to it. After dried I also added some paint. I used some craft paint and lightly and randomly added orange, yellow and small spurts of black. I do not have a picture of that step, but it makes a big difference of the final look and the colors that it glows.

Step 6: Step 6

When dried add to you cauldron and make sure you have a good fit. If everything looks good, just plug it in, add a body and you have yourself a victim for your witch to cook.

Comments

[Lorddrake]

it looks like you have a second "fire" underneath. what is the base made out of?

where did you get the cauldron from?

[woodhegm]

The base is a welded steel frame. Underneath the cauldron is an electric log/fireplace thing that looks like it is burning.

[danamark]

Need to mod it so you can walk around/
http://www.instructables.com/id/Genie-on-a-Flying-Carpet/

[abinva]

I used these instructions with a slight variation (I'm putting a demon in the center of the "couldron") and it was very easy to do. A few recommendations from my experience: if you need the platform to be a bit more solid, glue two layers of cardboard together with the "grain" turned in different directions. I found that Target has something called "practice golf balls" which have holes in them like larger wiffle balls and these were a good size for smaller bubbles. The only problem I had was finding a way to easily cut the wiffle and practice golf balls in half. I ended up using small garden shears. They made it really easy, but be VERY CAREFUL since these are very sharp.

Thank you so much for sharing this project!

[justwhisper]

This is a great project and a nicely written tutorial. Thanks for sharing.

[lucandi]

You gave me an idea for next year......I just love this internet.....all the clever people..... 5 stars for you!

[ddpie]

 This is great! I tried to make something similar once, a bio-hazard bucket that spilled over. Only I just used glow in the dark paint and lit it with a flashlight. I wished I had thought of THIS!!!!

[jg123123]

 This is very in inventive! i love it ! i have to try for my party!

[schnitzle]

What a great and relatively easy idea! It looks great. Another awesome instructable Goldie!

[eulaliaaaa!]

you should dress up in a really scary mask and act dead, so when they come up to your house, RRAAAAAHH!

[Baricuda]

I really like this, and want to do it for this Halloween!

[stbo]

I am new to the site and am having trouble figuring out how to post a question, so maybe one of you can help? First off, I loooove the cauldron!! I need to know if anyone knows how I can make those cheap plastic bats fly. Can anyone help me? Thanks so much.

[ColorfulNumbers]

This is delightful.

[pokiespout]

Very nice work! Something tells me that I will be incorporating some of this work into some of my own work.

[PaHalloweenFreak]

I can verify that this is AWESOME!! Saw it at Great Lakes Fright Fest and it looks even more incredible in person!!
Great Job Goldie!! Very creative & unique!!

[scopevisions]

kwooool !!! i really like it!!! kudos!!! (clapping)

[buffalo]

Every year I try to make something new for the kids this. Lava coming out of a grave. Last year I made a kid-ca-bob and every buddy thought it was great. This thing is great!!!!

[susanfromhauntspace]

this is a fantastic idea!

[icebird]

Neat idea; very creative. A video of the flashing effect would be cool.

[SABBaS]

yesss, video!! it looks REALLY good, fooled me too :) video would be SO awesome :)

[rc jedi]

very nice. thank you for your efforts i wanna do 1

[woofboy111]

This is really cool! I'm building a big paper machie cauldron for this Halloween and this would go great in it. Put it down about a foot or so, then pump chilled fog over it. Or even better, put the whole thing on some sort of motorized turn table so it spins to look like the liquid is swirling around in the cauldron. Then add a stick to the spinning mass and attached the other end to a witch's hand. A nice stirring witch animatronic. I better get busy!

[Kiteman]

You should enter this in the "glow" contest.

[mikeasaurus]

Wow! This looks so awesome, the first picture you've got there on Step 1 totally fooled me (except the smile of course). Great job, and with enough time to implement before Halloween!

[socrateez]

That's really cool! I've been looking for something to simulate lava or hot boiling liquid! I'm going to make a smaller one without the cutouts and with charred paper mache bones sticking out!