Make 3D, Light-up, Twisted animal Horns!

Step 9 Now for the lights!

A note about the Christmas, or 'rice' lights: once they're fully installed, they're not removable.  Push them part-way into the base of the horns, switch them on and see how they look first.  Different coloured lights can change the colour of the horns.

A further note about the Christmas, or 'rice' lights:  the battery pack attached to the end of them is fairly big, and it wouldn't fit through the holes I had made in an old bike helmet.  I found it easier to drop the lights into the horns AFTER I had hotglued the horns into the bike helmet - not before.

The Christmas lights can be doubled over to shorten their length, if wanted, as they are probably a lot longer than the horn and will hang out the base of it.  If you choose to double the lights over, be careful not to bend kink or pull them too roughly.

I don't know if they help any, but the first four photos show the steps in this process: 
Tie the sinker to the end of the piece of string, hold the horn upside down and drop the sinker into the wide end of the horn.  Shake gently, to help the sinker along its way.  When it comes out at the tip, tape the end (or the middle, if they are doubled over) of the Christmas lights to the other end of the piece of string, and carefully feed and pull the Christmas lights down into the horn.  Do the same with the EL/glow wire lights, if using them.  Hold the horn so that the lights are going in downwards – gravity will help get the lights in.  If using the 'rice' Christmas lights, there’s no need to secure them in any way – they won’t come out.  However, if using EL/glow wire lights, the ends need to be taped or attached in some way, just inside the tip of the horns. 

The only thing left to do is hide each battery pack in your headdress, or in a hidden pocket or strap, and voila!  Lighted horns.  

I hope somebody tries out this method of making horns for Halloween, for Cosplay, for Fursuiting or just for fun :)

Comments

[corsairgryl]

really well done! I think I will be trying a pair for my orc costume

[Dimensionz]

Thanks so much, I was hoping they would be useful to others who can maybe modify/simplify/do a much better job on them! Would love to see yours on Instructables if/when you do make some :)

[mhaag]

I think the basic idea is brilliant. I'm going to try using a more complex "base" though. Specifically carved clay over a metal armature which I'll then wrap as described in your design.

[Dimensionz]

Thank you! I so agree about making a purpose-built base from scratch - it would work better, and look better. I'm wondering if weight would be an issue, if clay or clay-like product was used?

[mhaag]

Do you mean to use the clay to make the finished horn or to make the custom frame? I was orrginnaly going to use the clay only as a mould to take a cast from much like carving clay busts but eventually abandoned the idea.

Instead I've made a metal armature which I will wrap in close cell foam and then wrap as you suggest in baking paper, and then the wrap followed by hot glue. I'm basing my horns off of highly ovoid goat horns that wrap forward.

I'll post a picture of the wire framse soon, apparently this place doesn't support iPad UI so I can't upload it at the moment.

[Dimensionz]

I can't wait for this! It will look way realistic, and the foam will keep it lightweight.

[mhaag]

Ok there that's the wire fram for the left horn. I want them to be a little asymmetrical so the right one will be a little longer.

[Dimensionz]

Nice! You know how when you look closely at a real goat/ram horn, part of it is flat? One flat side, running from the base to almost to the tip of the horns? I struggled, and failed, to figure out how to get that into my design. Looks like you have achieved it in yours. Can't wait to see the finished product - will look awesome.

[mhaag]

Ok so I did a YouTube video instead of an instruct able but I gave you credit for the base idea. Forgot to put a link in the description but I'll do that in the morning. (new I forgot something) anyway if you want to watch my results here's the link http://me.lt/31EBX enjoy.

[Dimensionz]

Love this. Extremely realistic with the twisting ovoid shape - looks much better than the completely round shape. I was wondering if the wire base would squash - I see how you placed those struts that look like ladder rungs, to prevent that happening. Thanks so much for the credit also!
I'm wondering how we ever managed without cooking paper. That stuff is magic. Talk about thousands of uses!