Make a Halloween UFO from Cardboard

This instructable details how I made a UFO out of cardboard, foil, Christmas lights and duct tape for my front yard last year.

Items you'll need:
Several large sections of cardboard (I used 3 or 4)
Christmas lights (I used 2 separate strands of chasers)
Aluminum foil (heavy duty works best)
Thin wooden dowels
Plenty of duct tape
Spray on glue if you have it (plain white if you don't--just go thin)
Glow in the dark paint
Extension cord(s)

Tools:
X-acto knife
Putty spreader / bowl scraper
Nail set punch that's a bit smaller in diameter than your lights
Small screw and string
Sharpie marker
Hot glue gun (for dome top)

Extras:
Plastic candy bowls (to make the dome top)
Caution tape
CD Player and CD of alien crash sounds
Fog machine
Dead alien
Black light

Step 1 The Plan

You can see at center-left of the page the 2-pie-tins shape. This is actually going to be a top and bottom disc joined by 8 "wings" duct taped together, with a support piece in the middle for rigidity and strength.

The cone shapes on the right side were supposed to be the top of the saucer, but it never came together.

This thing requires 3 or 4 large sheets of cardboard.

I scrounged some from packaging for several big mark boards that were ordered at my office. Other places to look include furniture stores and appliance stores.

Comments

[Shifrin]

Awesome! Using this simple but effective trick can probably save you hundreds of dollars! Nice Job! -Alex

[canida]

Sweet! I bet that looks awesome in the dark.

[doc_howell]

Thanks. I have a short video of it in operation. If I can find it, and shrink its size, I'll add it.