Statues provide inspiration, remembrance, and a link to period of history. The only problem with statues is that they can't be enjoyed outside of daylight hours. However, adding red LED's in the eyes of statues makes them look diabolical, and brings the focus back to statues after the sun goes down.

Using playdough and LED's you can make any statue a creepy one. This project mashes up the How to Make playdough and LED throwie Instructables.

Here's what you need:

playdough
black ink
5mm red LEDs
coin cell battery
tape

Ready to prank folks out for an evening stroll? Let's make!

Step 1: Make Playdough

Following Canida's DIY playdough Instructable, I was able to make a neutral colour playdough in under 10 minutes.

To make your own playdough you'll need:
2 cups flour
2 cups warm water
1 cup salt
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 Tablespoon cream of tartar

In a large saucepan I combined all ingredients and mixed thoroughly, then put on stove over medium heat. Stir the mixture continuously until it thickens.

In Canida's words:

When the dough pulls away from the sides and clumps in the center, as shown below, remove the pan from heat and allow the dough to cool enough to handle.
IMPORTANT NOTE: if your playdough is still sticky, you simply need to cook it longer!
Keep stirring and cooking until the dough is dry and feels like playdough.

After the playdough is the right consistency the pan was removed from the heat and the dough was turned out onto a non-stick surface and allowed to cool for about 2 minutes. The dough was then kneeded to produce a uniform and smooth consistency.

Step 2: Dye Playdough

To match the dark weathered look of many statues I chose to dye my playdough a dark colour to match.

I used Sumi drawing ink which I found for $1.50 in a local Dollar Store. You can also find it at many art stores, or online.

Wearing protective gloves so I didn't stain my hands, I made a small indent in the playdough and added a few drops of Sumi ink. The dough was carefully folded over and the ink was worked into the dough. It took a few minutes of kneeding the dough and adding more dye to get the darkness I was looking for.

The dough was then wrapped in plastic bag to keep it fresh and pliable until I was ready to use it for mischief.

Step 3: LEDS

Gather your LEDs, coin cell batteries, and tape. To make the eyes all you need to do is place the leads of the LED over the coin cell battery to complete the circuit.

I decided to bend the leads of the LED at a 90 degree angle so that the coin cell battery could be placed flat against the eye of the statue and the LED would be oriented the correct direction. An easy way to do this is to place the LED onto the battery and just bend it over the edge of the battery.