Halloween Light-up Campfire Prop

Need a campfire for your Halloween display? I have modified a tutorial I found on YouTube to make what I feel is a pretty darn good looking campfire prop. Be aware that it doesn't look like much during the day, but turned on at night, it glows like a pile of hot coals.

Essentially, we will be using spray foam over a string of orange lights. When the lights are powered on at night, they will make the foam glow like hot embers. A few touches of spray paint will vary the color and add some hot spots for a more realistic effect.

You don't need much experience with prop making or tools to make this, but a steady hand and some creativity are beneficial. Each time you make one of these, it will look slightly different. All of the materials are easily obtainable from your local hardware store or you might have some of them already in your garage/tool shed. So let's get started.

To make this campfire you will need:

• Scrap board for the base (sized to your preference)
• Cardboard large enough to protect your work surface
• Scrap wood blocks
• Firewood
• 1 string of orange LED lights (50 or 100 lights will work)
• 1 can of Great Stuff insulating foam spray
• Wood glue
• Yellow spray paint
• Black spray paint
• Red spray paint
• A few random twigs to dress up the piece

Tools you will need:

• Staple gun
• Screw driver/drill
• 2 - 4 wood screws
• Gloves
• Saw (optional)
• Clamps (optional)

Please use LED lights instead of the cheaper standard bulbs. Standard bulbs can get quite hot and there is a risk of fire with the Great Stuff foam. I got my string of orange LEDs at Target for $12, so it won't break the bank. I already had the spray paint and scrap wood, so that reduced my cost as well.

If your scrap board is already large enough to support your chosen piece of firewood, then you won't need to cut anything. That's why the saw is optional. I like using clamps when gluing things together if I can, but they are not strictly necessary for this project.

As I mentioned above, if your base board is already the right size for the firewood piece you want to use, then you can skip this step.

I needed to cut my scrap board into two pieces and then glue them together along the other edges to make a piece wide enough to support my chosen log and the "embers." I used wood glue and clamps to stick the two pieces of board together.

Once you've chosen a log and a board of appropriate size, lay out your pieces to get an idea of where you will need to attach the log to the base. You will want to attach the log in at least two places to the board. To make your fire more dynamic, use a piece of scrap or two to prop up the log so it really looks like it's resting on a pile of burnt stuff.

If you need to, make a few pencil marks on the board, the scrap, and the log so you will know where to drill your pilot holes. If you fancy yourself a bit more experienced, you can freehand the pilot holes. The firewood can be rather tough to drive a screw into without a pilot hole due to the drying process they use on the logs. (The drying process makes the firewood catch faster in an actual campfire.)

It's not a bad idea to use this planning phase to get an idea of how well your string of lights will cover the base. You will need to let the plug ends of the light string hang out one side, so pick which side of your finished piece will be facing the "audience." You can decide now if you will be passing the string lights under the log, or just circling it. I can tell you that a string of 100 lights is too much for a small campfire and can be a little overwhelming for a medium-sized one. On the other hand, 50 lights are too few for a large campfire.

Play around with the pieces now to get a good idea of how you will need to lay out and secure the bits, because it will be difficult to change course once we start sticking stuff down. Remember that the plug ends of the light string will need to hang off the side of the finished piece.

This is an optional step, but one that can make the difference in terms of a more realistic finished piece. No bed of burning hot coals ever has a brand new unburnt log sitting on top of them for very long. The heat will cause the new log to catch fire quickly.

I dressed my log by putting it on the gas grill for a few minutes. If you have a fire pit, you could actually partially burn the log for a super authentic look. I wanted blackened edges and some smoke markings.

Again, this step is completely optional based on your preferences and how much time you want to devote to this project. If you do decide to dress your log, you must wait for it to completely cool before proceeding.

Whether you chose to dress your log or not, it's time to follow your plan and attach the log to the base. If you have dressed your log, remember to set the log in place with the burnt edges facing down and the unburnt edges facing up.

Using the marks you made during the planning stage, drill pilot holes of appropriate diameter for the screws you will be using. Be sure to drill completely through the support scraps, if you are using them, since the screw will need to go through the base, through the support scrap, and into the log.

Once you have the pilot holes drilled, switch pits and drive your wood screws through from the bottom of the base and into the log. We don't want screw heads visible on the audience-facing side of the finished piece, so make sure all your screws are driven in from the underside of the base. When you're all done, you should be able to pick up the entire piece using the log itself.

Here we come to one of the more creative portions of the project, the layout of the light string. There are only a couple of rules to follow when laying out the lights:

• The plug ends should hang off one side of the piece.
• The plug side should be the one facing away from the audience. (In other words, choose which side will face everyone and put the plugs on the opposite side.)
• Try not to bunch up too many of the lights under the log unless you have a few inches of clearance to lay down some foam and still have a gap beneath the log.

Other than that, have fun. Use the staple gun to secure the plug ends to the back edge of the board (the one people won't be seeing much of when everything is done). Run your light strand under or around your log. Secure the wire in place with the staple gun as needed.

Be careful not to crush or puncture the wires on the light string.

It's okay to pile a couple of lights up together as long as you understand that that particular spot will be brighter than others on the finished piece.

When the entire string is in place, you will have something like what I have pictured above. It doesn't look like much of a campfire yet, just sort of a mess.

This is a crucial step where taking your time pays off in the end. Keep in mind that spray foam will expand *A LOT* so it's not necessary to make huge piles of it. If you're not 100% sure of what you're doing, it's okay to spray a little and let it dry before seeing if you need to apply more.

Lay out cardboard under the piece to prevent overspray from sticking to your work surface. Some of the cardboard may become stuck to the piece, and that's okay. We can deal with that when we're done.

As with the light string layout, there are a couple of rules to follow:

• Wear gloves, this stuff will irritate your skin.
• Go easy on the foam. Seriously, I cannot stress this enough.
• Try not to make long lines of foam, you want a more of a jumbled pile look.
• Cover *ALL* of the lights and wires with the foam.
• *DO NOT* get any foam on or in the plug ends.

Shake your spray foam can really well before starting. If you do this step in layers, make sure to shake the can again before your start each layer.

Spray the foam in uneven spurts with the goal of covering each light and every section of wire except for the two plug ends. It's up to you as to when it looks "done." Some people may have a more flat, spread-out pile of foam, while others may opt for a more impressive pile.

It's okay if you don't use the entire can of spray foam. Just remember that the light will spread throughout the foam, but will not penetrate very well through dense piles of foam.

Just before the final layer begins to dry, stick a few bits of random twigs into the wet foam as a sort of garnish. Don't over do it here, and do not use leaves (leaves would totally burn up if dropped on hot coals).

Once all of the foam is dry, it is time for the paint. Lay out your cardboard under the piece to prevent overspray from getting on your work surface.

You will need to spray your paint in short bursts. We don't want to cover all of the foam in paint, as some of the natural orange glow through the foam is what we want. Using each color separately. I started with black, then used a bit of yellow, and finally red. I did a final pass with the black to darken up some of the areas where the wood touched the "hot" coals.

I found it best to do this part at dusk, when it's just dark enough to see your piece lit up. Plug it in and see where the natural hot a cold spots are (the brighter and darker areas of the foam). Any part of the foam that is noticeably darker than the rest should get a touch of black spray paint. Also, if you have any big crevices in your foam, hit them some black to emphasize them.

For the red and yellow, use them sparingly. Again, we don't want to cover all the foam. We're going for some variation in the color and quality of the light that comes through the foam. This is all subjective, so do whatever you think looks best when the lights are plugged in and it's dark enough to see them clearly.

If it rains a lot in your area, it's a good idea to add a coat of matte sealer/top coat to the whole thing, including the log.

Once everything is dry, set up your Halloween scene. Here's a picture of what we did with our yard this year.

I hope you enjoyed this project as much as I did. I also hope my first Instructable was easy to follow.

Happy Halloween!