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First, figure out where you want to place the bug. Personally, I chose someplece
near the cuboard handle. While some people aren't that squeemish over a plastic bug, seeing it "spring to life" as they open
the cabinet door might startle them good.
Create the small opening to feed your fishing line into at the point that you
want to place the bug. (BTW: The bigger the bug, the better. Walgreens has a big bag of bugs, and the bag has a good assortment
of critters. BIG spiders and beetles.
Even some strikingly realistic cockroaches.
EEEEEWWWW!
Select one of the larger bugs, like one of the large beetles or the bigger
spiders. They have the "weight" needed to operate the rig smoothly. Smaller bugs won't have much of an effect, as far as the
weight to pull on the fishing line.
I have decided to call this one "Hairette" and we'll be gone over the week
end to elope.
What can I say? I'm a "leg" man.
Directly above the hole you made in the plastic, cut a small slit in the
top edge of the plastic, on top of the door. You want this slit to be as close to the virtical surface of the door FRONT.
If the slit is too far away from the virtical surface, this will force the fishing line to manuver around a corner and possibly
bind up the action IF you use a bug that's not heavy enough.
Pull a good length of fishing line from the reel. This has to be long enough
to reach to the ceiling and back through the hole again. In fact, it may be better if the line was not cut from the reel until
the final step.
Grasp the fishing line about 3 feet from the end, and bend a simple loop
in the line. Do not knot the line to form a loop. But try to put a kink in the line, so as to form a "point". This will help
you push the fishing line into the hole, where the bug will eventually be.
Feed the pointed loop into the hole, and push a lot of fishing line through too.
At least a few inches. The more line you have between the door and the covering, the better chance you have in getting the
long hook to snag it from the slit at the top of the door.
Slip the long hook down, inside the slit at the top of the door. Slip it between
the door front and the plasic covering. Once you've got it down to the area where the fishing line is, twist it, and wiggle
the hook. You're trying to snag the fishing line around the hook and pull it out the slit at the top of the door.
Sometimes this is not an easy trick to pull off, but perservere. It's worth the
efforts.
Every so often, try to withdraw the fook to see if the fishing line has been
snagged. If it has, you don't want to loose the free end into the door plastic, The line end might slip through the hook and
the effort wasted. Make sure there's enough slack and keep one hand holding the end of the fishing line, while the other withdraws
the hook, allowing the reel end of the fishing line to pull through to the top of the door.
If you get the fishing line out of the slit at the top of the door, the tough
part is over.
Pull the free end of the fishing line through and out the top, and knot a
loop at the end.
Open the door to it's fully open potition. Visually estimate where the fishing
line would be anchored to the ceiling, directly above the slot. The anchor point won't be directly over the slot, when the
door is closed. The anchor point will be further forward, almost directly overhead.
Use a thumbtack or push pin that will blend into the color of your ceiling.
I use clear pushpins, but if you have a white ceiling, you can use a white thumbtack or a white pushpin. The more you do to
keep the effect invisble, the better it'll work on the "unsuspecting".
After the fishing line is anchored to the ceiling, you can close the cabinet
door and snug up on the fishing line that has been lead out the hole on the front of the cabinet covering.
You want to tie the bug so that it is right up on the hole. If done right, the bug will actually cover the hole, and reduce
the discovery of it's secret.
Snip the fishing line, making sure that you have about 1 1/2 foot of line
to play with. Take a small nail, and create a small hole in the back end of the spider or bug. The plastic/rubber IS kind
of tough to get a hole through, so you may want to start with using a push pin. Then upgrade to the small nail to make the
hole larger. Locate the hole a bit away from the edge of the plastic. You don't want to accidentally rip the hole and cause
it to rip to the outter edge.
Once the hole is made, push the fishing line through. It may be a little
tough to do, but it can be done. Once the fishing line is lead through the hole, you can position the spider over the hole,
just so that the fishing line hole is covered. Pull the rest of the fishing line through the hole in the bug, and create a
simple Granny Knot to help hold it in place.
Snug the knot just so that the bug covers the hole while the door is closed.
When the door is opened, the bug should slide down the plastic covering. When the door is closed, the bug should rise back
into place, covering the hole once more. But the bug should NOT rise so high as to create tell-tale wrikles in the plastic.
This will cause tension on the fishing line, and it will eventually work the thumbtack or pushpin out of the ceiling.
If the bug moves right up to the hole, and does not pull on the plastic,
then this is where the fishing line should be knotted. Tie a few extra knots in the fishing line to make sure the bug doesn't
slip further down the line. Leave a bit of line on the knot.
Fishing line does not hold knots well. A little drop of Elmer's school glue
will help hold the knot in place. Creating a sort of plastic coating, that dries clear in a hour or so. This will keep the
knot from slipping for good.
Test the rig. Swing the door back and forth a few times. The bug should drop
as the door is opend, then rise back into place when the door is closed. When the door is closed, the bug should look like
it's stuck to the plastic somehow. But when the door opens, it drops towards the handle and it'll make just about anyone jump.
After this final test, (and when you have stopped "playing with it...)
Take some clear tape and re-enforce the slit at the top of the door. The fishing
line may rip the slit, larger and larger. This will cause the bug to drop slightly as the damage continues. The tape will
be a lot tougher than the plastic, and prevent the tearing from starting. So reinforce the front, and to either side. And
you should be sitting pretty.
Hope you like this simple scare.
Happy Halloween!
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Please be sure to visit "How to Halloween" A new up and coming site on building your own Halloween decorations for next to
nil!
The Halloween-L is a great website & forum. You should go there NOW! Ok, after you view my website. But right after that,
go there! (If you know what's "Boo" for you!)
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