Mom had talked about how having a witch's cauldron prop for Halloween this year would really put her into the spirit of things. So naturally, when I saw one in a store at the mall with color-changing fog rising up from within the large black cauldron all covered in cobwebs, it got my attention. Examining this enchanting Halloween prop further, I discovered it had a most bewitching price too? 80 plus tax! Costing a bit more than I had budgeted for mom's creepy cauldron, I immediately began conjuring up ideas on how I might make one just as spooky for half the price or even less.
First, I knew I needed that fogging device with the colored lights. That was the secret ingredient to my brew, the "eye of newt" if you will. I began hunting around online and finally found a similar fogging device with color-changing lights was available for 25.
Next, I needed the cauldron kettle itself. A quick browse through the Halloween section of the local department store netted me a large, black plastic cauldron for about 4 that I knew would look just as great at night, especially once the attention was drawn into the colorful cauldron fog brewing within it.
While there, I bought a small jug of the highly-touted "fog juice" only to later read in the fogger's instructions that distilled water can be used just as well so long as you clean the device properly after each use. So, I experimented using both the fog juice and the distilled water and guess what I discovered? The distilled water indeed worked just as well, if not better, than the expensive fog juice! So, now I knew the fog juice was one pricey element I could eliminate from my secret brew. Onto the finishing touch?
Of course, to make it truly an authentic cauldron that any self-respecting witch would be proud of, it just had to have cobwebs wrapped around it! No problem as, once again, packs of cobwebbing (both standard white and yellow glow in the dark) were found for a buck or less in the Halloween section of the same store.
Placing a couple bricks in the bottom of the cauldron supports a small dark colored pan near the top for the distilled water in which sits the fogger. Voila, my pretty! For less than half the price of the witch's cauldron that initially captured my interest in the mall, mom is enchanted with her authentically large Halloween witch's cauldron and now whips up a fresh batch of brew at every opportunity. ;-) A video clip of the witch's cauldron in action can be seen at
Enjoy and Happy Halloween!
This article may be reprinted in full so long as the resource box and the live links are included intact. Copyright Dan Wright & Scared-Out-of-Your-Wits.com, September 2006.
Short note about the author
Dan Wright has been a Halloween enthusiast ever since he got scared out of his wits at a haunted house at age six. His website, http://Scared-Out-of-Your-Wits.com/ provides 999 frightfully fun ideas for Halloween and any time of year. He also has a haunted house directory in the works at http://Ultimate-Haunted-Houses.com/
Author: Dan Wright