Thrift Store Ideas (High Fantasy)

1. Necromancer's lair lantern
Lots of Halloween décor could easily be used for pieces to recreate a necromancer's or other dark magic-user's lair. These surplus skull-and-crow lanterns were found in a thrift store for about $10, but you can likely buy these very cheaply close to or after Halloween. The lantern has a LED light, but this object can benefit from additional lights in the orbital sockets of the skull, or additional weathering and aging done to the skull.



2. Royal storage container
This started out life as metal-plated ice bucket, and was found in a thrift store for $2. Unaltered this works pretty well as a themed storage container for food or other objects. But you could also using ageing techniques to tone down the newness, add faux jewels, etc.



3. Pedestal for magical artifact
I'm not sure what this started out as, but I found this wooden stand-like object for about $2. It could be used as the base or pedestal for a crystal ball, creature, mysterious box, skull, or miscellaneous sorcerous objects. It could be modified to sit a crystal ball by cutting a circle out of the top, it could be painted, wood-burned with runes or designs. The legs could also be cut off and used for the handle of a wand, for Harry Potter or assorted fantasy characters.

4.. Magical rose
I found these fake flowers with color changing lights along the edges for $4 in a thrift store. I saw it and immediately thought of the classic Beauty and the Beast magic rose. It even already comes in a plastic case, though to make it more fitting for a high fantasy or fairytale prop I'd favor using a large bell jar or cloche display.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How to make a simple medieval hood from cloth napkins

Image
All right, so to exercise my rudimentary sewing skills I have challenged myself to make a medieval hood. Before committing myself to making a more complicated design with my better fabrics, I decided to play around with basics with some fabric that won't matter if it goes all to hell. So I experimented with some old cloth napkins and it worked out pretty well. Obviously the rougher design is not all that useful for cosplaying as nobility, but could easily work for a basic outlaw, forester, or Robin Hood type costume. Forgive the stare of death, I needed a dramatic photo... Materials -4 decorative table napkins -Antler or other medieval-type button Tools -Scissors -Needle/thread -Superglue -Measuring tape 1. Gather the materials The materials list is pretty simple. The key part here is finding a set of four cloth napkins that have a believably medieval look to them. Given the roughshod approach, this is a hood better suited to a lower-status medieval person, so
Read more

How to make rebel pilot leg flares

Image
Another basic part of the Iden Versio costume or any other rebel pilot are the leg flares and flare holder. It's the gray/olive band holding 8 silver "flares" on the left leg of Rebellion pilots in New Hope , Empire Strikes Back , and Return of the Jedi . There's a great tutorial using olive nylon webbing by Gil Guemes aka JediXXL at Rebel Legion , but since I couldn't find suitable webbing I adapted this for using basic fabric instead. Inspiration Materials -Olive green heavy fabric -3/4 inch diameter wooden dowel -Silver spray paint -Clear coat spray enamel -Snaps (or Velcro) Tools -Hacksaw -Sandpaper -Needle/thread -Snap tool 1. Gather the materials First I had to locate just the right fabric. The original Gil Guemes tutorial recommended using olive green 2-inch wide nylon webbing at the basis for the flare holder. Unfortunately I could find none in local craft or hardware stores. Instead I roamed a fabric store looking for ju
Read more

How to make the collar from the Stargate Anubis Guard

Image
For those intent on becoming the Prime of Ra and adopting the appearance of ancient Egyptian gods to terrorize the populace, welcome to my step-by-step guide of becoming the Anubis guard in the Stargate film. Most of these elements are going to be made from EVA foam, so this simple collar-piece was a good introduction to cutting, detailing, shaping, and painting foam. References Materials -8mm EVA foam -E600 clear glue -Dark copper metallic spray paint -Plastidip -Turquoise acrylic paint Tools -Dremel tool with sanding attachment -Box cutter -Woodburner -Foam wedge for painting, paper towels 1. Gather the materials For this build, you're going to need a thinner EVA foam most easily purchased these days from craft stores. I chose a 8mm thickness, picking up a roll from a craft store for about $20. For this project, I needed about a third of the 24in x 60in roll. For the paints, I chose a dark copper metallic spray paint from Rustoleum. For the Horus guards
Read more