# Easy Mason Butterfly Prop Hack



## Ghost Ninja (Aug 25, 2013)

Okay so here is an easy prop you can whip out in a hurry. You know those cool little Butterfly in Jar gimmicks? Well I hacked it or rather customized it. Here are the simple steps, let me know what you think.

Step One: Buy a Butterfly in Jar thingy and change the jar with a regular mason jar of the same size. I changed it because the one that comes with it has butterflies on it.

Step Two: Cut the butterfly wings off leaving the parts that attach to the wires (yes, I felt a little bad doing it). Color the remnant with a black sharpie.

Step Three: Print out a bat wing design in color on a transparency. Cut out the bat wings and super glue them onto the butterfly remnants. Leave the clear plastic at the bottom of the bat wings or the little hooks will catch on the wire. Replace the lid or cover it with a fabric and string. That's it! Pretty cool right? I will eventually extend the "Try Me" button to activate it surreptitiously or even on a floor mat.

Below, I have attached a couple copies of the bat wings I designed. I went through various designs until I found one that did not hang up on the wire. I originally planned on making a Harpy like Ray Harryhausen's but it wouldn't work. Adjust the bat creature on your computer until it is about the same size as the butterfly. My working model has each wing about 1 inch wide and about 1 1/2 inches tall. My video shoot is in less than ideal light for a haunt but I wanted you guys to have a clear view.


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## bobzilla (Nov 15, 2008)

That's really cool!
Nice job on that. Very creative.


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## DaveintheGrave (Feb 12, 2004)

Great idea!
That's a really nice prop.


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## Boos&Spirits (Sep 2, 2014)

I picked up 3 of these on 90% off clearance at big lots today after seeing this tutorial


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## The Feejee Merman (Sep 14, 2014)

It's a baby Mothman! 
Great tutorial. I will definitely be getting some mileage out of it this season.


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## Ghost Ninja (Aug 25, 2013)

Cool! I'm glad that you guys are liking it. Keep on paying the inspiration forward!!!


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## Castart (Aug 29, 2010)

I was thihking you might be able to make a farie in a jar for anyone doing a more fantasy or alice n wonderland kind of haunt. Would an LED work on the butterfly wings?


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## Ghost Ninja (Aug 25, 2013)

I experimented with a variety of wing designs as I really wanted to make Harryhausen style Harpy but it wouldn't work. Then changed the design around until I got what you see. I also tinkered around with the idea of somehow gluing a little Harpy body in front of the wings. But if you study the existing wing design you will see how hard that would be. Besides, I also had to deal with the heaviness of my wing designs and had to make them smaller.

So If you can find a way to attach a fairy body to the existing butterfly wings that could work. But I can't see how using a different wing design like dragonfly/fairy style wings would work. Well actually, it would work for about 10 to 15 seconds and then get tangled up in the wire like mine did. I that my R & D helps you figure it out and then maybe I can make my harpy.

By the way, I have a larger motor set aside to make a bigger version. I'll probably have to just set it on a motion sensor/timer thingy. Since I'm not too sharp on programming chips or whatever to get the sporadic movement that it has now ... yet.


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