Plans

Punch Bowl Baby......This is one of the best gags that I have come up with for you party people. No one can resist filling their cup from her. You will need a large plastic cauldron. Wal-Mart has them for about $5.00. Next, a baby doll that is 6" to 8" taller than the rim of the punchbowl. Don't borrow a doll from little Suzie, as you will be doing some major surgery on her. While at Wal-Mart, go into the lawn and garden section and pick up a reciculating fountain pump and plastic tubing. From the electrical department, you will need lamp flasher disc, a screw-in type outlet for a lamp socket, a drop light, and a hollow threaded lamp tube with 2 nuts and 2 fender washers.

Assembly: Start by drilling a hole in the side of the cauldron near the bottom. Insert the threaded lamp tube, leaving most of the tube on the outside. Place a fender washer and nut on both sides of the cauldron. (You may want to use a non toxic sealer here.) Using a sharp knife, slice the toes off of one of the feet of your doll. Now remove her head and make a slit opening at the mouth. Route the pump tubing through the open foot, up through the torso and then into the head. Squeeze the end of the tube so it matches the slit in the mouth. Make sure the tube barely protrudes from the lips. Reattach the doll head onto the body while pulling the excess hose from the foot. Stand the doll next to the cauldron with the hands resting on the rim directly over the hole for the lamp tube. Be sure that the doll head is leaning over the open bowl. Make small holes in both hands with matching holes in the cauldron rim. Use stainless steel wire to tie the hands off. (I hot glued the first one I did and found that it was a real pain to clean and store the punchbowl.) Attach the tubing from the foot to the outlet of the pump. Attach a piece of tube from the inlet side of the pump to the threaded lamp tube. Insert the flasher disc into the dropcord followed by the screw in outlet and plug in the pump. Your Punchbowl Baby is now ready to serve up your best witches brew. Note: The pump can move punch with limited pulp through it for a great projectile vomiting effect.  Be sure to cover the wires, remember electricity and punch are not a good pair.

Cauldron Witch.......This is a great mechanism that I have used for many different props over the years. I'm fortunate enough to have a 50 gallon cast iron kettle to use for my cauldron, but a large tub painted black will work well too. If that is still not available, you could form a ring out of cardboard and paint it black. The imagineering is up to you. The witch dress is made from about 3 yards if black cloth. You will need full length arms. The witch head is a store bought item that incorporates the mask, hair, and hat in one. The stand is made of 1/4" round steel rod with a crosspiece that serves as the shoulders. I arced the rod to give her a hunchback look. The rod must be long enough to stake into the ground. From each side of the shoulders, attach a 3' piece of clothesline rope. Cut four pieces of 3/4" PVC to 15". Slide two of the PVC pipes onto each of the ropes. These are her arms. Place the dress over your framework and place the mask/hat over a plastic jug. I like using a green two liter bottle so I can insert a glow stick inside. Place the head over the rod that extends above the shoulders. Stuff a pair of gloves and pin them to the end of her sleeves with the PVC going as deep inside them as you can. You will need to cut a small hole in each glove to allow the rope to pass through.