This Floating-Head Prank is Just in Time for April Fools’ Day

With April Fools' Day tomorrow, here's the perfect prank to play on an unsuspecting friend. Scare a hungry fridge forager by placing your floating head in a jar between the leftovers and the milk. Not your actual head, of course, but one that will look so real they won't know the difference. All it requires is a large jar, food coloring, photo-editing software, and access to a printer and laminator (available at your local copy/printing store).

The most important part of this ruse is your portrait, and it's also what requires the most work. To begin, you'll take two pictures of your head, one that's front-facing and the other as a profile. Make sure the camera is at eye-level and that you are well-lit. Feel free to make a contorted-looking face for added effect. Afterwards, you'll trim around the photographs in editing software, line up the views, and merge the images.

Once you have your manipulated head printed and laminated, now comes the fun. Prepare murky-looking liquid with food coloring and insert your photo in the jar. The water and shape of the glass will distort your portrait, and no doubt surprise all that see it. If you're not great with Photoshop or don't want to “decapitate” yourself, the creator this tutorial has made it easy to download his portrait and use it for your own version of this clever prank.





Head in a Jar Prank Instructable page
via [Lost At E Minor]

Sara Barnes

Sara Barnes is a Staff Editor at My Modern Met, Manager of My Modern Met Store, and co-host of the My Modern Met Top Artist Podcast. As an illustrator and writer living in Seattle, she chronicles illustration, embroidery, and beyond through her blog Brown Paper Bag and Instagram @brwnpaperbag. She wrote a book about embroidery artist Sarah K. Benning titled "Embroidered Life" that was published by Chronicle Books in 2019. Sara is a graduate of the Maryland Institute College of Art. She earned her BFA in Illustration in 2008 and MFA in Illustration Practice in 2013.
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