Nikki's Yearly Yard Haunt

This year, I’m adding a new decoration to my setup.  It’s the first time I’ve tried and optical illusion, and although it’s not quite finished, I think it’s going to end up looking pretty cool.

The idea behind a bottomless pit is to make an image that reflects itself reflecting itself.  It’s really just a box with a mirror at the bottom, and a one-way mirror (like the ones you see in cop drama interrogation rooms) on the top.  This lets the viewer see inside the box, but does not show them their own reflection as the look down into it.  The result is a seemingly endless hole.

Since a one-way mirror would be a little on the pricy side, I went the cheap route.  I had a piece of plain glass cut for me to the correct size at the hardware store, and then I bought some mirrored privacy film.  It works greats!

The mirror I used in the bottom was an old full length mirror from a door.  Just as an aside… if you ever need to cut a mirror with a manual glass cutter, make sure you tape across where you’re cutting.  Otherwise, you might end up with a lot of tiny mirror shards when you go to crack the glass.  😉

The frames for the two mirrors were just 2x4s with a 1/2″ channel routed up the center for the glass to slide into.  The sides I built from a sheet of plywood, held together with 90 degree corner brackets.  Add a hole in one side for a lightbulb, and the construction was complete.

I’m still working on the inside decoration.  I’m using 1/2″ thick styrofoam and creating a stone pattern.  Once I’m done, I’ll post photos of the finished product.