Some pranks for the clever and not-so-clever
In college, pranks are good any day of the year. However, they are even better on April 1, also known as April Fools’ Day. Pranks can be done in a variety of ways, from instant mash potatoes on a front lawn, to Crisco on a roommates toilet seat.
This is a simple guide to easy pranks that can spice up April Fools’ Day and award street cred to anyone who tries them.
Glitter on a doorway or air vents of a car
You will need: one tube of glitter.
Glitter is the herpes of crafts. Once a bottle of glitter is opened and a portion of its contents are released, it will be on anything you touch for the next year. To glitter someone’s room, open the bottle and sprinkle it on the top of their doorway. Any time their door is opened, a breakout of glitter will occur.
To glitter someone’s car, pour an equal amount of glitter in every air vent in their car. Make sure the car is off or this won’t work. Once the glitter bottle is empty, turn the air on high and leave the vents open. Next time they turn their car on it will look as though Tinkerbell visited.
Sewing your roommate’s underwear together
You will need: one needle, a spool of thread and all, or most, of your roommate’s underwear.
Thread the needle and sew two pairs together using the top of one pair and the crotch of another. Put only two stitches in each pair of underwear. Continue this until all pairs are sewn together, then place them back where you found them.
The gold fish trick
You will need: 100 gold fish, an empty house, every bowl and cup in the house and 20 minutes.
Start with buying 100 goldfish. Find a way to lure all the roommates out of the apartment or house you are targeting with this trick – you need them gone for at least 15 minutes to pull this off. When all the roommates are gone, get every bowl, cup, pan and dish that can hold water and fill it with enough water for a gold fish to swim around in. Place one fish in every dish you have filled with water and place them around the house in obvious places. Leave some fish food for the apartment so the fish don’t die.
Crisco me crazy
You will need: One can of Crisco or shortening, and places to rub it on that no one will suspect.
Crisco and shortening is great to rub on door handles and toilet seats because no one can see it. Begin by rubbing it on door knobs of people’s apartments or on the door knobs of your roommates’ rooms. Move to the toilet seats, but make sure it is a thick yet smooth layer on the toilet. You can also do this to shampoo bottles and the underside of car door handles, just dry them off before you start oiling up.
Newspaper bedroom
You will need: a one foot or more stack of newspapers (this edition of The Statesman will work nicely), one bedroom, a roll of tape, a few friends to help and at least 30 minutes.
Start by unfolding all the newspapers and laying them out with the centers open. The trick is to make everything in the room look like it has always been covered in newspaper. Start with the walls, then the bed and bigger objects. Move to books, CDs, boxes and DVDs next. Cover the floor last. Use the roll of tape to tape the paper to everything. If there is a mirror in the room don’t cover it, as this adds to the effect.
Toothpaste frosted cookies
You will need: One plate of homemade cookies, a tube of white toothpaste and a group of unsuspecting victims. When your cookies are done cooking and have cooled, take the toothpaste and frost the cookies with it. This trick also works with mayo or miracle whip as the frosting.
Colored milk
You will need: a jug of milk that does not belong to you and food coloring.
This is a fun prank to play if your roommates are high strung. You get a thrill and they don’t have an aneurysm. It works best when there are multiple clear milk jugs in the fridge, then your color palate is endless. Choose a color and add a few drops of food color to the milk. Shake it up till the color has combined with the milk, adding more drops if you want it darker.
–ch.jensen@aggiemail.usu.edu