How to Make a Fountain Prop for a Party

Choose a design for your party's fountain. Pick a look that fits your party. It can be as simple as recirculating punch bowl with a central spout, or an elaborate pyramid of champagne glasses with cascading water. If you will be putting a drink in your fountain, be sure all of the pieces are clean and sanitary.

Choose a small pump for your fountain. These are available at garden supply stores and other home improvement stores. You will want a relatively low-powered pump, but choose one based on the size and needs of your fountain. An inexpensive pump that will move 80 to 85 gallons per hour can be found for about $20, and this size pump is perfect for an indoor tabletop fountain.

Find a base for your fountain. It should be a container large enough to hold the components and pump of your fountain as well as the liquid the fountain will be circulating. An open tray or shallow tub works well for this purpose; it should be deep enough to completely submerge your pump in the liquid.

Place your pump into the container's base in a location where it will be submerged. Attach enough 1/2-inch plastic tubing to the pump so that it will be long enough to reach the spouting point. Place your fountain stand into the base. You can use a simple glass serving stand or something similar to act as the stand to hold your fountain props.

Assemble your fountain. For a punch bowl fountain, drill a hole in the bottom of a plastic punch bowl with an electric drill and 1/2-inch bit, and feed the tubing through the hole. Make sure there is a tight seal between the hole and the tube. To make a secure seal, you can apply a bit of liquid silicone to close any gaps. If you use a glass punch bowl, you can run the tubing up the side of the bowl and have it spout over the edge. For a champagne glass fountain, stack glasses to the desired height and run your pump tubing to the top of the fountain, feeding it through the center of the pyramid. In both cases you can come up with creative ways to disguise your spout by using decorations that fit the theme of your party, such as a flower display or rocks fashioned into a waterfall.

Fill the base of your fountain with the desired liquid. For a punch bowl fountain, make sure there is enough liquid to overflow the punch bowl.

Turn on the pump. The liquid will cycle through the fountain, filling the punch bowl or glasses until they overflow, and drain back into the base. The pump will recycle the liquid up from the base and back through the fountain.