Read your production’s script carefully. Make up a list of all the props necessary. Draw up a diagram of your stage and the sizes and locations of the props. Place these into your diagram to be sure they will fit.
Purchase any props you can find at thrift shops or discount stores. Look for inexpensive and lightweight couches, drapes, light fixtures, bedding, wall hangings, knickknacks and anything called for in the script. The items on your list that you cannot purchase will have to be made.
Obtain the fabric you need to make your production’s props. Fabric props require material, a sewing machine and matching thread. Purchase patterns for home sewing and follow the directions, or you can measure the material carefully and then drape your curtains, slipcovers, tablecloths, wall hangings or banners to avoid sewing.
Cut Styrofoam with a knife or a hot wire tool to the desired shape of your prop. Glue any sectional pieces together. Hard coat the whole prop with resin applied with a paintbrush. Sand down the prop with sandpaper. Apply acrylic paint as a base coat and allow it to dry. Apply a second coat.
Simulate wood with cardboard boxes that you can paint and decorate to look like the real thing. Don’t put anything heavy on the boxes or have actors lean on them. If you have woodworking experience, you also can cut lightweight balsa wood with a basic band saw to fashion the wood into lightweight props. Stack your cardboard boxes or wood pieces to make modular sections in several parts that are easy to disassemble and move.
Fashion tin foil or metal scraps into metal-looking props such as swords or jewelry. Make a paper pattern. Cut out the props with heavy-duty scissors or a saw. Wrap shiny electrical tape around the items to make them blunt. Use glue-on gems for decorations.