My DIY Giant Rainbow for VBS. (That's my "Boog." She said she wanted to be "under the rainbow!") |
Remember that rainbow I told you I wanted to make out of swim noodles? Well, I did it! I'm hoping that it will enhance my Victoria Falls room. I consider this a prototype, and I'm sure you'll think of better ways to do it, but here are the directions for how I made mine.
1. Gather your materials:
- 2 of each color swim noodle (6 were from Dollar General, and 2 came from Wal-Mart, each at under $2 each. I did see them at Dollar Tree, though, so you could cut your expense in half!)
- fishing line ( I used 15 pound from Wal-Mart at under $3)
- glue gun and sticks (NOT the mini one - tried that first and it failed)
- wire coat hangers (straightened)
- scissors (I used the heavy duty ones that came with my kitchen knives)
- cotton batting (fiberfill, polyfill)
3. Where the noodles touch, trim one of them to have an angle, so that when you push them together, they have a little arch.
4. Hot glue the two noodles together, end to end. (Yes, you're right. Hot glue DOES melt swim noodles, and I sort of knew that going in, but we've had such a rainy day here that I couldn't imagine how long it would take for craft glue to dry. So I went forward with the plan!) I will say that the Dollar General noodles were much more tolerant of the hot glue, while the Wal-Mart ones melted like wet cotton candy. No matter, I did pick up a few tricks to help...
- Don't let the tip of the glue gun touch the foam.
- If you have a colossal fail, trim the yucky parts off, get a clean edge, and start over.
- You may need to trim the end of the noodle into a doughnut shape in anticipation of the foam melting flat.
- Drop the glue from a couple of inches above so it can cool a little.
- Hold the pieces tightly together for at least a minute. Then lay them gently down and hope for the best. You'll be surprised at how it will eventually work.
6. Repeat steps 3-5 for each color you have.
7. Align the seams of all noodle sets in a rainbow design and use the fishing line to weave over and under each noodle about 6 inches to the left of the seams. Knot then ends and apply a dot of hot glue. You'll need to pull the line tightly while the glue dries so it doesn't slip out. Repeat this about 6 inches on the other side of the seams and then about every foot on both sides.
8. Push the foam in and thread a little fishing line under one of your fishing lines. Knot it and glue it to create a hanger. You can do this wherever you like.
9. For the clouds, I just widened a hanger and shoved batting here and there until it was covered and cloud-like. Then I pushed the hanger hook through one of the noodles and rearranged batting to cover it.
In all, I have about $18 invested and am happy with the results! It wasn't exactly easy, but I think it will make a great addition to my Victoria Falls room.
Please let me know if you have any questions. I'll happily help as best I can. You can visit this post to see more VBS Victoria Falls ideas. Also, I'd love to hear of your ideas for making an indoor rainbow.
UPDATE: I finished my room! Click here to see the blog post and picture.
5 comments:
Great rainbow!
Great Idea !! who knew with the noodles !! Hello from new follower so glad I found this blog :)
Thanks y'all! So glad you dropped in! I'm coming to visit you now.
Thanks so much. I was just wondering what else I could do to decorate my room that was inexpensive.
Thanks for the great idea! Found your blog through pinterest and I am making the rainbow today to decorate for my VBS room.
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