September 20, 2011

Jet Pack

Toddler Moose (my reluctant model here) can spend hours "flying" around the house. I asked him if he's like some assistance in flight. He lifted his shirt, pointed to his bellybutton and said, "I put the gas in here, Mommy." Then he turned around and pointed to his bum. Then he giggled "It falls out here!"
Well, if that isn't a conundrum I don't know what is. So, I developed this jet pack to help him with his leaky gas issues.


Step 1: Spray plastic bottles with plastic primer (I used Krylon Fusion). Let dry.

Step 2: Spray bottles with your favorite silver spray paint (doesn't have to be plastic specific.) Let dry.

Step 3: Adhere bottles to a piece of cardboard, approximately the width of the bottles next to each other. Let dry.

Step 4: Use ribbon to create backpack-like straps. Adhere. (I used duct tape. That shiz works for everything!)

Step 5: Cut crepe paper strips to create flames. Glue the tops of the strips to another piece of crepe paper. Let dry.

Step 6: Accordion fold the top strip of the flames. Glue to the inside of the bottle tops (which are actually the bottom of the jetpack.) Let Dry.

Step 7: Run around the house making flying sounds with your mouth (or let your kid handle this step)

Moose Tracks:
I used the 1.25 liter bottles of Coke products that can be found for about a buck at most big box stores. They have a cool shape, if you ask me. the straight cylinders of 2liter bottles work just as well.
I cut the tips of the crepe paper to make it look more like flames. Toddler Moose doesn't really appreciate that touch, but it makes me feel better about it.


62 comments:

  1. Wow this is AWESOME!! Asda/ Tesco do their own version of red bull which comes with ready made silver bottles!! I am going to have a go with those and avoiding spray painting as I will no doubt make too much mess!

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    1. you can get Redbull in LITRES? HOLY COW!!

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    2. My grandson, now 25, is now married and expecting twin boys. He (with a little help from granny) make a "Ghostbusters" backpack when he was about 10. He still remembers how much fun he had making and wearing this. I'm going to forward this web site for him and his wife. With twins, I'm sure they'll discover a lot of inexpensive ideas.

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  2. This is cool, and I LOVE the idea behind your blog! So fun!

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  3. Thanks for checking out my blog! I'm thrilled you're enjoying it!
    The jet pack is a bit of a prized possession in the Moose house right now. Toddler Moose would give his right arm for his girlfriend, but when she wanted to try on his Jet Pack today he actually told her no and then brought me the jet pack for safekeeping.

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  4. Pray paint does make a mess, Anon (is that you, Otter?) I leave spray painting up to Mr Moose. He enjoys it, doesn't gripe when *he* gets overspray everywhere, and he feels like he has a hand in my crafting. It's a win-win for us.

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  5. Would it be ok if I entered this costume into BitsyBug's Cutest Costume Contest (http://www.facebook.com/TeamBitsyBug) for you? This costume is so cute, and I think it would get lots of "likes"!!

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  6. I'm a total spaz, I can't craft for crap-ola, and I've started a Pin Board "Crafts I might not suck at" - and this is going at the top of the list! My boy is 7 but will still love this - I'm going to use the 2 litre bottles, since he's bigger... I will report back.

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  7. I'm linking up to your project tomorrow on Dollar Store Crafts (the link will be: http://dollarstorecrafts.com/2011/10/make-a-girl-space-costume/)

    Just a note, because I know you are new to blogging. It would be really cool if you would include links to the place where you originally found the ideas you are inspired by. I know you're seeing them on Pinterest, but if you find the original source & just put a link up on your post, that will do a couple things: 1., let the person who you were inspired by know that you enjoyed their post, and 2. let people who read your post discover a new blog.

    Hope you don't mind my advice!

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  8. This is SO fabulous! I have three nephews who are about to get a little package in the mail...Thanks for posting!

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  9. Evin - I'm a super lazy crafter. If I can do it, you can too!
    Britt - Your nephews are going to love the jet packs if they're anything like my little guy!
    Lady - Do you get something for having the winning entry?

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  10. Heather -
    Thanks for letting me know about your blog!
    I'm not new to blogging, and I fully respect the idea of linking to ideas used. And I do. When I "steal" something straight from another website, I link it (if I ever fail to do so, feel free to call me out. It's not an intentional oversight.)
    However, when I'm simply inspired by a picture I've seen, but never bother to go to a blog or other website to view instructions or even see if it's anything more than just a picture, I typically link to the pin on Pinterest. I didn't go to the blog, and don't necessarily feel comfortable linking to a blog I'm not sure I'd endorse. Does that make sense? It's not out of disrespect for whoever took the original picture, but a matter of not putting my name behind something unknown. It is why I tag the post as "Inspired", though.
    And my "original" posts are things I've created or made or whatevered without any sort of inspiration from anything. Often I'll go look for something I've made after I've made it just to find that others have also come up with the some "original" idea. No link necessary for that.
    If a project or recipe is so horrible, despite how closely I've followed the directions, I'll often mention it's from Pinterest (and therefore someone else), but won't link. No one likes bad press.
    So, long story longer: call me out when I accidentally forget to link. I truly mean no disrespect to those I've gotten projects from.

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  11. Just took a look at your site, Heather. I'm in love!

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  12. i absolutely love this! it's perfect for a halloween costume!

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  13. This is fantastic! Thank you so much for sharing!

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  14. My sis just repinned this on Pinterest specifically so that I would see it and could be inspired for my little one (her spoiled nephew...) I've got to say it's a great idea! I'll be keeping it on file :)

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  15. Love it! Thank you for sharing :)

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  16. This is awesome!!! & I love your blog! I'm your newest follower!

    Have a great weekend!
    Amy

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  17. When someone asks my 11 year old son what he wants for Christmas, he always says he wants a jet pack. He's being silly, but I think it will be funny when he opens up a gift Christmas morning and finds this jet pack. :)

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  18. This will be perfect for the kids in my Day Care. Thanks!!

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  19. What kind of glue did you use? I made this for my son, and am having problems keeping it together.

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  20. Thanks for all the kind words, everyone.
    vwwannab - I used a combination of adhesives. I first used the generic all purpose glue (choose your favorite). I glued like crazy and then let it set forever. after I was sure it was dry, I glued all available edges with silicone caulking. It works amazingly well.
    Having said all of that, I have to do some repair after a really good playdate. Sometimes I recaulk the edges. Sometimes I replace the straps. The jetpack is made of simple materials and isn't really meant for long-lasting rough play. But it's easy, and typically can be done quickly after preschooler bedtime, making it ready to go again in the morning.
    Good luck!

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  21. Love this im making for my daughter.

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  22. I wonder if you could paint the inside of the bottles with silver. That way you wouldn't have to worry about the paint chipping off. Also it might give a cool shinny look to the silver.

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  23. My grandson is into Buzz lightyear. He is going to love this jet pack. thanks for the idea

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  24. How would you paint the inside of the bottles?

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  25. i think you could put liquid paint on the inside and shake the bottle until paint spreads everywhere

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  26. So, you could pour liquid paint inside, but I'm not sure you'd gain much. You still have the issue of paint not liking to sticj to plastic. You'll also likely end up using a ton of paint to cover everything. And you'll still have to deal with the unsightly outside of the bottles where the labels used to be (maybe use duct tape to cover that?).
    I'm not saying it's not doable, because I did consider it. But I reasoned it was easier to spray paint them a few times.just my two cents.
    If you do try it with the paint inside I'd love to know how it goes!

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    Replies
    1. I just made the jet pack for my son and he loves it! I covered both bottles in duct tape to get the silver color and avoid the mess:)

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  27. There's a Pinterest thing floating around that involves coating the inside of a clear ornament with liquid Pledge, and then rolling fine metallic sparkles around to coat. Doing the same on something this size could be, erm, labor-intensive? But it might work (and! sparkles!).

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  28. Thanks!! Just found this on pinterest today and made them for my kids. Didn't have spray paint and I didn't want to go out and buy any so we just hot glued construction paper around the bottles. My kids love them.

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  29. Liquid pledge/glitter might work great. I'd still wonder what to do with the wrapper portion of the soda bottles.
    I've never made an ornament with liquid pledge. Does it dry as a glue (can't imagine it would - it's supposed to be used on furniture). If not, how does the glitter really stick over time? In my house my little astronaut bounces that jet pack around quite a bit. Wouldn't the glitter have a desire to fall off/out?
    I love me some spray paint. I'd find some sparkly spray paint. But that's just my preference.
    If you try the pledge/glitter thing, let me know how it goes!!

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  30. if i read it correctly you said you haven't figured out what to do with the labels off the soda bottles? why not try making them into coasters .. not sure if it would work with the finish of them but worth a try right?

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  31. No no. Not what I was trying to say.
    When you take a label off of a soda bottle you often have the glue strip(s) left on the bottle. And they're ugly. It's easy enough to turn those to the back of the jet pack. But when you remove the labels you often have scratches and other markes all around the bottle where the label used to be. And when they're all around you have no good way to hide them if you paint the inside of the bottle.
    I painted the outside of the bottles to smooth that area over and get rid of the scratches and whatnot. Does that make sense?
    And the coaster idea - you could make coasters out of everything. Pretty sure you could out of the soda labels, if that's what floats your boat. Just hav eto make sure you're using the right medium.

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  32. These are so great! I showed my fiance and he was so stoked for us to make for our 3yr old. He (fiance) drinks enough DC to get us some bottles in no time! Its just the paint! We too want an inside paint solution, but your point on the labels is a good one. Either way, we'll make soon. (found you on Pinterest and it was repinned 64 times within the 20 minutes I pinned it! Awesome.)

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  33. I adore this! What a cool idea! I'm going to make one and put it in my 'Hope I have grandkids someday' hopechest! I have somefabric with aliens on it and plan to make quilt to go with it. Oh heck - maybe I'll just wear it while I clean house! LOL

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  34. I am doing this with my preschool class on Friday. It is Rockets for R. We are blasting off with what we are calling a "rocket" pack and doing rocket experiements, reading rocket books, and making a cute footprint rocket picture for mom and dad. I am super excited. The children are going to love it! I had heard of using the bottles to make rocket/jet packs, but was going to cover them with paper. I didn't even think of painting them until I saw this! Looks so much better. Thanks so much for sharing!

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  35. This is awesome. My young nephews are going to really enjoy these after I make them. Can't wait. Thanks. Jess www.mystiqueuniques.com

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  36. So are these 2 liter bottles or the 1 ? Sorry if I missed the answer !

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  37. So I recently made this and I wanted to share my experience and what we did a little different. So we made it for our daughters best friend (3 years old) and what we did was first wrap the bottles in duct tape and then we put two pieces of cardboard together and stuffed that with newspaper to create a actual backpack. We made little elastic straps to hold it on. Im having trouble explaining how we did all of this (baby nursing and crawling all over me) haha so if youd like to see a photo Ill be happy to share. For the flames we got wired ribbon in hopes that it would last a little longer. We had a lot of fun making this!

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    Replies
    1. http://mamaphigg.blogspot.com/2012/04/we-made-jetpack-for-friends-babe.html

      I posted photos of ours :)

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    2. I jus made this but can't get the bottles to stick to the cardboard with hot glue or tacky glue, ended up using some tape, any ideas for something sturdier?

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  38. This is awesome! We are totally redoing our son's room in a space theme when he hits three so I am so going to re-pin this so I can make it for him then! He'll LOVE this!

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  39. There is a product called Glitter It (http://www.beaconadhesives.com/cgglit.html). It's a liquid Adhesive that you would pour into the bottle. Just a little... same as the Liquid Pledge (but this one is from the craft store and uses the word Adhesive... might be the same thing though, who knows). Roll around to get all of bottle wet with Glitter It. Then you pour glitter dust into the bottle, roll around to coat. Pour extra glitter out...

    Good to go. Cut craft. My son is running around gathering recycle bin bottles as I speak.

    Thanks.

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  40. We made some too! Thanks for the inspiration!

    Nat
    doodlecraft.blogspot

    http://www.doodlecraft.blogspot.com/2012/04/super-sci-fi-rocket-fueled-jet-pack.html

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  41. Just made this today, used foil instead of painting the bottle. We only used one bottle, but it still looks great! Thanks for the idea:)

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  42. I found this via Pinterest. I'm totally making this for my nephew and I'm debating filling the bottles with Diet Coke and lots of mentos to see if we can get his feet off the ground (jk, but it is worth investigating) :)

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  43. This is such an awesome idea!!! We are having a space party for our boys and I'm hoping to make a jet pack for every kid that attends. This might be quite the project, but I think they will have so much fun. Thank you for sharing this clever idea. :)

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  45. We had a Pintrest Family Craft day just last night and I made your jet pack. It came out really cute, I did spray paint it and I used yellow, orange, one red and one blue strips of scarf (bandana solid colors.) The only problem I had was sticking the bottles to the cardboard. I used a hot glue gun and every time I thought it was set and I picked it up it fell apart. So what I did was press a bit and then left it alone while I cut strips. The best one that came out real good is now on my wall on Facebook. My sister in law took the picture. Here is the site so you can see it. https://www.facebook.com/#!/rosemarymartinez.rutherford. There is one of my 19 year old demonstrating the jet pack.

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  46. I love this idea. I made a jetpack and a cape from an idea i saw from another pin for my dog"s costume fot petoween. She is going as superdog. I painted the bottles pink and made the cape pink also with rhinestones.

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  47. These are great instructions; I've been needing to build some kind of small-sized jetpack prop for a puppet of mine for an upcoming production, and had a very similar idea as you pointed out. Now if I could only figure out a way to rig in something, so that it would actually disperse smoke...

    Thanks for sharing.

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  50. My oldest son loved the Disney movie "Rocketeer"
    This jet pack looks just like that - I can hardly wait now until next Halloween. i am going to make this for my oldest grandson and maybe I can find some large bottles too, so it can be a dad amd son Rocketeer costume.
    Your site is wonderful.

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  51. That was cool empty bottles of coke or pepsi will do and make the kids flying in his imagination.

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