So, being the good, kind, benevolent Grammy that I am–I finally, finally got the old floppy, crinkled, ridiculous Snap-Set pool out for the baby birds. It might not look so big to you–but it took about a million hours to fill the sucker up. We let it sit in the sun forever to nudge the water a bit warmer than the Artic-Snow setting it started out with.
Oh, the Lilliputians loved it all right. In fact, since it was about 145 degrees in the shade–
they wasted no time and dove right in…
and promptly…
began…
to empty it. After all my work. Sheesh…
What the heck?!
Ahhh…well. Who could argue with that cute little face?
No, no. I’m not going to show you how to use a Hula Hoop. That would be incredibly humiliating for me and extremely unpleasant for you. No, no–I’m going to show you how to make your very own Hula Hoop. And not one of those silly things that bend the first time someone blinks at it–but a very sturdy, lasts-nearly-forever one. Beat that.
All you need are three simple things:
Polypipe
Connectors
Duct Tape
I went to Home Depot and asked for 10 feet of Polypipe and the man said, “Sorry ma’am. It only comes in 100 ft. rolls.”
Wow. Luckily, it was only $13.00 for the whole 100 foot roll. That’s enough to make 10 Hula Hoops! What a great activity for a little kids birthday party, huh?
Ask the nice HD man to give you 1 connector for each hoop you want to make. They cost about 65 cents each.
Directions:
Measure out about 10 feet of pipe and cut it. If you have pipe cutters, that works best. I didn’t have any handy so I used a bread knife. Be really careful to cut only the pipe!
Dip one end of the pipe in boiling water to soften it up a bit…
then press the connector in and push it to the middle line.
Now do the same thing with the other side–warm it then push it on to the other side of the connector until you almost can’t see the connector at all anymore.
Now tear strips of duct tape and wind it around your hoop. This will add a bit of extra weight and will make your Hula Hoop dang cute.
Keep winding until you have covered the whole hoop and don’t worry about wrinkles in the tape–you’ll never notice them.
Now I’d love to show you our adorable Hula Hoops in action, but alas, Chompy is only 2 and wasn’t quite sure what we wanted her to do so you’ll have to use your imagination.
But be aware…
they do make nice Fairy Rings for the Wood Sprites.
We’ve always loved hands-on toys around here. You know, the kind that you have to interact with to get it to work. So, I knew when I saw a picture of this pretty little “music stick” that we’d need to give it a try.
The idea is so simple, a two-year-old can use it. It works like this…
Your child slides the washers up to the top of the threaded metal rod then lets them go.
As the washers spin and twirl down to the bottom, they make a lovely, tinkling sound–almost like a rain stick–only softer. Quite pleasant, really.
Now the really nice part. It went together in less than 5 minutes. No kidding. Seriously, the hardest part for me was walking in to Home Depot and trying to act like I knew what I was doing. I finally just handed the list to one of the workers and they gathered up all the stuff for me. :}
You’ll need:
1/2 by 4-inch threaded eyebolt
Teflon plumber’s tape
1/2 inch all-thread rod, 24 or 36 inches long
1/2 inch coupling nut
1/2 inch locknut
10-15 1/2 inch washers
Directions:
1. Wrap a piece of Teflon tape around the end of the eyebolt and both ends of the rod. This will help it all stay screwed together over time.
2. Take the eyebolt…
and screw it to the coupling nut.
3. Screw the rod to the other end of the coupling nut.
4. Slide the washers onto the rod.
5. Secure the locknut to the bottom–and you’re finished.
Now hang it from a post or tree or–in this case–the top of my canopy bed, and turn the kiddos loose with it.
They’ll be enthralled, captivated, amazed and surprised at just how fun it is to play with.
