2017 VBS Galactic Starveyors worship rally

2017 VBS Galactic Starveyors worship rally ALL DONE!

With all the instruments on the stage it's difficult to see the club house and its telescope, but the trees turned out good.

Cardboard Stage Tree 

The 2017 VBS from LifeWay is Galactic Starveyors.  Looks like a few stage trees are needed. They are easily made from two inch Styrofoam, but if the budget is lacking;these may work instead. My guess is future VBS may need trees also, so if I can find a place to store them I will.

Here is a look at the tools and materials I used. The materials consist of cardboard and hot glue. I'll paint them latter. Cardboard is pretty abundant. When I go into Sam's Club* around 6:00 pm. they are more than happy to let me take large sheets of the stuff, and if I call Lowe's* in the morning and speak to the person in charge of the backroom they are nice enough to save me washer/dryer or refrigerator boxes. 

I'm working on two trees here, so there are photos of different trees at different steps of the construction.

I drew the tree trunk with a couple of bushes at the base. The bushes are needed to make the base as large as possible. The larger the base the more stable the tree will be. Also, I made sure on the second tree that one of the branches went straight up from the trunk. This will help the brace, that will be glued to the back later, to run straight up the entire tree. The first tree doesn't have this so the braces had to zigzag and are not as effective.

I have switched to cutting these big pieced with a jig saw. Wow, it was so much easier! than past cuts when I used a box knife. If you need identical pieces you can cut three or four sheets at a time.

When I use a box knife I cut one side then flip it over and cut along the other side where I can see where the blade cut most of the way through.

When I needed to make a sharp turn I just stopped the saw lifted it up and then plunged it back down through the cardboard in the direction I needed and started cutting again.

The only drawback is the frayed looking edges; which I trimmed with the sheet metal cutter and/or scissors. I'll get a blade with more teeth for future cuts and that should help.


Next I drew the foliage and cut them out. the foliage is a series of half circles around a large perimeter.  I made three little foliage pieces also.
(The orange is because I used that cardboard to paint giant carrots on in April 2017)

I needed a back brace so, I cut some four inch strips and scored them down the middle and folded them into an L shape. I held them against the back of the trunk and hot glued both sides.

I discovered that the best order of operations is glue the foliage to the trunk, then glue the back brace.

I Also needed a few more bushes to make the base for the tree,  Each tree needed two eight inch high strips; the longer the better.

I scored and bent the strips into rectangles, then cut cardboard-wide slots half way down from the top. I cut matching slots half way up from the bottom on the base of the tree. I slid the two together and this created a stand for the tree. 

I made most of the rectangle stick out the back of the tree, but I still needed enough out the front to keep the tree from falling forward.
Then I hot glued a small flat bottom bush to the front.

Now it was time to finish the top of the tree. 

I drew three small bits of foliage, and some one inch wide strips.  The length of the strips just needs to be enough to form into polygons.  







I put hot glue on the end of the polygons and stuck them to the foliage.








Finally, I put hot glue all along the edge of the two strips and pressed it to the foliage.



Ready for paint.

All content and information I present on this blog is intended for entertainment only and is presented “as is”, without claims or warranties of any kind, express or implied. I am not an expert of any kind; I just figure out how to make and create projects and I am willing to share that information. USE THIS INFORMATION AT YOUR OWN RISK! USE OF THIS INFORMATION CONSTITUTES AN AGREEMENT BY THE READER TO ASSUME ALL RISKS! The reader’s interpretation and application of this information shall be the reader’s sole responsibility. The reader agrees to hold harmless the author and publisher and therefore in no event shall the author or publisher be liable to the reader or any third party for any damages, claims, expenses or other costs; including, without limitation, legal fees arising from or in connection with the use of this information. The reader further agrees that their sole and exclusive remedy is to discontinue use of this information. I hold the copy right to the content if this blog and it may be used only with my permission. Your personal or contact information will not be shared with anyone, by me. I am not responsible for what the publisher or any of its partners do with your information. I reserve the right to change, close, sell or change the terms of use for this blog at any time. I am not responsible for any of the behavior or products presented by advertisers or sponsors in connection with this blog. If you wish to ask a question you may email me, however, I check my email about four times a year so a comment may work better. Please understand that any comments or emails sent become my property to use as desired.

Cardboard Telescope (part 5) the Lenses

After this step the whole project will be ready for paint.





I like the thin transparent plastic from containers that spinach and danishes come in for the lenses.

I traced around the large end of the telescope ,made in part 4, then added four tabs and cut it out. 

I wondered if I painted stars and a planet on the inside of the lens if the children would be able to see them, so I tried it.






The eye piece began with a 9' x 4" rectangle of cardboard. I drew it, cut it, and scored it.





















I hot glued a narrow slice of cardboard on the inside and then glued it into a tub.
















I cut two discs the same diameter as the small end of the telescope that was created in part 4.  Then I cut holes in those discs so the tub I just made fit inside.

I glued both of those discs onto the end of the eye piece. 














Next, I put hot glue around the edges of both discs and fitted it into the telescope.











The paint had dried on the large lens so I folded the tabs put hot glue on them and fitted the lens to the end of the telescope.  

Then I hot glued a two inch wide strip around the end with a little bit of overhang.  This hid the tabs and gave it a finished look.

A look through the eye piece.   

Not bad.















I attached a lens over the eye piece the same way I did with the wide end.











































Here is the finished eye piece lens.







I'll probably add a few rivets and knobs before painting, but here it is. 

All content and information I present on this blog is intended for entertainment only and is presented “as is”, without claims or warranties of any kind, express or implied. I am not an expert of any kind; I just figure out how to make and create projects and I am willing to share that information. USE THIS INFORMATION AT YOUR OWN RISK! USE OF THIS INFORMATION CONSTITUTES AN AGREEMENT BY THE READER TO ASSUME ALL RISKS! The reader’s interpretation and application of this information shall be the reader’s sole responsibility. The reader agrees to hold harmless the author and publisher and therefore in no event shall the author or publisher be liable to the reader or any third party for any damages, claims, expenses or other costs; including, without limitation, legal fees arising from or in connection with the use of this information. The reader further agrees that their sole and exclusive remedy is to discontinue use of this information. I hold the copy right to the content if this blog and it may be used only with my permission. Your personal or contact information will not be shared with anyone, by me. I am not responsible for what the publisher or any of its partners do with your information. I reserve the right to change, close, sell or change the terms of use for this blog at any time. I am not responsible for any of the behavior or products presented by advertisers or sponsors in connection with this blog. If you wish to ask a question you may email me, however, I check my email about four times a year so a comment may work better. Please understand that any comments or emails sent become my property to use as desired.

2016 VBS Submerged worship rally stage

Gauges and levers added to bridge

Here is how the gauges and levers looked on the
cardboard control panel (bridge).






32 gears were made and wired to cardboard
walls.  About a third of the gears are 2D.

Left Gear wall 25" x 8'

Right Gear wall 25" x 8'

Construct controls and gauges for your sub's helm.

The technique used to make the gears is great for making gauges and controls the the Submerged helm.

I cut two pieces of cardboard at the same time to ensure that the front and back are congruent, the same shape and same size. Then cut out the opening on the front piece and glue a narrow strip around the inside; glue a piece that is a little larger than the opening to the narrow strip. This creates the inner part of the gauge.

Now, take a wider strip and glue it around the outside and glue the back on. Cut our a trim piece to go around the opening or outer edge or both. Be creative about the arrows and calibrations you put on the inside as you desire. After a light coat of primer I painted them to match the consoles they'll be glued to later. I left the inside primer white to make them more visible.

String was hot glued to the inside of the microphone to create the mesh on the front.

The levers are layers of cardboard hot glued onto each other.

All content and information I present on this blog is intended for entertainment only and is presented “as is”, without claims or warranties of any kind, express or implied. I am not an expert of any kind; I just figure out how to make and create projects and I am willing to share that information. USE THIS INFORMATION AT YOUR OWN RISK! USE OF THIS INFORMATION CONSTITUTES AN AGREEMENT BY THE READER TO ASSUME ALL RISKS! The reader’s interpretation and application of this information shall be the reader’s sole responsibility. The reader agrees to hold harmless the author and publisher and therefore in no event shall the author or publisher be liable to the reader or any third party for any damages, claims, expenses or other costs; including, without limitation, legal fees arising from or in connection with the use of this information. The reader further agrees that their sole and exclusive remedy is to discontinue use of this information. I hold the copy right to the content if this blog and it may be used only with my permission. Your personal or contact information will not be shared with anyone, by me. I am not responsible for what the publisher or any of its partners do with your information. I reserve the right to change, close, sell or change the terms of use for this blog at any time. I am not responsible for any of the behavior or products presented by advertisers or sponsors in connection with this blog. If you wish to ask a question you may email me, however, I check my email about four times a year so a comment may work better. Please understand that any comments or emails sent become my property to use as desired.

Making cheap 3-dimensional gears for decorations

This year's VBS decorations calls for a bunch of large gears! The 2016 Life Way Vacation Bible School is "Submerged" Worship Rally decoration theme is the interior of the helm of a sub. LifeWay Vacation-Bible-School/Submerged   Here's a way to make the gears without spending a couple hundred dollars on Styrofoam. Cardboard is cheap, people are practically giving it away. In the evening the big club store, Sam's Club, I drive by tidies up their shelves; when I asked if I could take all the large flat pieces, they said, “Sure, take all you want.”  

So get you hands on some big pieces of cardboard, string and pencil or large compass, a hot glue gun, lots of glue sticks, big scissors or tin snips and sharp utility knife, a sturdy straight edge, cheap flat white primer spray paint and paint the colors of your choice.

Start by trimming of any edges so you have a flat piece of cardboard to work with.

 

Draw several circles on the cardboard. Use a string or compass or project the gears from clip art or free hand them. I wanted my gears to look a bit wonky so I didn't worry about getting them perfect. The space between outer circle and an inner circle will be the height of the gear's teeth. Draw two more inner circles to help guide you in making the interior cutouts.

Draw evenly space lines across the circles to help guide the placement of the teeth and cut outs. It worked best, for me, to imagine the circles are the face of a clock. Draw a line from 12 to 6, then from 3 to 9, twist the cardboard so the top of the first line is at 10:30 and repeat the 12 to 6 and the 3 to 9 lines. 

Now, draw lines to make the teeth, and the center cut outs.

Cut it all out, be careful.    

Plug the hot glue gun in about now.

Take another piece of cardboard and draw a several parallel lines. Make sure they are all the same width. It'll work out better in you draw the lines perpendicular to the corrugation in the cardboard, because the strips will be easier to bend around corners. Carefully cut those strips..

Glue the strips alone the edges; the inner cutouts first, then along the outer edge.

Glue any desired embellishments to the front.

 

Put on a light coat of white primer.

It's now ready for paint.

All content and information I present on this blog is intended for entertainment only and is presented “as is”, without claims or warranties of any kind, express or implied. I am not an expert of any kind; I just figure out how to make and create projects and I am willing to share that information. USE THIS INFORMATION AT YOUR OWN RISK! USE OF THIS INFORMATION CONSTITUTES AN AGREEMENT BY THE READER TO ASSUME ALL RISKS! The reader’s interpretation and application of this information shall be the reader’s sole responsibility. The reader agrees to hold harmless the author and publisher and therefore in no event shall the author or publisher be liable to the reader or any third party for any damages, claims, expenses or other costs; including, without limitation, legal fees arising from or in connection with the use of this information. The reader further agrees that their sole and exclusive remedy is to discontinue use of this information. I hold the copy right to the content if this blog and it may be used only with my permission. Your personal or contact information will not be shared with anyone, by me. I am not responsible for what the publisher or any of its partners do with your information. I reserve the right to change, close, sell or change the terms of use for this blog at any time. I am not responsible for any of the behavior or products presented by advertisers or sponsors in connection with this blog. If you wish to ask a question you may email me, however, I check my email about four times a year so a comment may work better. Please understand that any comments or emails sent become my property to use as desired.