DIY: Rocket Pack or Jet Pack

Nathan and I were looking at Pinterest to see if we could find something to make for Halloween instead of buying a costume.  He saw it and IMMEDIATELY wanted it.....  This is the ORIGINAL POST  ....  which we found via Pinterest....

But let me share our experience.

Things we needed:

• Silver Metallic Spray Paint
• 2 empty cleaned out 2 liter bottles (we used A&W cuz they were clear) 
• Felt (we used Red, Orange and Yellow ... we got two red sheets, one orange and one yellow) 
• Black Strap (we went to a craft store and looked in the *ribbon* area) 
• Some Cardboard (we used the thin stuff from soda boxes) 
• Glue Gun
• Glue Sticks
• Printer to print out a Flame Template (I just goggled it and found one I liked - but I will add the one I used at the bottom) 
• Masking Tape
• Scissors

First thing I did was cut a piece of the cardboard to a size smaller than his back, I took some masking tape and I taped it to his back, and then I started to set up the straps so that they were the right size for him.  He is an extremely little guy due to his rare growth disorder, so I wanted to make sure they fit him right.  One Size Fits All does't work for him.   So I would take the strap, tape it to the cardboard, and then wrap it around him, tape it, cut it and repeat on the other side.

 You can see the finished result on the notebook in the last photo ...

Then I started to work on the flame.  (The template I used is at the bottom of the blog) .... I cut out two red pieces, one orange and one yellow for each of the sides.  We got two red sheets of felt when we bought them.  Cut each one if half - and then cut out two flames out of each half of each half of the one sheet.)  I would make sure to not follow the template exactly too - a little character :)   Then I cut off the largest flame, exposing the edges of the middle one, and used that for the orange felt, cutting two pieces out of the one piece of orange felt.  And then cut down to the smallest one and used that for the yellow, cutting two yellows out of the one piece of yellow felt.   So all together - you should have 4 red flames, 2 orange flames, and 2 yellow flames.

Putting it together, you have two red pieces of flame, the orange one, and a yellow one.  

After finishing cutting out the flames, we moved onto the "jet pack" ...  I had two pieces of cardboard cut to the same size.  One I used for the straps, the other I placed on Nathan's back (where the straps one would be, plan is to glue the two pieces of cardboard together, enveloping the straps where I glued them together, for extra support... so working with ONE piece of the cardboard with the straps right now, and using the SECOND piece of cardboard to work with the 2 liter bottles) ....

So I figured out where I wanted the two liters to be on his back, and glued them to the cardboard where I wanted them to sit on the straps.   After that we took it outside, and we have a large piece of cardboard we use for spray painting and for painting for Nathan ...   and we used that under our bottles so we didn't get any spray paint on the properties landscaping or sidewalks.   Then we sprayed the two liter bottles,

Once that was done - and drying - I started to work on the straps again.  I started with the bottom pieces - slipping some glue under to hold it all into place, then the upper straps, and then I did a better job of gluing them once they were in place.  2nd picture they are all in place and glued down.  The third picture is the back of straps cardboard.  This is the one that would be against his back and exposed when it's not on.  I'm thinking....... I don't want the 7-up box showing........ So I took some of the extra felt and made a "N" and a yellow cover to cover up the exposed 7-up box.  The last picture is the two pieces of cardboard glued together, making the straps and jet pack one piece.  So I glued the side I had glued the straps on, to the exposed (and painted) side of the one on the jet packs.

After we glued the two pieces together, I made Nate try it on to make sure I had it all placed the way I wanted.  I was satisfied and then I glued the felt pieces together (just at the bottoms, I glued the yellow to the orange to the two reds, and the two reds together enough ... then I shoved the bottoms of the felt in the opening after putting some hot glue in there.) ....

 So I was looking at it on him and - although super cool - though ...... I wanted a little more on the actual jet pack.  So I added some felt puzzle pieces for Autism (because Nathan has Autism) ...  and a crappy red line that was suppose to be like a flame, with  couple pieces of yellow and orange peeking up ...  ....  and another N ....

Finished product!!!  

Not planning on using the Angry Bird PJ's as part of his costume, but the monster hat he'll be wearing because it's chilly outside, he melts down if he doesn't have a hat or mittens on....

This picture (below) is my favorite!  Neither of his feet are on the ground and it looks like he's taking off!

I actually looked up "Flame Coloring Page" and found this one.  I liked it a lot better than the other ones.

I have to be honest and say I would probably use thicker cardboard - something that isn't so forgiving in movement.  During trick or treating, the two pieces of cardboard came apart a couple of times.  We ended up using those paper clip clamps on it.  I might actually super glue a few paperclips to the cardboard or something to make it more sturdy.  You know paper clip the two pieces together and then put super glue around them them so they don't move.  A lot less forgiving and much more sturdy.

Otherwise, it was a HUGE HUGE hit!