[Title]  [text TOC]  [image TOC]  [Site Search]    [Donation] 

	Fountain

See the Braiding Chapter for more instructions, hints, tips, and ideas.

Here is a good slide for those special occasions like Blue and Gold Banquets.

For the fountain spray, you can either use about 10 pieces of plastic lacing about 6" long or 30 pieces of colored tinsel (like used for decorating Christmas trees or stuffing gift bags). Both the lacing and tinsel are available in craft stores. The tinsel is more difficult to work with because it is lighter and moves around more.

Using a dowel rod longer than needed makes handling the project easier.

You can make the fountain spray with one color, a couple of colors (alternate colors), or a variety of colors. Red, white, and blue would make a good one for the Fourth of July; Red, green, blue, gold for Christmas; Blue and Gold for Cub Scouts Anniversary of Cub Scouting.

• Make the spray of tinsel or lacing by using a piece of transparent tape about 5" long. Using two more pieces of tape, tape both ends of the 5" piece of tape, sticky side up, to a table near the edge. Starting about an inch from one end of the tape, carefully place either the lacing or tinsel. Hold the lacing so that its natural curve (from being wound on a spool) points down. Don't worry about how you hold tinsel. Place the end of the lacing/tinsel at the far side of the tape, hold it in place with a finger, position the rest of the lacing/tinsel straight across the tape, and push onto tape. The lacing should curve down over the edge of the table. Continue with the other pieces until complete. The pieces should be side by side and cover about 3/4" of tape if you are using plastic lacing and about 2 1/4" if you use tinsel. This should go around the dowel rod once if you are using plastic lacing and three times if you are using tinsel.


• Remove the tape from the table and cut off the two pieces of tape that attached it to the table. Wrap the tape tightly around the top of the dowel rod, keeping it as straight and neat as possible. Note: If you have any problems with the lacing/tinsel getting in your way as you complete the following steps, get a straw and push the lacing/tinsel inside.
• Take the piece of holographic lacing and find the middle. Tie the middle around the dowel rod using an overhand knot. Slide the knot down about 2 1/2" from the end with the spray.
• Using the diagrams below, tie the knots to fill up the space from the overhand knot up to the top of the dowel rod where the spray is attached. The taped ends of the lacing or tinsel should be covered. The best way to remember how to tie the knots is to remember that the left end goes over (leftover) the dowel rod, then around and up through the bend. The right end goes under the dowel rod and then over and down through the bend. Pull each knot tight (but not so tight that you stretch the lacing) and keep the knots close together, so that the dowel rod is not visible. Continue tying in this manner until the dowel rod is completely covered. The knots will naturally spiral around the dowel rod.
• Tie the top of the lacing in an overhand knot. Pull it tight and put on a small drop of superglue. Put another drop of superglue on the bottom of the lacing.


• Cut the end of the dowel off using a saw. Be very careful not to cut the dowel with the saw.
• Use the wire to attach the PVC ring to the loops in the holographic lacing near the top of the dowel rod.

Here are some other examples.