I proceeded to find the pin, show my husband enthusiastically and wait for his moment of realization that it was awesome. In a less than impressed voice, he told me it wouldn't work. You couldn't tape wet things. Fine. Point made. I had showed him the pin where you used tape, not heat. I successfully located the heat sealed pin and he didn't have anything negative to say. Win #1.
Wyatt and I went to True Value to pick up the necessary materials. $6.49 for a 9ft x 12ft 3 mil piece of plastic. I decided to use a hair straightener instead of an iron, mainly because I couldn't find my iron. I don't iron, so don't judge. It took me 3 years of living with my husband to find out we even owned an iron. Now was the moment of truth, it was either going to be epic failure or epic win. I'd let the 3 year old decide.
The Supplies:
plastic sheeting (AT LEAST 3 mil thick - more on this later)
iron or hair straightener
optional ironing board if you don't have hard surface floors
parchment paper (NOT freezer paper - more on this later too)
12" Duct Tape
Total Investment: $6.49
I thought a hair straightener would be just as effective. There is even a pin about that somewhere too. The directions said to turn the iron to the highest setting. Since I didn't have an iron for reference, I decided to put my hair straightener on the highest setting too. 395 degrees.
I liked the idea of creating a "guide line" for where to place your heat source so that you had an even seal. Plus, this also fueled my need to be the best failure at being a perfectionist that I can be.
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Here is a great time to point out that parchment paper is not freezer paper. Freezer paper is not re-positionable once the plastic gets melted. I resorted to wax paper, which worked, but required 3 different sheets instead of just one.
The actual process is quite simple. It took me less than 30 mins to seal the 3 sides after I wrestled it into flat submission on our living room floor. I folded the wax paper in half and used the plate of my straightener as a guide to slide it across the plastic, not leaving it in one spot for too long.
What it the plastic looks like after the heat has melted it together. Do this to all three sides leaving a small hole for the water hose so you can fill it.
Time to fill it!
We decided to add some red food coloring to ours. Once the blob was filled, it wasn't red, but it was fun to watch the color swirl and mix with the water.
Once it was full, we taped the hole closed with the Duct Tape. It wasn't a permanent solution, but it was the easiest.
We put our blob on a thick tarp. We have a recently reseeded lawn, so I was reluctant to put it on the new grass because of the weight. We opted for a small gravel place in the shade in our yard. As were were filling it, we quickly realized the weak points and were able to put some Duct Tape over them as a patch.
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It's safe to say it was a hit. Wyatt loved it. At first he just rolled around on it, and lounged on it. Then he discovered he could jump on it... and then he put a knee into it causing the plastic to stretch and become weak. It was eminent that failure was going to happen. He jumped on it, and jumped on it some more... he got a solid 30 minutes worth of rough play in before it started to leak. Once it began to leak and became slippery, it was a whole new set of fun. He was able to play on it for another 45 minutes or so before catastrophic failure occurred.
My overall assessment of the project is a success. I wouldn't hesitate to make a water blob again with a few things in mind.
1. Use at least 4 mil plastic sheeting. If you can preplan this activity, order some thicker 5 mil or 6 mil plastic from Amazon. I think it will make a world of difference. My 3 mil plastic sheeting held up okay unless Wyatt decided to start jumping on it, knees first.
2. The failure came from where the sealed part met the unsealed part, the seam? I had melted the plastic all the way through in small, pin head size spots. Smart Hubby says it got too hot. So, I learned that 395 degrees might be a little excessive. I am going to do some tests next time to see what temperature is best.
2. Make sure your blob is in a level place. It will roll, and it is very heavy. And have a plan for where the water is going to go when you poke a hole in it. There is alot of it.
