EnlightenedGrinch's Entry

[EnlightenedGrinch]

Animated Christmas Teeter-Totter

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v630/DaveNTracy/Christmas%20contest/xmascontest3.jpg

Woo-Hoo!! I'm finally finished! I built this mostly out of scrap wood I had laying around. I cut two triangles for the base then drilled 7/8th inch holes in the tops for the PVC piece that the teeter board will pivot on. The motor was mounted on the inside of the front base triangle. I used a 4 ft. length of wood I bought from Lowe's for the teeter board. Screwed the PVC section to the bottom of the board, then mounted it in the base assembly. Then used a short piece of coat hanger wire from the motor shaft to an eye hook on the bottom of the board. Tested and re-tested, changing the position of the eye hook, to get the movement I wanted. I then painted all the parts in "festive" colors.
After it was dry I used some clear fishing line to secure a stuffed Christmas Coca-Cola Bear to one side, then a stuffed Rudolph the Reindeer on the other side. I had an idea of trying to actually have a ball rolling between the two animals as the teeter-totter moved up and down. Almost gave up, but I finally got it working by screwing some thin rails made out of some scrap plexiglass on the sides of the teeter board.
The prop turned out better than I thought it would. I didn't even get the idea to make this until last Tuesday afternoon, so I'm still surprised I got it finished. Hope you like it!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v630/DaveNTracy/Christmas%20contest/xmascontest1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v630/DaveNTracy/Christmas%20contest/xmascontest2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v630/DaveNTracy/Christmas%20contest/th_SUNP0006.jpg

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Parts List:

Scrap Wood (Pro-rate)-----------$ 1.00
Wood (Lowe's)-------------------$ 3.50
Misc. Hardware------------------$ 0.55
Motor---------------------------$ 7.95
AC/DC Adapter------------------$ 2.95
Paint (Pro-rate)-----------------$0.50
PVC Pipe (Pro-rate)---------------$0.20
Plexiglass (Pro-rate)--------------$ 0.55
Rubber Ball (Dog Toy)------------$ 0.50
Stuffed Rudolph (GIFT/Pro-rate)---$ 4.00
Stuffed Coca-Cola Bear (GIFT/Pro-rate)---$ 3.00
------------------------------------------------------
TOTAL $24.70


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v630/DaveNTracy/Christmas%20contest/xmascontest4.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v630/DaveNTracy/Christmas%20contest/xmascontest5.jpg

[Sickie Ickie]

Wow! Nice prop! I especially like the ball. I've seen the totter before, but never a ball rolling during it.

[theedwin]

I like it! Especially the ball!

[putrid]

That is totally coo!!!! The ball traveling between the two toys really ROCKS! (no pun intended.LOL) Great prop EnlightenedGrinch.

[Just Whisper]

That is a really adorable teeter totter. One of the nicest ones I have seen. And the idea to put the ball on it makes it unique. You did a wonderful job. Love the paint job too. This is going to be a tough competition.

[EnlightenedGrinch]

Thanks for the compliments everybody!!
The idea of having the ball rolling is what made me want to make this prop. It might have been better to have a styrofoam "snowball" rolling, but I didn't have time to get one and try it.

[Just Whisper]

No, I like the toy ball. It is colorful and has a good weight to it.

[bethene]

love the teeter totter and love the ball, great idea!!

[EnlightenedGrinch]

Thanks again, Bethene and Whisper.
I think I'll eventually paint another teeter board and make it orange and black to use for Halloween. Probably put two skeletons on it to go with my swinging skeleton.
Just gotta figure out something to roll between them. Hmmm......

[Sickie Ickie]

A skull, naturally. :)

[Mummy deer-est]

Awesome! I love really like the ball as part of the prop as well.

[Sickie Ickie]

I'm still trying to get over how clean that project counter is!

[EnlightenedGrinch]

Hoo-boy!! You call that clean? It's a mess!! What you don't see is the stack of partially finished projects on the garage floor, on shelves and balancing precariously on boxes of other junk.
If you call that clean, Sickie, I don't want to see what your bathroom looks like after your wife makes you clean it!! LOL

[Sickie Ickie]

you're right Grinch...you don't! LOL

[Sickie Ickie]

Just letting everyone know that Grinch made a more detailed how to. You can find it here. (http://www.santasprojects.com/trafficmanager.php?P2=MTE1M3wzMjM=)

[EnlightenedGrinch]

Thanks for hosting that tutorial for me, Sickie!

[Sickie Ickie]

What are friends for? :)

[SantaPaws]

Good idea with the ball.

[EnlightenedGrinch]

Thanks! I couldn't come up with anything to roll on my Halloween version. (YET!)

[Sickie Ickie]

Not even a skull?

[theedwin]

I already asked that!

[EnlightenedGrinch]

A skull inside a Hamster ball, maybe?? :)

[Sickie Ickie]

I bet that would work. Heck, even a severed head in one would work. :D

[EnlightenedGrinch]

Or a severed Hamster! :)

[ilikeelves]

Thats better than the biglots one. Nice work!

[EnlightenedGrinch]

Thanks!
Yea, I saw that Big Lots one advertised for $70 bucks. It looked pretty cheesy to me.

[Smilodonna]

Really adorable idea. The ball does add an unexpected additional source of movement, which is always a plus.

As far as your Halloween version, if you're worried about the ability of the "thing" to roll, what about one of those eyeball balls, which can sometimes be found in large sizes (as in around the size of a baseball)?
Or, how about a very round fake pumpkin? I recall seeing some funkin-like mini pumpkins with a diameter of about 5 or 6 inches that had an overall round shape as long as you carved the stem off, and I know I've seen toy bouncey-balls with jack-o-lantern faces printed on them. Heck, you could paper mache around a sphere of foam like those found in floral sections of craft stores and paint it to look like a jack-o-lantern. You could also do the same for a skull, lightly carving away some of the orb's foam to get the right shape but keeping it a little more round than a proper skull.
I also considered a ball made to look like a moon, but that probably wouldn't communicate well.


Or a severed Hamster! :)
LOL! OK, this idea trumps my previous options.

[EnlightenedGrinch]

Thanks for the ideas! Those are good ones!