Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Homemade Light Sabers: Quick, Easy, And A Must-Have at Star Wars Parties!

O.K.  Was that a long title or what??  Lol!  My boys said I really needed to post about this because we had so much fun making and using them.

So here goes.  I’m happy to say, there ARE such things as cheap, durable light sabers you can make yourself! 

All you have to do is get creative!   Walk the clearance isles at your favorite stores, raid your husband’s electrical and plumbing supplies, and…let The Force guide you!  Lol!

Saber suppliesHere are some things I found:

  • Bubble wands:  Wal-mart, clearance isle for $.50.
  • Electrical tape (in various colors).
  • Pool noodles.  The thin ones are great!
  • Foam Pipe insulation
  • Pieces of dowel rod or thin wood to insert part way up the foam.
  • Duct Tape
  • Scissors, and low temp hot glue (which I ended up not using).
  • Glow Sticks

I made a variety of light sabers as I experimented.  But, I’ll show you the boys’ favorite version.

Putting One Together

  • Take a pool noodle, cut it in half. 
  • Then take a bubble wand and insert the top part of it into the noodle, up to the “hilt.”  It fits tightly. 
  • Cut a small piece of pipe foam insulation (the black foam in the picture above) and wrap it around the bubble wand handle.  Pull the strips off the self adhesive edges of the pipe insulation and press them together like the zipper of a jacket to cover the handle.  
  • Use duct tape and electrical tape to decorate the handle.
  • And if the kids want to dual at night, drop a glow stick down the end and tape it shut.  I used just a little glow bracelet and its light gave the noodle a soft glow.  So I’m sure if you picked up one or two of those really bright glow sticks, the effect would be awesome!!!

Here are a few of the finished sabers. Finished Light Sabers 

And this is one of my favorite Jedi.  Jedi

The handles still unscrew, which enables the Jedi to unleash an immobilizing wave of his top secret arsenal. Death Bubbles

Death Bubbles.”

More Death Bubbles

Don’t you love it??  Lol! 

Note:  You don’t have to insert anything rigid in the handle end of the foam.  You can just wrap tape around one end of a pool noodle to make the handle.  But adding a short stick makes it a little less floppy. 

I made a few light sabers out of just pipe insulation and sticks, and they turned out fine.  Pipe Insulation Saber But we liked the colorful pool noodles a little better.  :)

And there you have it!  A cheap durable light saber that, incidentally, you can let the kids beat the tar out of each other with. 

Safely.  :)

Kid tested.  Mother approved.  Budget friendly.  Works for me!

2 comments:

Becky said...

What a great idea! I'll have to keep it in mind for the grandkids - although I imagine their dads would still love them too! Thanks for sharing.

Sharon said...

Brilliant! My nephew is TOTALLY into star wars. I'm going to send this link to my sister!

Very creative.