Last year we did a Ghostbusters party for my son's 6th birthday you can find here. For one of the activities the kids got handmade proton packs that shot silly string proton beams and went ghost bustin'. It was a ton of fun! I took pictures while making the packs to post a tutorial and completely forgot until recently when I got a few requests for tips on making them. So here you go and sorry I didn't post earlier!
For the proton packs I wanted to keep it simple and CHEAP since I had to make so many of them!
Supplies used:
large gift box - roughly 12x18 (the kind I would usually get clothes in from my grandma :), small square jewelry gift box, plastic cup, 12" round cardboard circle, toilet paper roll, black ribbon, black spray paint, red shiny scrapbook paper, 2 different colored electrical wire, black tubing, spray can trigger, hot glue and glue gun.
To assemble the base you need these:
I cut the toilet paper roll in half, and trimmed the cup down a bit. Then glued them all on one of the large gift boxes. I glued the lid of the smaller gift box on the top right because is was thinner and the bottom of the small gift box on the bottom left.
Note: I used elmers glue to attach the plastic cup because the hot glue was melting the plastic.
Note: I used elmers glue to attach the plastic cup because the hot glue was melting the plastic.
Then spray painted the whole thing black. While that was drying I used the bottom part of the large gift box to make straps for the kids to wear.
I cut to slits towards the top, and two slits approx 3/4 the way down. Cut 2 long strips of ribbon and insert one end into the cuts.
Fold over the end of the ribbon and hot glue it down to the inside of the box.
Repeat inserting and gluing the ends into place. Here is what the inside of the box looks like.
Next I lined the edges of the box that had the straps on it with hot glue in inserted it into the lid (painted box) so they were glued together... sorry no picture!
For the accents on the proton pack I googled 'Ghostbusters Proton Pack Warning Labels' and found an image of one of DANGER labels.
I copied and printed them off small enough to fit on the top right box. Then using a 2" craft punch, I punched out 4 circles and glued them on the to large circle glued at the bottom of the pack. I poked a small hole in the center of the cup and box below the toilet paper roll. Last I cut 2 strips of the colored electrical wire and glued one end into the toilet paper roll, and the other end into the cup and box.
For the last step I got these plastic things that attach to the tops of spray cans from Home Depot. They fitted silly string cans perfectly!
I poked a hole into the side of the proton pack. Cut a strip of black tubing long enough for kids to be able to stretch out their arms and shoot with. Glue one end of the tubing into the hole in the proton pack. Then I used some black electrical tape to attach the other end to the trigger.
Here is my son modeling the finished product...
Notes:
I only painted one side of the boxes because I didn't want any paint to rub off onto kids clothes.
The labels for the silly string cans were custom made by Jenny of Bloom Designs. Thanks again for your fabulous work!
I hope that this helps anyone interested and it all makes sense. These were such a hit at the party, the kids LOVED them! I used simple products that I could find, but feel free to substitute with whatever you can find. Good luck and please comment with any questions or thoughts :)