So
this week we are making the kids in the dollhouse a basketball hoop.
I was sitting down watching the news the other night when a
commercial came on. I have no idea what it was even for but the focus
of the video footage was a group of kids shooting hoops in a
driveway. Immediately I thought a basketball hoop would be a great
project for this channel. So many houses have these in real life, why
not in the mini world too?
I
vaguely remember reading an article in one of my old Nutshell News
magazines where there was a project that was similar. Rather than
spend hours digging through my collection of magazines I just went
with my instincts on how to do this.
First
stop was our friend Google to get the dimensions of the real thing.
Apparently in real life a basketball hoop is about 18” in diameter.
That would translate to 1 ½” in mini. I didn't have anything
exactly that size but I do have a bunch of these key rings that are 1
¼” in diameter. I decided to go with one of those. You can fudge a
bit down like this on this project because in real life the hoop is
so far up on a wall that it appears to be smaller. Have you ever
noticed that when you see a basketball hoop in a sporting goods store
how they seem huge compared to what you think they should look like.
That's because you are used to seeing them from several feet away. I
wouldn't go any smaller in size but at the same time I wouldn't go
any bigger than 1 ½” either or the hoop runs the risk of looking
way too big.
If
you want your hoop to be the traditional reddish-orange color paint
it before you start the rest of the project. I would suggest either a
spray paint, an enamel paint or nail polish for this. Be sure that
whatever you use is completely dry before you proceed.
The
other component is some string, I like to use crochet thread for
these type of projects because it is fairly cheap and seems to be a
good size for a lot of projects. We are basically going to be
creating a net by doing some simple macrame knotting.
Cut
12 pieces of the string each 12” long and follow what I did in the
video. Be sure to apply the glue to the rim to both hold the strings
in place around the rim but also to hold the knots tight at the top.
Allow this to dry completely.
Now
mark ½” away from the rim on each string and tie knots using
strings from the pairs of the stings that are next to each other. I
hope it made sense in the video. I can't think of a good way to
explain it. But you are creating a net just like we used to do to
make plant hangers from macrame back in the day.
Keep
knotting until the net portion is about 1 ½” long. At this point I
sprayed my net with 99% isopropyl alcohol to allow the ink from the
Sharpie marker to bleed and make the net look old and really dirty.
If you want a new net on yours use an ink that is water based and
wash it out.
After
your net is dry add a dot of glue to each of the knots in the last
row. This will prevent them from coming undone. When the glue is dry
give the net a “hair cut” and you are basically done.
For
a backboard you need to decide how old you want your hoop to be. I
wanted to create the look that maybe dad or grandpa had hung this up
so I kept it really basic with a backboard made of a jumbo craft
stick. I used the little piece of 1/8” square wood to give me a
small “shelf” to glue to.
If
you want something more elaborate find a picture of what you want
online and create that.
I
hope you enjoyed our fun little project today.
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