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Make your own Fourth of July Confetti Popper Rockets!

Published 06.25.2009 | Permanent Link | Comments (28)

Fourth of July Confetti Popper Rockets
By Brenda Ponnay

arsenal

Who says you can't have fireworks in the house? With these confetti popper rockets you can blow things up inside without ever catching anything on fire! Explosive, yet completely safe and super fun for kids: That's how I like to celebrate my independence. Get your vacuum cleaners ready cause we're gonna blow this craft up!

party!

I know paper rockets have been made before but this rocket has a trap door in the bottom. When you pull the string, that dangles there ever-so enticingly at kid height, a small compartment opens up and a tiny bucket full of confetti will land on said kid's head. It's great. We tried it and my kid definitely gives this craft a thumbs up.

This craft is fun for many ages. My kid liked it because she got to decorate the rocket and what's not to love about confetti raining down on your head but I think older kids would really enjoy the engineering part of this project. You can get creative with it and maybe have a contest to see who can build the best rocket. Some explode spectacularly, some are a bit of a dud. There are lots of ways you can make these. They also make great decorations for a party!

lined up ready to go

Here's how you make it:

materials you will need

First you will need to gather your supplies.

  1. Paper towel or toilet paper tubes cut to rocket-like lengths

  2. colored paper (we chose patriotic colors and used everything from origami paper to scrapbook paper), make sure you have at least one sheet of something stiffer, like card stock too

  3. tissue paper (we used red)
  4. stickers and marker pens (feel free to get crazy here) to decorate with

  5. confetti (homemade or store-bought

  6. bakers twine or string

  7. tape

  8. glue (any kind that works on paper will do)

  9. beads (these will not show so it doesn't matter what they look like)

  10. ribbons for streamers

Tools you will need:


  1. a stapler

  2. scissors

  3. a craft or needlework needle

  4. fun craft punches for confetti (if you make your own)

  5. hole puncher

Now to build it! First you will build the "propulsion system." Of course this rocket isn't really going to take off and fly around the room but the confetti is housed where a normal propulsion system would be so we call it that.

rocket trapdoor assembly

Cut yourself a small square of tissue paper that will be big enough to cover the bottom of your cardboard tube--about three inches across. Cut a small disc out of a sheet of card stock that will fit just within the radius of the cardboard tube. With some glue attach this disc to the center of your tissue paper. Let it dry for a few minutes. Thread about an arm's length of twine onto your craft needle and tie a bead to the end for a not. With this, puncture the center of your disc that is attached to the tissue paper. This is the trap door.

Next you will need to glue this tissue paper trap door to your cardboard tube with a small line of glue around the bottom of the tube. Make sure you attach it with the bead side inside the tube and the string (or fuse) side hanging outside of your tube. You can add a pull tab to your long dangling fuse or just let it hang. We added stars to some of ours. Let this dry and you're done with that part! Now onto decorating!


attaching streamers

There are lots of ways you can decorate your rocket but the most important part is to cover the tube with some decorative paper so that you don't see that it used to be a toilet paper roll (or paper towel tube). This decorative sheet (roughly 6.5x4.25 inches big, depending on your tube) also holds your tissue paper trap door on, or at least covers the ruffles of tissue where it is glued to the tube. We attached ribbons to the bottom inside of our decorative covering so that the rockets looked like they were flying--or just pretty and festive.

decorative wrap

Roll your paper around the tube and staple at the top for strength. You can't staple the bottom because your tissue paper trap door keeps the stapler from getting inside but I found that a couple of pieces of tape did the trick.

filling with confetti

Now you can fill your tube with confetti. We just put in a few handfuls but feel free to load this sucker up. Just think about how much confetti you want to clean up later and act accordingly. I say the more the better but then I'm a bit of a free spirit who doesn't mind a little mess for the sake of some good old fashioned American fun.

rocket top

Attaching the cone to the top of your rocket can be a bit tedious. It's purely aesthetic so if you opt out of this part that's totally fine. I just really wanted my confetti poppers to really look like old fashioned Fourth of July fire crackers so we made rocket cones.

Here's how you do it:

how to make a cone

Cut a circle about 3.25 inches wide across, then cut one snip all the way to the center of the disc like you see above. Take the edges of your cut and pull them together, probably about a half an inch or more. When your cone has reached a desirable height, staple it at the base.

attaching the top

Now for the tricky part: attaching the cone to your rocket. The important thing here is creating a strong holder that you can use to hang your rocket from. Since these rockets will be tugged upon, it's important that the rocket holds together and doesn't come crashing down on your head instead of releasing it's payload of confetti. I found the best way to hang these rockets was to put the weight bearing string through two holes punched in the top of the rocket body. Then I strung the two sides of the string through a center bead (just to keep it centered) and up through the center of the cone so that it came out of the point or top of the cone. The cone itself can't really hold the rocket together so taping it wouldn't work.

An easy way to string the cone is to open up your stapled cut from the inside of your cone and pull your string through the gap. This will take some patience but you can do it!

it's not rocket science

Here's a super scientific diagram (it's rocket science hee hee!) in case you've gotten confused along the way.

yank!

Now you can hang them up and let the festivities begin!

I see stars!

I found that I needed to "prime" some of the rockets to ensure maximum explosiveness. You can do this by simply poking some small holes (or cutting with a sharp blade) around the bottom of the trap door. Just make sure you don't cut it completely out because the ripping sound of that trap door being yanked out is probably the biggest part of the fun.

wheeee!

That and the confetti party you can have afterwards! Woot!

P.S. I wanted to step this craft up a notch by adding those strings that pop with real explosives but I couldn't find any at the time of this writing. If anyone tries this, I'd love to hear how it goes. Of course exercise caution. I don't want anybody really burning down their house!

Comments (28):

Y said:

This is SO FREAKING FUN! I can't wait to do this with Gabby. Although, I will have to have Tony read over the directions and help because I suck THAT BAD at directions.

Posted on June 25, 2009 11:22

bethany actually said:

Those photos are so awesome, and this craft looks so fun! We might have to try this with Heather and SuperChic!

Posted on June 25, 2009 11:31

Jennifer said:

Love this project! It looks like tons of fun. The "rocket science" comment regarding your diagram made me sputter my soda :P

Posted on June 25, 2009 13:20

Daniel said:

Thanks for the tips ! This sounds like an amazing arts and crafts project :) I can't wait to try it out (although mine will be for Canada Day!).

Posted on June 25, 2009 14:24

abi said:

How adorable! We're going to be at a casual outdoor wedding on July 4th - we'll DEFINITELY have to find a way to adapt these for the celebration. Thanks for the great idea!

Posted on June 25, 2009 15:23

Marie {Make and Takes} said:

These are fantastic. So creative! My kids would love these. And I love the diagram you made! :)

Posted on June 26, 2009 01:34

BeachMama said:

As always Brenda, you take it to the next level. This is brilliant!!! Thank you!

Posted on June 26, 2009 08:02

Annie said:

Such a great and fun idea!!! I love crafts that are decorations and then turn into activites. Brilliant.

Posted on June 28, 2009 19:33

Amy @ Living Locurto said:

This is adorable!

Posted on June 30, 2009 10:26

Linda @ My Trendy Tykes said:

Thanks for posting the tutorial. We are going to give it a try!! I also featured your post today on my blog : http://mytrendytykes.blogspot.com/2009/06/mama-likes_30.html

Posted on June 30, 2009 10:43

mandy said:

LOVE this idea! Your rockets are adorable and so much fun. We just posted a tutorial using the crackers I think you are talking about. They would be really fun to use like you said! You can read how to add them at http://littlebirdiesecrets.blogspot.com/2009/06/party-poppers-tutorial-4th-of-july-fun.html

Thanks for the fun idea!

Posted on June 30, 2009 10:57

Liz said:

What a cute idea. Makes me kind of wish we weren't going camping - otherwise I would make some. I'm going to file this away for next year. Thanks for the great idea!

Posted on June 30, 2009 13:16

carla said:

thanks, my kids love it! especially my 2 year old little girl, miah. she loves it so much were gonna make more for the 4th of july. she'll be 3 in december so she's only 2. she thought it was so cool. thx for the excellent idea!

Posted on June 30, 2009 21:35

regina said:

This is so great! Looks like loads of fun too!!

Posted on June 30, 2009 21:58

Calli Makes Do said:

This is just too fun... do I have time to make them this week? I hope so. I found you through One Pretty Thing... and glad I did.

Posted on July 1, 2009 10:49

stephanie said:

OMG! i'm goin' to a block party and i'm making to cake! i'll have to recommend this to our party planners group! adorable idea! thanks a lot!

Posted on July 1, 2009 13:18

Lisa said:

This looks so fun! I'm bookmarking this for my party ideas file. Thanks!

Posted on July 1, 2009 16:50

Whatever DeeDee Wants said:

Fun project!

Posted on July 1, 2009 23:03

dude102 said:

that is a great idea

Posted on July 2, 2009 18:15

Lily said:

What a great idea to make something that is environmentally friendly and fun! A great way to use scraps of paper you have laying around.

Posted on July 2, 2009 20:29

cata said:

Adorable idea!!!!!!!
Thank you indeed and happy 4th of july.
Cata

Posted on July 3, 2009 11:45

kittykat said:

cool!

Posted on July 3, 2009 15:27

Julie said:

Great project - Thank you.
I learned however, that doing it with my just turned 3-year old is not fun. Making it for him is better. I also learned that if you pack the confetti too tight it doesn't come out well and a just turned three year-old can become despondent. Perhaps another try next year! (photos to come later on my 'blog')

Posted on July 4, 2009 20:19

mollie said:

so fun! my 5 and 7 year olds will love this. i just want to make a bunch and surprise them. but i know they would love to make them, too. thanks so much for such a clever idea.

Posted on July 12, 2009 21:02

SewDelish said:

This looks like it will be a blast! LOL

Posted on July 22, 2009 10:48

joker said:

um, sorry but this is kind of laborsome.
i cut myself folding the cone like 5 times!
and at the end of it all a piese of confetti got in my kids eye! ): your just better off buying the commercial ones!
______________

Editor: sorry to hear this craft didn't work out for you.

Posted on July 27, 2009 23:24

harvey@melissa and doug toys said:

This is really very entertaining!I would love to see the joy in my child's eye when I do it with her.Thanks for the step by step tips!

Posted on September 19, 2009 12:23

*serra* said:

thank you so much!!!

Posted on January 24, 2010 03:10

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About this column

This is a year-round Holiday column. Kids love Holidays. As parents we have come to appreciate how Holidays seem to help structure our lives. Plus, any excuse to have fun sounds good to us!

We'll admit it, now that we're parents, we secretly look for Holidays to celebrate and between National, Secular, Unofficial and Bizarre Holidays, we think there are enough days out there to keep us inspired every week.

This column will be a place where you can get inspiration for how to enjoy time with your kids. Crafting projects and ideas will be posted on Thursdays by our brilliant contributors (see below). Other fun ideas will be posted here throughout the week as the inspiration hits us!

About our Craft Contributors

Ellen Baker Bio Ellen Luckett Baker is the author of the long thread, a blog about handmade goods. She has always enjoyed making things, but the flexibility of staying at home with her two daughters along with the creative inspiration they provide has led her to craft on a daily basis. Combining her love of graphic design and sewing, she has created an Etsy shop selling machine embroidery designs and sewing patterns.

Ellen lives in Atlanta with her husband and two young daughters. She holds a B.A. in Art History and a Master's of Public Administration with a focus in Non-Profit Management.

Cindy Hopper BioCindy Hopper was fortunate to be raised in a family who appreciated the arts. This background led to a Bachelor's Degree in Art Education. With a keen eye for design and color, Cindy has continued her love of art and is now passing her creative skills on to her three children. Cindy's family and friends are the beneficiaries of her passion for fun and meaningful creative projects. Cindy's personal blog, Skip to My Lou, has taken her love of a project to new levels. Postings keep the family busy -– from testing new recipes for holiday treats to designing and building floats for a neighborhood parade to making fabric rolls to hold crayons to creating themed parties. Cindy seems to have an unending supply of ideas for gifts, parties and rainy days.

Marie LeBaron Bio Marie LeBaron is a 30 something stay at home mom in Utah. Before life as a mother, she graduated with a teaching degree in Early Childhood & Elementary Education, after which she taught four years of Kindergarten. After her first child was born, she decided to read books and sing silly songs at home. She misses the classroom, but she now gets to bring the fun and learning into her home and ours. You’ll see her kids a lot in these projects as they are her guinea pigs and for whom she's creative. You can follow more of her projects at her personal blog Make and Takes.

Brenda Ponnay Bio Brenda Ponnay is a stealthy secret agent who juggles parenthood to her adorable daughter by day and freelance graphic design by night. Whether it's painting, baking, drawing, making castles out of card board boxes or just doing the laundry with flair, Brenda Ponnay has finally discovered (at the ripe old age of thirty-six) that what really makes her happy is being creative every single day.

Brenda lives in Southern California with her husband, daughter, three cats and thirty-seven pet birds. You can read about all her crazy adventures on her personal blog: Secret Agent Josephine.

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