UP House

This project of mine was mainly inspired by all the scrap in my room :P And we do recycle a lot, from my cereal boxes to the amazon boxes. But if you take a closer look or think deeper, think bigger every item that you throw/recycle has some value or the other. We just have to learn to make best use of it and be creative. I'm really happy with this Instructable cause one I didn't spend a single penny and two because it's just one happy and colorful house. Plus making something that moves/works is an art by itself.

Of course, I love participating in competitions and no better place to post your ideas than Instructables. I love working/making projects with a lot of color in them. From bright to dark, color expresses a lot and bright colors actually make the mind happier I feel. And as I said making something move or work (adding life) is something amazing. So that's how I came up with this project, making a colorful full house fly/float !!. Plus you learn how to make a simple hovercraft :)

So all the materials needed are your basic stuff you find at home.

1. Ziploc bag

2. Thermocol/cardboard (A sturdy but at the same time light base)

3. A regular DC motor and battery box/batteries-AAA (powerful enough to make the ziploc bloat up)

4. Stationeries : compass, ruler, protractor, pencils, cello tape, double-sided tape, glue, scissors and some good bright crayons and sketch pens

5. Scrap : cereal boxes, cardboard boxes, pack of paying cards

6. A4 sheet paper and green/grassy paper

7. String

8. Plastic toy balloons (I got mine from my sister's birthday cake decorations)

9. Pillow stuffing

10. Straws

11. Happy/colorful and creative mind :)

The effect or mechanism for this UP house is really basic and simple. If you refer the picture/blueprint above you might get a better idea as compared to my explanation.

So first take a ziploc bag and make a circle big enough for the motor to rotate freely ( measure the propeller's radius and then cute the circle), but cut the circle on only one side of the bag and not both the sides.

Cut the same sized circle on the thermocol/cardboard and stick it right on top of the bag with double tape. Sorry I couldn't put up a picture of attaching the motor to the thermocol, cause I stuck the house on top of it not knowing that I didn't take a picture.

You can take two straws and attach it on top of the circle on the cardboard in a way that they are parallel to each other. Now using double-sided tape attach the motor in between the two straws and secure it firmly with tape.

Remember try to make the house and hovercraft as light as possible using really light-weight materials, so that you can get the house to float higher, making the effect better and people happier.

This part is actually the tougher one as compared to the flying mechanism

I'm kind of proud actually with my ability to replicate the UP house accurately. Of course, I could have focused more on the details, but due to the lack of time, I tried my very best.

To make the UP house, it's better to integrate every part and then combine it finally. I actually did a silly mistake by making all the individual parts, combining all the parts and then finally coloring it. And it was hard because the color wouldn't stick onto the playing cards. So I had to take all those measurements on A4 sheet paper and then color it one by one followed by gluing it.

I suggest that you color each and every part and include all the details in the beginning and then combine all the parts with cello-tape.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Try to make the house as light as possible, so that your final house can fly higher. Use light weight materials and try to make the house as real as possible. Due to my time limit I was not able to accomplish a very realistic house, but you can.

I've also added a picture of the UP house with all the views of the house. It was of great reference to me and maybe to you as well :)

The balloons that I used were really light weight. Totally about 10 plastic balloons. I got mine from the Baskin Robbins ice cream cake and instead of throwing it away, I used it to my best.

Attaching the balloons to the chimney was quite challenging because the balloon wouldn't balance properly. So I took some thread and attached it to the balloon. Then I pulled each thread in different directions with a different force so that it would be balanced properly.

To make your project stand out, you need to put in extra effort. My UP house wouldn't be so realistic without Clouds. I had some extra pillow stuffing that I used for another project, and instead of wasting it, I just added some around the house.

OTHER DETAILS: unfortunately I wasn't able to implement these ideas, but maybe you could

1. Add a cut out of Carl Fredricksen and Russell standing outside the house.

2. In my materials section, I added a picture of some A4 sheets and a green (grassy) paper. You could use that as grass and stick it around the house covering up the white parts (thermocol)

3. Make Mr. Fredricksen's front yard a little cheerful, by adding a mailbox, fence, flowers...etc.

4. To cover up the battery box behind, maybe make a staircase out of it, or just put the grassy paper on top of it.

And again, be creative guys, but remember whatever you do try to make it as light as possible and most of all colourful.