Soda Jet Pack

My desired motto to live by this year is TAKE INITIATIVE. So when I saw this amazing idea on Pinterest, I knew the perfect birthday boy I should make these for! {Our friends’ oldest son! He was a good sport to pose in the middle of watching a movie for me. Bad timing to not get a photo in the excitement of the gift reveal!}

I searched Blossom Bunkhouse for directions since the Pinterest link did not go directly to the post, and I could only find a jet pack for an Elf on the Shelf! Anyway, the whole family got involved in making this project happen.

I spray painted 2 soda bottles by sticking some dowels in the grass {and then covering the grass} to hold the bottles while I painted them.

I bought the black seat belt like strapping for the harness and a plastic latch to keep it tight in front. It was simple to sew onto the strapping. I used my younger daughter as a model to figure how much strapping to use.

My husband cut some slits in the bottles to run the strapping loop through. One error we made was not thinking about which end of the bottles the slits would be best. So the jet pack ended up being a little high on his back.

Another mess we made: We thought that putting expandable foam in the bottles would keep them hard and difficult to crush—also that it would hold the strapping in place. Great idea, but who knew we’d create a volcano of foamy mess that got the bottles all nasty. I ended up using turpentine to wipe as much off as I could! Maybe using a whole lot less would be ok?

To cover some of the mess, I hot glued a grey piece of felt to the back side of the pack. It helped stabilize the bottles too. Lastly, I hot glued pieces of orange and red fabric strips into the bottle opening for the fire.

It was a hit even with all the mistakes! All the kids wanted one!