How I Made my DI Scenery

As I already said in my last post, I just recently got in 4th place for this year’s Destination Imagination Competition. Besides Mrs. Soap’s costume that I made, our second team choice element was a mushroom that I made. This is how I made it.

First, the stem was made by taking a carboard tube and a 5 gallon bucket. To make the mushroom stable, I needed a strong base. To make a sturdy base, a hole was cut on the bottom, where the carboard tube was inserted. To secure the tube to the bucket, I used triple-expanding foam between thet tube and the inside of the bucket. After letting the foam dry overnight, the base was finlly done. To make the transition fromt the tube to the base smoother and more cone-like, I wrapped chicken wire around the entire base. Next, to cover up the base, I cut the elastic off of a fitted sheet. to color the sheet, and to give it a more natural color thats not pure white, I neded to dye it somehow. My father and my little brother are ardent baseball fans, I went with them to our local baseball field. I was watching themplay, and saw the red dirt of the innerfield, wich would be perfect for dying the sheet. I took serveral cup fulls of dirt home and added water to make the dirt red. I soaked the sheet in the  muddy water overnight. It tinted the white sheet reddish-brown. I then sewed it around the base. Like a sock, I slipped it off when transpotring it.

Moving onto the top of the mushroom. The top was slightly harder to create thant the base. To create the shape of the top of the mushroom, I used an inner tube and a beach ball. I inflated them both and stacked the ball on the tube. To cover the top, I went to my local fabric store. there I found some fuzzy, darkish red cloth. I then took it home and spent 3-4 hours sewing it all together and leaving  a hole where I could then blow the tube and the ball up. To create the white dots needed on the mushroom. I used local moss called air ferns, wich are nature’s puffballs. After dipping them in white paint, I used adhesive glue to attatch them to the fabric on the mushroom.

After that, it was transported to the competition, where it scored very wel and played an important part in or performance.

One comment to How I Made my DI Scenery

  1. Mrs. Kriese says:

    Love the vocab placement ;- )

    Congratulations on your DI success, and your important role in that success!

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