Total Time 30 minutes or less Ages school-age
Inspired by the movie: High School Musical
Here's a back-to-school project guaranteed to score points with Troy Bolton fans - transforming a plain wastebasket into a whimsical desk side basketball hoop. And who knows? It just might make settling down to do homework a little more enticing. All you need is some bright orange vinyl tape and a basketball net (which you can pick up in the sports aisle of many large department stores for as little as $3).
by Cindy Littlefield
What you'll need
- Small wastebasket (the one shown here measures about 10 inches wide and 12 inches tall)
- Basketball net
- Orange vinyl tape
- Scissors
How to make it
Drape the basketball net over the outside of the wastebasket, pulling it up so that the bottom just touches the floor. Let the excess at the top of the net fall into the wastebasket for now.
Use lengths of tape (about 2 1/2 inches long) to attach the net to the wastebasket rim. The pieces should go right over the rim so that one edge sticks to the outside of the basket and the opposite edge sticks to the inside. Overlap the side edges of the tape slightly as you work your way around the basket so you'll have no gaps, and do your best to keep the lower edges as even as possible to resemble an orange basketball hoop.
Press down firmly on the tape to make sure it is sticking well. Then cut away the excess net inside the can, trimming the strands even with the edge of the tape.
