How to Make a Yardstick Kite

Build your own aerial toys!

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Jute Or Carpet Warp Yarn
• Kite Strings
• Wood Glues
• Measuring Tapes
• White Glues
• Scissors
• Scissors
• Kraft Papers Or Heavy Plastic Or Nylon
• Yardsticks
• Twine
• Twine
• 1/8-inch Drill Bits
• Handsaws
• Variable-speed Drills

1. Cut a yardstick in half lengthwise. Keep one half 36 inches long, and trim the other one down to 30 inches.

2. Drill a 1/8-inch hole a half-inch from both ends of each stick.

3. Make a mark on the longer stick 10 inches from the end. Make a mark on the shorter stick 15 inches from the end.

4. Lay the short stick across the long stick at the points where the marks are.

5. Put a dab of wood glue between the sticks. You can paint the kite frame if you like.

6. Tie the frame together at the intersection in a crisscross pattern with jute or carpet warp yarn.

7. Cut a piece of twine 120 inches long. At one end, tie a knot large enough to keep the twine from slipping through the holes you drilled in the sticks.

8. Lay the frame down on your work surface. The long stick should be vertical and the short one horizontal. The short one should be underneath the long one. The kite frame is now facedown.

9. Thread the 120-inch piece of twine through the top hole from back to front. Make a few wraps around the end of the stick.

10. Run the end of the twine to the right side of the short stick and thread it through the hole from front to back. Keep the string tight and make several wraps around this end as well.

11. Run the twine to the bottom of the kite frame and repeat the process until you have gotten back to the top again. Make sure to keep the string tight while wrapping. Tie the end securely and cut off the excess twine.

12. Lay the kite on top of a piece of heavy paper, nylon or plastic. Draw around it 2 inches from the edge of the kite.

13. Cut out the material. If you want to paint designs on it, do so now. Be sure to let it dry before going to the next step.

14. Put the material facedown on the work surface and center the kite frame facedown on top of it.

15. Make 1-inch V-shaped cuts in the material where the stick ends are.

16. Fold the material over the pieces of twine stretched between each stick and glue it down with white glue.

17. Tie a tail to the bottom of the kite. A tail is easily made by tying an 8-foot piece of twine to the bottom of the kite frame. Tie fabric scraps at 18-inch intervals. You may have to experiment to see what combinations work best.

18. Make a kite bridle by tying a piece of twine to each end of the short stick and another one between each end of the long stick. There should be enough slack in both so the string stands out 8 inches or so from the center of the frame.

19. Tie your kite string to the intersection of these strings and go fly a kite!

[elvis1935]

on 3/27/2008 If you don't have white glue, you can make your glue with flour and water. Just mix it together. And you can use News paper. I watch my dad make this many times when we were kids.