The Drenchinator 3000
This is a project I worked on with my husband this summer for our family and neighborhood gatherings. Well, he did most of the work, but I added the vinyl to finish it off so I’m including it on my blog. 🙂 Maybe thinking about this summer project will warm me up a little (we’ve been hitting single digits here in Utah the past week).
My husband saw an idea like this on the internet, then welded up his own version. It’s a fun alternative to a dunk tank, where the victim gets soaked but is completely safe. We’re big Phineas and Ferb fans, so after some brainstorming we decided to call it the “Drenchinator 3000” in honor of Dr. Doofenshmirtz.
You can see the white target in the photo above. The victim sits under the basket, which is filled with a very large water balloon. The person tossing the bean bags throws them at the target, and when they hit it the lever moves and pops the water balloon with a sharp point.
It’s a fantastic design (I think my hubby’s a genius), but he was thrilled with the vinyl I was able to apply to the black screen. I used plain white Contact paper and cut it with my Silhouette Cameo. Normally the Contact paper I have cuts well but isn’t easy to apply (weak adhesive), but on this black material when it was heated in the sun (very hot to the touch), it really stuck on well.
On the bottom I put our homage to Dr. Doofenshmirtz (I was able to Google an image to trace in Silhouette Studio), and on the back side it even says “Curse You, Perry the Platypus!” Can you tell we had a lot of fun with this?
Now you can see it in action. We set this up for a large neighborhood party, then used it again for two of our kids’ birthdays. Here’s the birthday girl and her drenching:
As one of our victims said, “Now that’s a lot of water!” It’s amazing how wet you can get a person with a single water balloon. And the age groups that can both sit and throw at the target are varied. Even my 3-year old got drenched and came out laughing. Not one child was upset by getting drenched with the Drenchinator 3000.
It’s good for a group drenching, too. (Although the sneaky ones manage to move out of the way.)
Here’s a video I took while we were testing it:
Click here to go to the video on You Tube
We had so much fun making and using this contraption. It’s stored for the winter, but we’ll be getting it out again as soon as it’s warm enough for water fun again. I hope you enjoyed seeing our joint creativity!
LOL! I love it but I'm definitely not coming to visit you in the Summertime. What wonderful memories you are making with family and friends. Thanks for sharing!
LOL Sitting under the Drenchinator is purely voluntary. (I never had to. Hee-hee!)
You two must be the most fun parents in town! What a genius idea! I love this; it's good clean fun that will serve your family down through generations! I want to still be around when you have grandchildren, Kelly! Thanks for showing us this!
(We could have used it here today – it is 82 degrees here right now!)
I'd love 82 degrees right now! We're getting dumped on with a big snow storm at the moment. 🙁
That is so totally cool! Can you share the link he used to make this?
My husband is not handy, but, my brother-in-laws are!
I wouldn't know where to find the original idea. It was a company that was selling/renting their own version of this machine. He just used the pictures to create his own. (And they showed less pictures than I have above.) Sorry!
Wow! Talk about CREATIVE & FUN!!! 🙂 That's incredible!!!!! You & your husband did such a good job!!!!!!! I like the idea of contact paper, too!
Thanks so much for sharing!
Crafty hugs,
Jennifer
partridgelu at yahoo dot com
LOL, Kelly this is just the BOMB! I keep scrolling through the pics and giggling like crazy, great job on the vinyl, hugs
wow never seen this before, what a lot of fun!!!!
That is fabulous….what a wonderful family building memories!!!!!
What a great post!! I even showed it to my husband was was impressed 🙂 Not only it's such a fun machine, the design and all the extra touches you added to it, take it to a whole new level of coolness.
I love this – seriously good, clean fun. Great collaboration between you and your husband! Melissa
Thanks for all the nice comments! My daughter with a winter birthday was quite unhappy that her three siblings get to use this for their summer birthday parties, but she doesn't. I don't think anyone would want to get drenched out in the cold!
i'm going to have to show this to my hubby, we too are big phineas and ferb fans. love all your dr doof references! and your vinyl is great! your hubby should copyright this idea and sell them. what great summer fun. thanks for sharing.