Hula Hoop Display Rack

I did a little searching for a hoop rack and found a few references to them.  Some people seem to use clothing racks and I found at least one example of a PVC rack that someone had made.  My handy husband and I were able to come up with a similar design for a PVC hula hoop display rack.

Together we figured out how many connectors we would need as well as how much PVC tubing (50').  We decided on 3/4" PVC with the thicker inner wall.  The project didn't cost too much to make and took an evening to cut and assemble.  My husband used a hand saw and we didn't end up gluing it together.  The measurements were based on hoop sizes for the width.  The height of various parts were decided based on testing with hoops.

The rack seems to work very well for my hoops.  I decided to remove the PVC lettering with acetone and decorate the rack with my business name and gaffer tape.

After it was made, I measured my mini van and the rack width and height.  Fortunately, it will fit assembled!  That might have been a good consideration when designing the rack.  The rack width is 42.5" and the height is about 41" and the length is 47.5".

Giant Hula Hoops

At one of the places I teach my hoop fitness classes, the owner requested a giant hula hoop. Once when I was making a regular sized hoop, there was a bit extra tubing left on the roll, so I made an extra big hoop. It ended up being about five foot diameter. Though when I showed it to the owner, it was not big enough to be giant.

I did a little research to see how big a hoop I could make and how big is good for hooping. I found the Guinness Book of World Record for the biggest hula hoop. It works out to be about a 16.5 foot diameter. I asked fellow hoopers and searched the internet.

I noticed that the world record hoop looked very hard to use. I found a video of a man using a 10 foot hoop on an elevated tower. He made it look effortless.

Other materials might be better and certainly a nice lightweight aluminum might be perfect, but I decided to go with what was available to me locally. I got 1" tubing with a rating of 100psi. It is not the most rigid tubing, but this also makes it not too heavy.

I decided to start with a ten foot diameter hoop. I spun myself and the hoop a bit and right away the hoop started to bend near the connector. The next try was with a nine foot diameter hoop. It was hoopable, but big and heavy. I decided it would not be a good option. Next was an eight foot diameter hoop. It worked pretty well. Before I cut it down, my daughter took some video of the nine foot hoop and then both of us trying out the eight foot hoop

Mini hoops all the way to an 8' hoop!

The next day I decided to make a seven foot hoop as a second option. It was a bit easier to use.

Before assembling the hoops, my husband had helped me sand down one end of the connectors. This allowed me to easily pull out the one end of the hoop making it collapse easily. Eventually I planned to add a push button connector. In the mean time I just taped the seam together to prevent the hoop from coming apart at the wrong time.

I brought my "naked" temporarily taped together giant hoops to the gym. The owner liked them both! The next steps were to put on the requested sparkle tape and install the button connector. The hoops needed a bit less tape than I had anticipated, which was a nice surprise. I used all of one roll plus some a second roll of 25' roll of sparkle tape and some additional gaffer tape.

Hooping with a seven foot hoop!

I hope everyone who gets to try them will enjoy the giant hoops for a long time! So far they have brought smiles to all the people I have seen try them!

Webster Hoopers Window Cling

In February I became a Certified Hoopnotica Instructor and in March I started teaching classes. Little did I realize I was actually starting a business too. I needed a name, logo, website, Facebook page, and advertising.

I started with a website for my Webster Hoopers and created a logo from an image of myself hooping.

Flyers have been handed out and posters hung.

I often have a bunch of hula hoops visible in the back of my station wagon. I wondered if I could have my website address there. I considered purchasing a window cling, but wondered if I could make one.

I remembered I had alphabet stickers that were pretty big. They'd stick the wrong way though. Then I wondered if I could stick the stickers to clear packing tape and then stick the tape to the inside of my window.

I cut out the letters first to see how long it would be and to make sure I had all the right letters. Then I laid out the packing tape and used masking tape to to hold the packing tape in place.

Everything went together quickly. I brought it out to my car and stuck it on the inside of my rear window. Right away it was apparent that the black letters on clear tape was not bright enough. Probably if I had used white letters or a bright color, it might have been fine. But the dark letters faded into the dark interior.

Instead of starting over with letters I don't have, I tried to figure out what else I could do. I contemplated colored tape we have, but all of the backsides are whitish and not great looking. Then I came across some silver tape I had for hoops. It seemed like an acceptable option. I will have to see how long this DIY window cling turned sticker will last.

The Extreme Hula Hoop Fort

I posted a while back about the minimalist hula hoop fort. Well this must be the extreme one. I saw an image of one and knew I'd have to try my own.

It was a sunny, snowless, winter day with just enough wind to make it extra tricky, but I was determined.

I assembled all my hoops together and surprisingly I could have made yet a fourth tier. But the wind was threatening to knock it down yet again. Quickly I got them stacked and snapped some pics. I even got a high five and a yay from the little one.

The colors of my image were not popping enough, so I used the app ColorSplash to color just the hoops.

Extreme Hula Hoop Castle

More Hooping Jewelry

After making the hoop ornaments, I hoped to make a pendant for myself.  There were smaller 1 1/2" curtain rings, but they seemed too big.

I ordered some smaller black metal rings in 1" and 1/2" sizes.  They both looked very hoop like with tape covering them.  Using my new prism tape gave them an even neater look.

Hula hoop pendants were made and are proudly worn by the girls in my family.  Perhaps someone else will like the larger sizes at my Etsy store.

Hula Hoop Necklaces with 1/2", 1" and 1.5" rings

Hula Hoop Ornament

Another Google search did not yield what I was looking for...so I made it myself! I ended up with metal shower curtain rings, removed the small hooks and applied cut hoop tape. This one is a gift, can't wait to make another hoop ornament to put on our tree!

Hula Hoop Ornament

Patchwork Hoop for Kessa

Kessa always wants to help when I am taping hoops. Sometimes I give her a scrap of tape hoping to appease her. She tries to find a place on the hoop for the scrap of tape.

This gave me an idea. I hadn't made a hoop just for Kessa before. She's not even 20 months yet. But she has been practicing with the hand hoops I made and is getting quite good at getting the hoop to spin around her a few times.

I cut and connected a small hoop for Kessa and told her it was for her. Then I sat down to do the taping and cut a small piece off. I kept cutting off little pieces alternating colors. We kept this up for a while. Kessa was delighted to be working on her hoop and actually applying tape. As the hoop was getting covered it reminded me of the children's book character, Elmer the Patchwork Elephant. She lost interest for a little while and I continued with the patchwork design. It was also a good use of my orange that was almost gone.

Patchwork Hoop