How to make a hula hoop

My experience making hula hoops:

            The first time I saw someone hula hoop dancing I just figured that they had bought their hoop from somewhere. Later I realized and learned that people made their own hula hoops and taped them to make them look the way that they want. Once I really got into the whole hula hooping thing I immediately wanted to make my own hula hoops to use. I asked my friend where to get the supplies and what I need to get started. I went to Lowe’s and got a few pieces of poly piping (I didn’t know they came in rolls at this point) and connectors, and also I got a few different colors of duct tape and electrical tape to start off with. I then went home and looked up some instructions and videos online to follow while making my first hoop. At first before I got started I was scared that the process was going to be hard and my hoop would come out not looking great like others I had seen (however not the case). Anyways once I watched a tutorial video on how to put the hoop together I got my dad to help me because it looked like it’d be easier with another set of hands. First I assembled the hula hoop by heating up both ends of the pipe with a hair dryer (like I described in my older post) so it formed a perfect circle just the size I wanted it. Making the hoop was very easy (could be done by yourself) and literally took maybe five minutes! Once I had successfully put my first hula hoop together I was so excited about how simple and cheap it was to make I wanted to make more. After I made three in only short period of time I was ready to tape them and make them my own! Deciding what colors to use and how to tape them was definitely the hardest part of making the hoops! I chose a random hoop out of the three to be my “guinea pig” of taping because I had never done it before. I chose hot pink and zebra print tape for the first one. Once I started to tape it I realized it was actually really difficult to do and make the tape lay perfectly on the hoop. That night my dad and I each took a hula hoop and practiced taping them until we finally got the hang of it and could tape it properly because there is definitely a right way to do and it takes time to get it.

The youtube video above is a tutorial on how to tape your own hula hoop. The lady in the video does a good job at showing how to tape your hoop the correct way so that it does not look messy. I also like this video because she uses all different types of tape to show how to use each one.

This video is relative to my journal post because I talked a lot about how to tape your hula hoop and my own experience with taping my first hula hoop. I wish I would have watched this video before I tried to tape my first hula hoop however I learned on my own.

Above is an image I found online that is just a lot of poly piping in rolls that can be bought at most hard ware stores like Lowe’s or Home Depot. This is the type of piping used to make hula hoops and each roll can make around ten hula hoops.

This photo is related to my journal post because this is a good example of what to look for if you wanted to go out and by the things needed to make your own hula hoop. It is good to know what you are looking for when you go to buy these things because it is really easy to get the wrong type of pipe.

Above is an image of a few different types or styles of tape. These kinds of tape that are reflective and sparkly are really hard to find in stores (I’ve looked everywhere), so the best place to buy these tapes is online at a place like “identi-tape”.

This picture is just an idea of what kinds of tape you can choose when you are taping your own hula hoop. Online stores that sell tape have the best selection when trying to find cool tape. You can also buy normal colored vinyl or electrical tape at hard ware stores and duct tape (which is not the best) at many places. 

Instructions on How to Make a Hula Hoop:

Making your own hula hoop is really fun and you can be as creative as you want with it. Hula hoops used for hula hoop dancing are generally custom, handmade to fit the person using it. You can either choose to make your own hula hoop at home or order a custom made one online. I prefer to make my own hula hoops because I can choose the size and color I want it to be. It is also a lot less expensive to make your own and it is very easy.

The first step to making a hula hoop is getting the supplies that you will need: poly piping (at Lowes), a connector (also from Lowes), pipe cutters, blow dryer and colorful tape.

You should hold the poly pipe in a circle against your body to figure out how big you want your hoop to be (should come to your waist almost), then cut the pipe. To connect the two ends they need to be heated with the hair dryer. Hold the hair dryer to one end of hoop for about 30 seconds then quickly insert the connector piece half way. Heat up the other end the same way and insert the other end of the connector, connecting the two ends together. Once this is done the structure of the hula hoop is done and the only thing left to do is decorate it!

When thinking about how you want to decorate your hula hoop there are tons and tons of different ways you can do it. You can look up pictures and videos of taped hula hoops online to get ideas of how you want your hula hoop to look. The most common way to decorate a hula hoop is to wrap it with colorful tape. You can use any kind of colorful tape you want. Duct tape isn’t really recommended though because after you use it for a while and it gets scratched the tape starts to come off and a sticky residue is left behind on the hoop. Vinyl or electrical tape is commonly used because it stays on well and is thin so it doesn’t affect how the hoop feels in your hands. Online you can also order a variety of tape that comes in every color and design. Once you have taped your hula hoop and it looks the way you want it to you can start hula hooping with your new hoop!

This is a picture of a variety of differently taped hula hoops. There are different sizes of hula hoops in this picture. They are all different colors and different patterns of how the hula hoops are taped. There are striped ones and solid colored ones to choose from.

This picture relates to the journal post that I just wrote because it is showing all the different possibilities there are when it comes to decorating your hula hoop. These are good examples of ways you could tape your hula hoop and color patterns and different sizes of hula hoops.

This is a youtube video that shows step by step instructions on how to make your own hula hoop. This is a tutorial video so you are able to see clearly how to go about making the hula hoop and what supplies you will need.

This tutorial is helpful and relates to my journal post because you can more clearly see and understand what I was describing in my journal post on how to make your own hula hoop. This video is helpful because it is always easier to do something with instructions that have pictures or a video to go along with the process.

http://www.identi-tape.com/

This website above is an online store where you can order pretty much any kind of tape in the world you might need. There are different types of tape used for many different things. On this website tape comes in every solid color along with sparkly tape or patterned tape in many different textures.

This website is a good source for this topic I wrote about because it is a good place to buy tape to use for hula hoops because it is hard to find colorful tape in many stores. Tape on this website can be used for many things like taping a hula hoop because there is such a variety of colors and designs.