Nothing compares to the soft sound of a fountain when you want to relax. You can be in your own back yard, but if you close your eyes, the yard mysteriously vanishes. When you sit and listen to water splash into a fountain, the lawn chair, crab grass and compost pile disappear. Suddenly, you are somewhere else. Sailing on shimmering turquoise water, you shade your eyes against the sun as it hurries toward the horizon. Laughing, you set sail for shore. You taste salt in the air. Then you hear—

The neighbor’s dog bark, and you are in your yard again. No worries. The fountain will be there tomorrow.

Have you ever wished you could have a fountain? Did you know you could make one, yourself?

Now you can.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

-Markers in different colors

-Yardstick

-Small Power Saw  (You can use a hand saw, but it will take a lot longer, and you can’t be guaranteed straight lines)

-Latex Paint

-Paint Brushes  (At least one with stiff bristles, to get into the dimples of the styrofoam)

-Water Pump

-Sharp Cutting edge

-Gouge

-Water-Proof Glue

NOW YOU CAN—Relaxing Styrofoam Fountain

INSTRUCTIONS:

Make the Walls

Using your .yardstick, draw bricks on your wall.

Be sure and leave space between the bricks for the “grout”. Using a sharp gouge, carve where the grout would be. Straighten up the sides and cut out the window.

On the second wall, trace bricks, like you did on the first wall.

Paint one side of each wall with black latex paint, making sure to get the grout. Allow to dry. Paint bricks again, only with gray paint the second time. Don’t paint the grout.

Stand walls on base. Glue them.  Cut about 8″ off the top of the wall without a window.

Cut 3 notches in the side of the shorter wall.

Cut Straight pieces to go in the window. Glue the straight pieces together and paint them with black latex paint.

When the straight pieces are set and dry, glue them in the window. These will be your window panes.

Make the Bowl

Glue several pieces of styrofoam together. Let the glue set and dry, then carve out the inside of your fountain bowl. Paint the bowl inside and out.

Add the Roof

On top of each wall, glue on a flat piece of styrofoam and a brace of styrofoam. Paint them.

Cut your corrugated metal to fit the tops of your walls. You can also use plastic, but we found metal gives more sound. Glue the metal in layers to the styrofoam roofs.

Finish the touch up paint.

Put styrofoam “peanuts” in the bowl, and under the bowl.

Hook up the pump.

Turn your fountain on, and drift away…

Thought you couldn’t do it? NOW you can!