A great family project for this weekend: A Kerry Blimp

File this one under Great Ideas. This would be a great family project over the weekend running up to the election.

QWQ's 'lectioneering pickup truck post of the 24th prompted me to build a KerryBlimp for about $25. Made a big bag by folding a 12' X 24' painter's dropcloth in half and heat-sealing the edges with a pizza cutter heated on a stove burner. A 12' plank allowed each edge to be sealed with a single roll of the pizza cutter. Airtight will keep the bag from going flabby. Painted 'VOTE KERRY' on both sides with screenprinting ink (solvent won't melt film). Bought a helium & balloon kit $20 (WalMart, Sams, party store). Put filled balloons in bag (balloons hold helium much longer than film), filled bag using cool hairdryer, sealed hole and tied kite string to the bottom. I had only 200M of line but this put it way above the neighborhood.

(via a comment by RoadRage at Kos)