SO YOU WANT TO BUILD A FLOAT? - Valley …

1 SSSSSO YO YO YO YO YOU WOU WOU WOU WOU want TANT TANT TANT TANT TO BO BO BO BO BUUUUUIIIIILD A FLLD A FLLD A FLLD A FLLD A FLOAOAOAOAOAT?T?T?T?T?Congratulations! You will soon discover the joy of creating a wonderful thing a parade can be built from just about anything, by just about anybody. Trailers, trucks, golf carts,tractors, boats and barges have all been decorated to make a memorable parade entry. Evenyoung children can decorate shopping carts or wagons for a parade. It s all about adding to thespirit of your community, spreading smiles and laughter among the spectators on the Valley Decorating, we take pride in making the finest professional decorating products thatwill allow you to create your own award-winning float in the least amount of time.

2 Valley wasknown for designing and building floats for the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade. We havebuilt upon this experience to become the leading manufacturer of high quality float decorationssince 1946. Our innovative concepts and superior materials make it easy for you to turn yourideas into most frequent question we are asked is how to get started. We have created this FloatBuilding Manual and Product Supply Catalog to help you make a spectacular float . You findeasy-to-follow instructions, pictures for design ideas, and products that can make your float happy building!

3 Parade float photos courtesy of: Associated Chicago, IL Baylor Chamber of Waco, TX Carnival San San Francisco, CA City of Key Key Largo, FL Green float Garden Grove, CA June Byron, CA Othello Community , WA Parade float Navarre, OH San Antonio, TX Rojee , MA Southwest San Antonio, TX Tahoe Arts Lake Tahoe, CA Texas San Antonio, TX Three Rivers Fort Wayne, IN Upbeat Parade San Jose, CA Valley DECORATING COMPANY1111122222 TTTTTABLE OABLE OABLE OABLE OABLE OF CF CF CF CF 1 float Building 3 Step-by-Step 5 Decorating a 9 Holiday 10 Homecoming 13 float Decorating 15A grand prize winner from Valley Decorating Company, past builders for the Tournament of Roses Bt Bt Bt Bt Builuiluiluiluildindindindinding Gg Gg Gg Gg GuiuiuiuiuidddddeeeeeGGGGG eeeeettinttinttinttintting Sg Sg Sg Sg StttttararararartedtedtedtedtedBegin by gathering information from parade officials.

4 Find outabout rules, entry fees deadlines, etc. Make sure youunderstand what is not allowed in the parade. Some paradesdon t allow semi-trucks because of size restrictions. Some allowonly self-propelled floats. There also may be rules prohibitingthrowing items off the float , such as beads and candy. Ifapplicable, find out the judging categories and the parade stheme so you can adapt your design Yg Yg Yg Yg Yooooour Fur Fur Fur Fur FllllloaoaoaoaoatttttCreative brainstorming is the first step in float design. As a warm up, think of things that a child wouldenjoy doing: going to a circus, skateboarding, riding in a submarine, space travel, etc.

5 Then come upwith a list of strange, funny, or interesting animals, people or creatures. Pirates, dinosaurs, spacealiens, giant bugs, angels and clowns are examples. Can you combine these ideas to make your entrymore memorable? How about clowns on a submarine with polka-dot shorts flying from the periscope!From your list of ideas, can you incorporate the parade s theme? If your parade falls on a holiday, thinkof symbols that represent the holiday. As an example, for Valentines Day, how about a float with candyhearts as props that say LUV YOU and BE MINE?

6 You can use flags, fireworks, or Uncle Sam for theFourth of July. If your parade is part of a county fair, get creative with food, vegetables or animals. Playwith the sizes of them: giant turnips? OH MY! How about using a play on words such as Fair or Fowl, My Fair Lady, or Fair Weather Friends? Plan ahead to draw people s attention. Things that move, such as wheels, windmills, flags, and costumedcharacters will add life to your unit. Flashing objects such as metallic decorations or mirrored surfaceswill also attract your audience s eye.

7 Recently, the cost of special effects have become more and smoke machines, confetti cannons and bubble machines wll add a new dimension to limit yourself to just the visual aspect. If you can, incorporate all the senses. Use music andsound effects. Even peppermint scent can be sprayed from a Christmas float ! You may also want toinvolve your audience. Get them to sing along with your music, do the Chicken Dance or doThe Wave. While designing your float , keep your message in good taste. If your theme is humorous, make sure noone will be offended.

8 If you are using your float as a way to gain exposure for your business, a clevermessage will be remembered much longer than a blatant you have chosen your concept, make a sketch using graph paper. A scaled drawing will helpyou know how much material you need to Fy Fy Fy Fy FiririririrssssstttttParades are a wonderful experience, but it is your responsibility to keep your float s riders and driverssafe. If riders will be standing, BUILD stanchions for them to hold onto. Some parades require seatbeltsfor children on floats. If there will be a generator on board, be sure to allow for proper ventilation.

9 Youmust also allow ventilation for any enclosed area of your float that contains drivers or riders. Makesure the exhaust can escape and the engine receives airflow to prevent overheating. Keep a fireextinguisher handy and make sure your decorations are flame Sual Sual Sual Sual Suggggggggggeeeeessssstititititiooooonsn snsnsnsHere are items commonly used in float construction:44444 4 x 4 Plywood 2 x 4 s and 1 x 2 s Construction staplers and staples L Brackets Nails & Drywall Screws Plumber s Tape Tape Measure Scissors Wire & String Flexible Board Spray Adhesive Cordless Drill with Screwdriver AttachmentsMMMMM eaeaeaeaeasurinsurinsurinsurinsuring Cg Cg Cg Cg Cooooorrrrrrrrrrectlectlectlectlectlyyyy yFFFFF ooooor thr thr thr thr the te te te te tooooop dp dp dp dp decececececk ank ank ank ank and sid sid sid sid sidddddeeeeesssss.

10 To cover the float with Floral Sheeting, Grass Mat, or Sequin Sheeting,mulitply the length times the width of each area to be covered, then add the totals together. This willgive the total square footage. In the example below, the top deck is 128 square feet (8 x 16 ) and thesizes are 72 square feet (2 sides of 8 x and 2 sides of 16 c ). Always add an extra 10% toyour material to overlap seams and fold over edges for a better thr thr thr thr the trime trime trime trime trim: To decorate around the float with Fringe and Petal Festooning, measure all the sides andadd them together to get linear feet (8 _ 16 + 8 + 16 = 48 ) and add 10% when trailer in this example, and in the Step-by-Step Instructions section, is 8 x 16 and measures48 around the pr pr pr pr prrrrrooooopppppsssss: Imagine each prop as if it were inside a box.