Homemade gift for the teen boy ~Devil Sticks~

Luckily for me Large is a dork. No worries, he knows he is a dork and is very proud of his oddness. The Devil Sticks are not going to be for any boy (girls like them too). A kid that likes Hackey Sacks or juggling, medieval reenactments or RPG's (not video games). If you don't want to deal with the negative side of teen angst, be aware of what your kid is into, could make for a miserable Christmas morning.

These Devil Sticks are for the beginner.

You will need:

2 wooden dowels 
4 feet of 5/16" diameter
2 feet of 1/2" diameter

Athletic tape any color(s)

A hand saw

What to do:

Cut the dowels to 2 feet in length. You will need 1 of the thick dowel and 2 of the same length of the thinner dowels.

Take one of the tapes and pull down a long piece, keeping it attached to the roll. Spin the tape so that it spiral on itself, lazily. Wrap this around your thick dowel, sticky side out. Lattice the dowel with the tape, like this:

Reverse the direction, doubling up but creating the lattice look. Make sure you overlap the previous tape.

You can use the same color tape here, sticky side down, cover the lattice work thoroughly. On each end of your thick stick, you will need to make counter weights. Use the tape to do this. Wrap the tape around each end, testing out the balance as you add to it.

Wrap tape around your 2 hand sticks (thinner dowels) just the same as the exterior part of your middle stick (thicker dowel) but not the lattice work. However you will need to vary the direction in which you wrap and create small bumps as you go. You can do this in multiple colors.

This is your finished product. You can add tassels to the end of the middle stick with the tape if you want.

And when they get really good at it, you can add fire

If you don't know what Devil sticks are or how to use them, here is a video.

How to Use a Devil Stick in Juggling

Look for possible savings for supplies for devil sticks at Home Depot.