DIY: Shock Absorbant and Thermous Cupholder

description of the problem: why i chose the problem I did, why I chose the solution, how i made the solution work, how it works;
material's list, tool's list;

attached images for the intro: final product.

Have you ever been riding your bike on a hot summer day and you have a cold soda that becomes warm before you reach your destination?  A drink that splashes every time you hit a bump? Isn't it frustrating? The bikers at my school seem to think so, so we've come up with a simple and affordable solution, an insulated cup holder. An insulated cup holder will not only keep your hot drinks hot and cold drinks cold, but also absorb the shock from the bumpy bike rides with the surrounding Styrofoam insulator. The insulator acts like a protective shell around the drink which is tightly wrapped around the container of your drink to ensure maximum protection and support. The insulator also keeps the temperature of your drink, like that of a house. With this cup holder there will be less splashing, so you will have more of your drink left to rehydrate yourself after a long bike ride.

Materials:
2 Arts and Crafts Foam Sheets (18 inches x 12 inches)
1 Water bottle (or average size circular object for holder size)
1 Sheet of Styrofoam Insulator (20 in x12 in)
1 needle
1 roll of Thread
1 Roll of Tape
1 Pair of Scissors

After you have collected all your materials, you need to take hold of the object who's shape you are using to make the holder. Then take one of the two pieces of arts and crafts foam, and wrap it around the bottle. Wrap it so that there is only one layer around the bottle, the 12 inch side being the height of the foam wrap. Mark the foam at the place where the first layer is complete. Draw a straight line down the foam and cut along that line.

*Note: Make sure that the area of the object you are using is the desirable area. Make sure it will fit all the bottles or drinks you intend for it to hold.

After you cut off the excess foam connect the two ends, with tape at the top or bottom, and sew the two ends together. The stitches should be about 0.2 to 0.4 cm. Sew all the way down.

Once you have fully sewn Piece 1, the inner piece, you then wrap the Styrofoam insulator around the inner piece. Again you only want a single layer of insulaor, so wrap it around once and mark where the first layer ends. Cut off the excess insulator.

After you have cut the layer of insulator, you must connect the two ends, just as you had with the foam layer. Sew the two ends together from top to bottom with stitches about 0.3 cm to 0.5 cm apart.

Now that you have the inner piece and the insulator, you need to add the outer foam layer. Take the second foam board and wrap this around the insulator piece that had the inner piece already inside it. Like before, you only want one layer, so wrap it around, mark it and cut off the excess.

So now you have three layers: (1) the inner piece from the first foam sheet, (2) the insulator layer, and (3) the second foam sheet in the outer layer.

Sew the second foam sheet, the outer layer, together. The stitches should be as tight as possible; tighter than the other two stitching because it it the final layer that holds it all together. Aim for 0.3 cm stitching.

Take any piece of excess foam sheet that is as large as the circumference of the bottom of the cup holder and place the cup holder on top of it. Trace the holder's outline, then cut out the circular shape.

Now sew the circular piece of foam to the bottom of the holder. Sew it to the outside layer.

*Note: You may use tape to hold it the two ends together while you sewing.

Special Thanks to Mr. Robert Tolar for giving us the inspiration and idea of creating this cup holder.