Alright, final update. Like I mentioned before, I decided to hand-make the duck pond. I was able to find some cardboard, very similar in shape to science project boards, only about half as tall. Using construction paper, I lined the cardboard in red and white stripes. I colored a large print-out of a rubber duck and placed that in the middle of the board.
A nice feature of the cardboard, and a main reason I chose to use it, are these little flappy thingies, on the top and the bottom of the board. I was able to flatten the bottom flaps, which created feet for the board to stand (and quite stably, too). The top flaps I have "springing" out, 3-D style, and crafted into a rather neat looking DUCK POND sign.
With green construction paper as a base, I created a grassy effect, and placed a fancy looking blue in the middle, shaped like a pond of course. I added "grass" border (using another shade of green, and cutting in a comb-like style) and viola! It was done!
It looks awesome! Much better than the ol' swimming pool filled with 1/2 inch of water would have. Now it catches the eye, and I expect it to draw more players than it ever has.
Next year, with more time, I may even try to make the ducks sit on some sort of blue-covered mechanical lazy susan or something....
I didn't want this thing to be so time consuming, but now that it's done, I'm proud of the outcome. Sure, I'm less than 24 hours away from the event, and have more loose ends to tie up, but I wasn't going to let those little rubber duckies get the best of me... because, gosh darn'it, when I set out to do something, I do it, and do it right!
