Household boat materials?

Just made one with my grandson who is 9. Did it for scouts. We used a soda bottle, 20oz, cut sideways for bottom. It was Christmas time so bear with me. We put a candy cane upside down in the middle to hold the masts. The mast was a picture of reindeer flying. We cut it out from an old card. In the front of the boat we used a candy cane that was curve side down. We had a gingerbread man sitting on the cane. Inside the boat we filled it with presents that we bought at the dollar store. At the top of the masts we made a crows nest out of a medicine cup. The kind you get from nyquil or something like that. We wrapped a border from a card around the cup so it looked good. We cut out a pic of santa and stuck him in the cup or "look out". In the back of the boat we cut out another pic I think of a reindeer. Goofy looking one. We glued that in the back sort of as a "bye bye" thing. We put tiny candy canes around the back for the anchor. We also made a rope ladder with toothpicks and heavy string. The candy canes were plastic. Not real. Hope this helps. It looked way cool. He won the scout prize that night.