We made a piñata! And it wasn’t that hard! But it was SUPER MESSY!!! We started with a balloon, a bunch of tape, some string, 2 empty rolls of TP, and a whole lot of office paper (since our city doesn’t pick up paper with the recycling, I save it & reuse it myself. You know, making piñatas.) Oh yeah, and I cut up a cereal box for the ears. We used about 1 part flour to 1 part water for our goo.
Here we are starting the piñata. Note my helpful husband pointing out where we’ve screwed up…
Then we let it dry in the garage overnight. And then I forgot about it for a day. So then 2 days later we added the SECOND coat of flour-goo-covered-paper. Since we were using office grade paper instead of newsprint, it turned REALLY HARD. I was afraid to put on any more layers. So we let it dry in the sun.
Thursday Ella & I started painting. This is her “nice smile” face…
Here she is concentrating a little harder…
And the final product, complete with cardstock crown:
(Note: Child picked her own outfit. State of child’s attire not to reflect upon mom. Mom is just happy to have one less thing to do.)
There was a handy little hole in the top from when the balloon popped before the 2nd coat of goo dried & the whole thing sagged dangerously. We used it to stuff in the 30 lbs of candy. It was so heavy that my string started to pull through. So then I wrapped another string around the head a few times & called it good.
The kidlets at the party weren’t excited about the blindfold, so we let them go at it with a bat 2x each. Despite that, it still took TEN KIDS before it even fell from the tree. So then we let them pummel it on the ground. When Ella delivered the final 2 blows, her dad picked it up & shook the candy out. And that, my friends, is what makes a good party…
WOW! Very impressive. And look how proud she is!
Comment by A — September 30, 2008 @ 12:59 pm
Hi Apryl. You won’t remember me, but I’m your mother’s cousin. I am your grandmother’s brother’s son. Your mother and I stay in touch occasionally by email and she included your website address in an email I received from her today. I really enjoyed looking at your website and the work you’ve done on your blog. It’s very impressive.
My wife, Judy Ann, and I have a family of artists. Two B of Art from BYU Ann–born 1973 and Andrew–born 1979), one B in illustration from BYU (Abigail–born in 1981, lives in Aliso Viejo), and one currently working on his B of Art from BYU (Joseph-born 1985). Ann and Abigail are stay-at-home moms, and Joseph is planning to go to law school. Andrew is trying to be a full-time artist, but has a difficult time staying confident in himself. When he is at his best, he does beautiful work.
My best wishes and encouragement in your work.
Mark Ballstaedt
Comment by Mark Ballstaedt — November 28, 2008 @ 4:12 pm
[...] last year’s Piñata Project? And how we had to literally tear it from the tree and beat it with an aluminum bat to get the [...]
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