Friday: DIY Turtle Pinata

For my baby's first birthday party, we ended up having a turtle themed party. Why? Because..... I'm not entirely sure. Probably for my husband, actually, who has a turtle. Anyhow, I ended up having to make all sorts of turtle themed decor and food, including an amazing turtle shaped cake (and when I say amazing, I do mean edible and kinda-looks-like-a-turtle). But my pièce de résistance? This turtle pinata. It is...

*functional
*cheap
*simple to make
*kinda-looks-like a turtle

If you feel the urge to follow me in my footsteps, here is what I did.

Materials
*flour
*water
*balloon
*one newspaper's worth of newspaper
*green craft paint/ paintbrush
*green construction paper
*scissors
*duct tape

Step 1
Mix flour and water together in a bowl until it is about the consistency of thin pancake batter. Cut strips of newspaper about one inch wide. Blow up a balloon (not too full, or you'll end up with it popping before the pinata is done).

Step 2
Dip the strips of newspaper into your flour/water mix (glue) and pull the strip through your fingers to remove excess glue, so there is just a thin layer on both sides of the newspaper. Layer this onto the balloon, one strip at a time, until the balloon is mostly covered. As this is a turtle, the bottom third of the balloon doesn't need to be covered.

Step 3
Allow the covered balloon to dry completely (best when by a fan for 1-2 hours), then repeat the layering process. Continue this until you have 4-5 layers on your pinata.

Step 4
Now, you get to pop your balloon! Using a serrated blade, cut off any extra paper-mache that compromises your turtle-shape. (It's pretty difficult to get a perfect shape without needing to cut off extra, so don't be afraid to brandish that blade.)

Step 5
Paint your shell green. Next, cut out a basic head, tail, and foot shape from green construction paper. Bend the shapes at the edge at a 90 degree angle, then stick to the pinata using duct tape.

Step 6
Fill your pinata with candy, then use strips of duct tape to secure all that sweet candy inside of your pinata. Naturally, some tape will show on the bottom sides after you're done. Brush some green paint over the duct tape and no-one needs to know.

Step 7
Here's your final step. Poke two small holes right next to each other on the top of the pinata with a knife. Use the hook of the hanger to go in and then out of these two holes and voila! You have something to hang the pinata with.

Is it the most life-like turtle pinata you will ever see? Probably not. But, I thought I'd share the idea and hopefully give you a hand up when you are making your own pinatas. They do, after all, make a party a PARTY!



What a cute little buddy.... too bad he had to die