Pinata and More

I have been working on a Pinata for a picnic at church for about a week. It takes time to let it all dry between steps. But in the end I think it turned out nice. I decided on an Ice Cream Cone Pinata in hopes that the image would bring on cool thoughts with all this very hot weather we have been having. It's been a long time since I made a pinata. But it all came back to me very quickly. They are for the most part easy to make, very messy though in the beginning stages. You can be up to your elbows so to speak in the paper mache glue, which is water, flour and glue. But it was fun and I love seeing it all come together and it actually looks like what you want it to be. Then of course you need to make it strong enough so that can stay together, hold all the candy you put inside of it, that it won't fall apart when you hang it and of course that it stays together long enough for a few kids to take a whack at it. I am hoping this all holds true when I take it to the picnic. It sure hope that it does all that I hope. I guess I will find out tomorrow (Sat) when I take it to the picnic. I sure hope the weather holds out and it will be a nice day.

I made the cone shape part from a piece of poster board just folded up in the cone shape. Taped it all up to keep it together, cut off the top to make it even and then wrapped it all up in plastic wrap so that once you get it covered in the newspaper/paper mache gunk you can remove the form once it dries for about 24hrs.
Next I blew up a balloon big enough to fit inside the top part of cone and then proceeded to do the same as the cone. Making sure that you put a lot of layers across the top so that it is strong enough to hold the string without ripping when it is hung. You also need to make sure you put a lot of layers where the two pieces come together so again it doesn't come apart when hung. You then let this dry again for 24hrs. Once this is all dry you can cut your opening where ever you want it so you can pop balloon and remove it. Also this opening will be used to add your candy into pinata. I cut it on 3 sides for the opening. I then let it set with this flap down so that the inside could dry a little more and get the smell of the paste out of it. I let it set overnight and it was fine in the morning. You also need to make the small hole at the top where you will put your string to hang it from.After it was all dry and aired out I then proceeded to put the crepe paper on the cone end. There are many ways you can add this paper to the pinata. I chose to use just some white glue and self ruffle it with my fingers. It worked out ok for the look I wanted. You just keep adding it around and around till you get it where you wanted. I then let this dry overnight. So that when I turned it over to do the top it wouldn't hurt it as it would be dry.

Before I covered the top half I put my string in the top. I used some twine I had here. I also tied the string around a small stick on the inside. This way I knew when I tied it, it wouldn't slip through the hole. You also need to add the candy now as you will be covering the opening with the crepe paper. This will be come very heavy and top heavy, so you will need to prop it up against something as you are decorating it. I just set it in a vase on the floor and used an end table on one side and the card table on the other. It worked out fine for me. You can do whatever you need to depending on what type of pinata you make.

I decided to make my ice cream cone Neapolitan flavor. So just add the colors accordingly. You could do whatever you wanted as far as colors. Let your imagination run wild. I also decided to put a little red on top around the string to make it look like a cherry on top. Again use your imagination. You could use pieces of different color tissue paper or crepe paper to make it look like you had sprinkles on it. I think it turned out nice and I am sure the kids will love it also and have lots of fun.
This past week I also went to Goodwill and found some bargains. I found some toys for the grandkids and a small dresser I can use to put Randi clothes in that I keep here for her. The dresser is need of lots of TLC but that's ok. I can give it all the TLC it needs. I have some ideas on how to make it alive again. But that will have to wait till next week.





I hope you enjoyed seeing what I have been up to for the most part all this past week. And what I have in store for me next week.









I also played Bunco this past Wednesday and I won 3rd place and won a glass cake plate. It is to pretty to just put in a cupboard and its not like I would use it all the time...So I decided to set it out and put something under the dome. You see a lot of cloche decorations around so I did my own take on one. I just used a couple things I had on hand. The cup and saucer with flowers was a little to tall to fit so I just turned the cup on its side and it worked out just fine. I found the little girl figurine on one of my Goodwill trips for .75 and she works out just fine in there. I can already envision in my mind all sorts of things I can do with this when it is not in use holding a cake.

Enjoy your day, stay safe and do things you want.