Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Pull String Pig Pinata



Say that 5 times fast!

Most of the Angry Birds Party Supplies are sold out in my area
and I knew I wanted a pull string pinata for Michael's Party.

So why not make one?
and for a fraction of the cost!
This one cost about $3 to make.
Woot Woot.

I saw a few terrific instructional posts HERE at Young House Love.
Aren't they he cutest!
And HERE at Frugal NJ
And HERE at Fancy Frugally

Gather your supplies:
Balloon in the size you want - I chose a large punch balloon.
Bowl to hold the balloon
Newpaper and/ Flyers
Paste
Curling Ribbon
Construction Paper
Crepe Paper
Scissors
Glue - Hot and Elmer's
Pinata Filling

Luckily I already had some punch balloons from Target on hand.
They were leftovers from Easter.


I got Jaime to blow up the balloon, since I didn't want aggravate my jaw.
Then I laughed when he almost passed out once he finished.
Don't worry, he was fine.

I also grabbed all the grocery store flyers I had been hording
and cut them into large strips.
I found that larger strips made the process move more quickly.



Mix up your paste.
One part water to one part flour.

I used 2 cups of water and 2 cups of flour
Add a teaspoon of cinnamon to take away the blah odor.
Also, add a teaspoon of salt to prevent mold.
I didn't.


I felt like I was making pancakes. :)

Now onto the messy part.
Dip your strips in the paste, I then ran the strip flat between my 
index and middle finger to remove the excess paste.


Apply to the balloon in an overlapping pattern.


Work your way down the balloon and then 
flip over and start on the on the other side.

Repeat this process for at least 4 layers.


and here it is all covered.


I let it sit out all night,
but it was still wet in the morning.

I tried the blow dryer idea, and it did help a bit, 
but it needed more drying time.

I then set it in front of a fan for a few hours and that did the trick.
Spare yourself the aggravation and just set it in front of a fan when you are done.

Here it is all set up.
Pull the end of the balloon and pop it.
It makes a fun noise.  Luna came running over to investigate and protect. 


Pick a top and bottom.
Cut a flap at the bottom, 4 X 6 X 4
Pull out the deflated balloon.
Reinforce the attached side with masking tape.


To hang, cut 2 slits at the top of the pinata.
Loop several lengths of ribbon.
Feed the ends through the outside and tie together on the inside.


Cut your ribbon into long lengths.
You should have at least one ribbon for every child.
Decide how many strings will open the pinata.
I chose 3 and poked 3 holes into the flap, fed through the string,
and tied several knots and taped the end down on the inside of the flap.


Fill up the pinata.
This is when I realized, this puppy was HEAVY.
The ribbon I tied for the hanger would not be strong enough.
When in doubt, add more ribbon loops.  More is better.


Push the flap into the hole.
Since my filling was heavy, I used clear packing tape on the open edges of the flap.
Diagonally on the corners and across the straight edges.
I then realized that the tape didn't want to stick well, so I hot glued in place.
Gotta love the hot glue!


Take the remaining ribbon that will not open the flap
and hot glue them randomly at the bottom of the pinata.
They will pull away when yanked.


Now comes the fun part!
Cut your crepe paper into 6 - 8 inch lengths.
Using regular glue, lay a line of glue and lay the top edge of the paper on the line.
I started at the bottom of the front of the pinata, near the ribbon, 
and worked my way up.
Once the rows are complete, cut the paper into flaps and fluff.

Overlap the next layer row at least half way onto the first layer.
Repeat on the other side.
Fill in the gaps on the edges and the bottom with individual paper pieces.


I then drew a nose on green construction paper and outlined it with a sharpie.
Same thing with the eyes.
The crown is made with yellow card stock and left over blue paper.
All are attached with hot glue.


This guy was a party hit!
I will be posting party pictures shortly.

XOXO,
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27 comments:

  1. My gosh this is so cool. My daughter desperately wants a pinata - I will have to do this. Thanks for linking to TheStuffofSuccess. Enjoy your week. Athena

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  2. My kids love Angry Birds and this is an adorable Pinata. I would love it if you would share it on my linky party Dare to Share.

    Pam
    http://pamspartyplanning.blogspot.com/2012/05/dare-to-share-7.html

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  3. My son would love this, I think he dreams of pinatas

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  4. Oh! This is too, too adorable. I don't have a little one's birthday coming up but I think I'll make one just for fun. Thank you so much for sharing at our Pin'inspiration Party I love to see what you've been up to each week. Oh, and I FINALLY remembered to follow you through the new linky and not just GFC, sorry it took me so long C:

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    Replies
    1. Thanks so much, Jane. :) I checked and made sure i was following you on GFC, too.

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  5. awesome! we did a death star piñata, and it's a lot of work!! great job on the angry pig :)

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  6. This is such a cool idea!

    Mrs. Delightful
    www.ourdelightfulhome.blogspot.com

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  7. What a great idea! It looks exactly like the pig in Angry Birds. I like the pull idea. It's great for small children.

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  8. love the idea... looks like i will be doing an angry birds party this fall.

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  9. Looks awesome--my kids would love this!

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  10. Thank you so much for sharing on Dare to share. Your pinata has been chosen as Kara the craft diva'a feature of the week.

    I look forward to you stopping by and sharing some more posts.

    Pam
    http://pamspartyplanning.blogspot.com/2012/05/dare-to-share-8.html

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  11. So neat! I wish I would have thought to make my 3 year old an angry bird's pinata for his birthday this past April. He is obsessed with "birds". You did an amazing job all around on the party!

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  12. This is awesome! My guys would love this.. and your tutorial is great! I would love, love, love if you would share with my Pink Hippo Party @ http://pinkapotamus.blogspot.com/2012/05/pink-hippo-party-79.html
    I am your newest follower~
    xoxo
    Amie @ Pinkapotamus

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  13. I want to make this just for the heck of it! Way to go creating something unique and so fun for the party! Stopping by from HeatherlyLoves.

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  14. This is amazing! Love it! I'm your newest follower from Polkadot linky party. I hope you can visit my blog sometime: Kindergarten & Preschool for Parents & Teachers.

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  15. I featured your Pinata today on Made in a Day! Stop by and link something up today at my linky party!
    Kim@madeinaday
    http://madeinaday.com

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  16. So cute! And your tutorial was great...I feel like I could actually make a pinata now. Pinning this for sure!!! :)

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  17. Yes! Most awesome piñata ever!

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  18. Great idea!! Thank you for sharing at Sharing Saturday! I hope you have a fabulous weekend!

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  19. Just wanted to let you know that I am featuring you today! Come on over and grab the feature button, its at the bottom of my blog :)
    xoxo
    Heather
    http://www.heatherlyloves.com/2012/05/sunday-round-up-11.html

    ReplyDelete
  20. Wow! Thanks for sharing! Your step by step instructions and pictures are amazing. My son wants an angry bird party and I feel that I could do any of the birds using your instructions. I'm excited to make my own pinates now instead of buying them for $20 +. I love pullstring pinates- the angry birds pinates were just the regular hitting ones at party city, I'm glad that I found your site when I went looking online.

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  21. I tried to make this but the balloon started to deflate within a few hours. As the balloon got smaller, the papers started buckling and waving. I may take another attempt and try to use a fan as I put it together.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh no! I didn't have any issue with my balloon. It stayed inflated for 3 days. Sorry you are having issues with yours.

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