4th of July Pinata {tutorial}

Last week we made a pinata for our ward camp out.  It was so much fun that JBody and I decided we needed to make one for this weekend.  Every 4th of July we have a big family get together.  Everyone pitches in money for fireworks, which makes for an awesome show.  This year, two of JBody's brothers that haven't come in the past due to distance will we coming. One of which JBody hasn't seen in about 15 years.  We are excited for the weekend.  The kids are really excited.  They love spending time with their cousins.  To make the weekend even more fun we made a 4th of July American Flag pinata.  It will be loaded with candy, pencils, necklaces, bouncy balls, glo sticks and more.
Want to know how to make one too?

What you will need:

newspaper, balloon, flour, water

crepe paper

glue

string 

Let's get crafting:

Begin by making your paper mache.  I don't have a picture tutorial for this part.  However, it is super easy.

1. Make your glue: 1 part flour to 5 parts water (ex. 1cup flour/ 5cups water).

2. Bring to a boil over med heat and boil for 3 mins.  To make this smooth, stir constantly with a wire whisk.  You want it smooth.  

3.  Let the mixture cool.  Trust me, it will be very hot and hard to work with.  

4.  Using strips of newspaper, cover a blown balloon.  I found that I like to have at least 4 layers.  To keep track of this I do alternate layers of vertical and horizontal laying.  

5.  Let dry.  The more layers you have the longer it takes to dry.  We put ours in front of a fan for a couple days. 

6.  Begin decorating.  Here is where my picture tutorial begins.  

1. Start with your dried newspaper balloon.  By day 2 I have popped the balloon to help the inside dry faster.

2.  Drill holes at the top of the pinata to place your string, ribbon, wire, ect.  See the large hole on top?  I cut it about day 2 as well to help the inside get more air circulation. 

3.  Using a sharp pair of scissors, cut your crepe paper like so.

4. After cutting your crepe paper you will have a pile of strips like so.

5.  Cut slits about 2/3 - 3/4 inches into the crepe paper.  

6.  I like to use a brush to brush the glue onto my pinata.

7.  Going around in circles, glue your cut crepe paper onto pinata. Start from the bottom up.  For a while you will have the pinata upside with your strips facing up.  

8.  There will come a point when you will be able to flip your pinata right side up and have your crepe paper pointing down.  I like to place the pinata in a bowl to keep it from wobbling all over the place.  

9.  Find the holes that you drilled and insert a pencil or something to remove the crepe paper around them. 

10.  Using a piece of tape around your ribbon, insert ribbon through one hole and the other directly on the other side of it.

11.  You will have 4 pieces of ribbon looking like this.  Cut them so they are equal lengths.

12.  I wanted to reinforce the ribbon instead of tying it.  I used my sewing machine to stitch the ribbon together. I went forward and reverse few times to make it extra strong.

13.  Take one of your remaining strands and sew it to the two you stitched in the opposite direction.  

14.  Stitch your last piece of ribbon going the opposite direction as the last stitch.  I hope this part all makes sense.  

15.  You can use pieces of paper to embellish if you would like.  For our pinata I cut stars out and glued them on to make it look more like the flag.
There you have it.  A pinata ready to be beaten apart.