Dragon Egg Pinata

 Materials:
      Ballooon
      Newspaper
      White liquid craft glue
      Water
      Tissue Paper
       Ribbon
       Candy
       Utility Knife

To start I inflated a large party balloon.

Mixing white liquid craft glue and water (50/50 mix) in an old peanut butter jar I poured some glue mix out onto a plate.

Tear up newspaper pieces into small pieces.

Wet each piece with the glue mixture and place on the balloon.

After a the balloon is fully covered let dry completely.

I used a mixing bowl to hold my balloon so it wouldn't roll away.

I did 6 layers of newspaper to be sure the pinata was strong.  Be sure each layer is dry before starting a new layer.

 Using a utility knife cut a small door in the top of the pinata.

Also cut two holes on either side of the pinata.  Run a ribbon through the holes and tie a knot on the inside.

Fill with candy and then tape the door shut.













 Cut 2"x 2" pieces of colored tissue paper.  I separated my colors into other mixing bowls.

 Using full strength liquid craft glue runs small lines on the pinata.

Pinch a piece of tissue paper and place onto the glue.

Repeat - A LOT!

 I tried to make our pinata look like a dragon egg.  Here it is almost finished.

All done!

The kids loved the dragon egg pinata.  In review I probably could have gone with one or two less layers of papermache (the newspaper and glue step).  The kids used a wooden baseball bat and it took almost 15 min to bust this thing open.  They had an awesome time attacking it.

Viking Helmets

 Materials:
    Large Carboard Boxes
    Hot Glue Gun & Glue
    Scissors
    Masking Tape
    Duct Tape

To start off measure your child's head.  If most of the guests are about their age you can make them all the same size.

My daughter is a bit older so I had to make one special for her.

After cutting out each section for the hat I used hot glue to seal it into a band about 4" wide and long enough to wrap around my son's head.

 Next I cut 1" strips that were long enough to go across the helmet band but leave a bit of height (gentle arch).

 These were secured in a criss-cross pattern with hot glue.

 Next for the horns.  Draw out a shape on the cardboard that you like for your horn shape.  Remember to leave a small tab at the attachment point.

 Cutting a hole in your helment band, poke through the tab of the horn.  Next you need to spread the cardboard out flat by splitting the tab in half.

 Tape each side of the tab flat to the inside of the helmet band.

 Your next step is to wrap the helmet horns in masking tape.

Once the horns are wrapped you can wrap the helmet band.  I found it much easier to run the duct tape lengthwise around the band.  I had to make slits in the tape to work around the horns but it went much faster than completely wrapping the band in tape.

Don't forget to wrap the crossbars going over the top of the helmet.













This one wasn't quite my size, but here is the finished product.