Pony Pinata

Wondering what to do with all that leftover Halloween candy? Here's a fun little project that will take care of that for you: a pony pinata. This technique can be adapted to make other shapes and animals too.

As I've said before, pinatas are great at birthday parties. Kids love them and adults get the enjoyment of watching the kids bash them and collect the goodies. My niece's birthday is coming up soon, so I'm making this pinata as part of her birthday gift from me. As long as you use candy that will last, pinatas can be made well ahead of time.

Pinatas are also a lot of fun at other events where kids will be present. They are both a fun activity and a great way to give candy and small toys/items. Add a real "bang" to your New Years Eve celebration, some genuine Mexican flair to a Cinqo de Mayo (May 5th) bash, or some extra "pop" to a family reunion.

MATERIALS
- cardboard
- tissue paper
- string
- marker or pencil
- scissors, exacto knife
- glue gun, sticks
- white glue
- candy, toys, hair accessories, other goodies for inside the pinata

1. Decide on the shape and draw it on a piece of cardboard. Keep the lines fairly straight and the design simple.

2. Cut out the shape. Flip it over and trace around it on another piece of cardboard. Cut out the second piece.

3. Cut a bunch of strips of cardboard. Mine were 3" wide.

4. Use the glue gun to glue the strips vertically along the edges of the pony shape. I didn't do the ear.

5. Fill the pinata with goodies.

6. Cut a bunch of tissue paper strips approximately 2" wide.

7. Snip along one side of the strips approximately 1" deep with approximately 1" spacing. This creates a "fringe".

8. Starting with the stomach and bottoms of the feet, white glue the non-fringed edge of the tissue paper strips to the pinata. 

9. Continue working from the bottom towards the top, overlapping the strips about 1".

10. Continue until you have the entire pinata covered.

11. I added some strips to the back end the look like a tail.

12. Carefully poke holes through both sides of the pinata centered along the back at approximately 1" down from the top edge.

13. Cut a 6' piece of string and feed it through the holes. I used a piece of wire to do this. Tie the ends of the string together. I also tied another knot about 6" up from the pinata.

DONE! Have fun watching the kids smash all your hard work. ;-)

Halloween Decoration: Cardboard Witch Hat

I always enjoy decorating for Halloween and this is a quick and easy project. It's perfect for a table centerpiece, something to hang in a tree, or even as a hat for a scarecrow. 

You can decorate the hat as much or as little as you wish, and it would be a fun project for a group of older kids at a Halloween party. You can easily add more ribbon, fake cobwebs, fake spiders, fake bats, miniature foam pumpkins, fake leaves, or other fall or Halloween decorations. You could also paint the hat a different color.

This hat could also be made to wear by simply cutting out the center of the base/brim. I recommend doing this carefully with an exacto knife after you've assembled it, since that would make it easier to avoid gaps between the cone and the brim, but it's up to you.

MATERIALS
- large flat pieces of cardboard (the base/brim could be made of black foam board also)
- exacto knife/scissors
- glue gun, glue sticks
- black paint (I used acrylic with a foam brush but you could use spray paint)
- ribbon, twine, or other thick string to cover the seam between the cone and base/brim
- pencil, ruler

1. Draw a large half-circle onto cardboard. I did mine about 10" in diameter by pinning one end of my ruler to the cardboard and pivoting it on the pin while drawing my line with a pencil. You can also trace a really large circular object, like a laundry basket or pizza pan.

2. Cut out the half-circle.

3. Score and crease one side to help it bend nicely into a cone shape. I overlapped about 4" of cardboard, but you can trim some off to have a smaller overlap area.

Once you're happy with the shape, glue gun it in place. Allow the glue to dry thoroughly.

4. Cut out a large circle from cardboard. Mine was about 17" in diameter.

5. Glue gun the cone in the center of the large circle. Allow the glue to dry thoroughly.

6. Paint the entire hat black (or whatever color you prefer). Allow the paint to dry thoroughly.

7. Glue gun a piece of ribbon or similar material to the cone around the seam between the cone and the base/brim. DONE!

I haven't decided if I want to add anything more to my hat or leave it as is. I like the simplicity of it, but if something catches my eye, it might get a few more fun details added.