Optimus Prime Pinata

So for Thomas' fourth birthday party he wanted a Transformer's theme. Me, being the over-doer that I am, decided that I would make a pinata from scratch since I wasn't able to find one that I liked. It did turn out very cool, but not sure I will go down this path again!

This was my inspiration for the pinata:

Step one: Find thin cardboard boxes in various sizes to shape Optimus Prime's body. Digging through the recycling turned out to be just the ticket!

Step two: Cut and tape boxes together to shape the body. I used pieces of egg crate to form the "hands". I used the bottom of dixie cups to form the "tires" that are on his sides. You can't see it in this picture, but I made the gun from toilet paper tubes and more egg carton pieces.

Step three: Time to paper mache. I used a mixture of just flour and water. I cut small strips of newspaper about 5 or 6 inches long and about 1 inch wide. Dip the paper into the flour/water mixture. Wipe off excess and place on cardboard body.

Step four: Repeat step 3 until you have two or three layers of paper mache covering the body. I wouldn't do more than that since instead of being completely newspaper, the base is thin cardboard. Be sure to attach a string underneath the paper mache to hang your pinata. This will make it strong, so it doesn't fall once the kids start to whack at it. Allow to dry. This took about a day for it to be completely dry.

Step five: At this point I cut a flap in his back to fill him up with candy. Then, glue on strips of tissue paper or crepe paper streamers. I used silver paint for the metal parts of his body. Here is the finished pinata. Pretty cute if I do say so myself!

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P.S. Be sure to check out my new blog: Laura's Crafty Life for more crafty inspiration!