Make Your Own Piñata and Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to my sweet Sydney who turns FIVE today! Always marching to her own beat, Sydney decided this year she wanted a pink poodle party with a piñata! Trouble was, I couldn't find a poodle piñata anywhere! I decided I would attempt to make my own and while I hadn't done paper-mâché since gradeschool, it came right back. Easy peasy. Surprisingly, this poodle was easy enough to construct and fun to fill! Sydney was very happy with the result!

Here's how you can make your very own: 

1. Make your paper-mâché mix (there are recipes all over the internet but I found a simple 1 part flour to 2 parts water mix worked well. I cut the newspaper in to strips and was ready to go with my helpers on hand. This is messy but fun!
2. Blow up your balloon as large as you want it - be careful not to overinflate, you don't want it to pop when you are half done. That would be....frustrating!
3. Dip your newspaper strips in your paper-mâché and drip dry. Apply on the balloon. Repeat until entire balloon is covered. Make sure bubbles are minimal and it is as smooth as you can get it.
4. Once your balloon is covered, set aside and let air dry. I allowed ours to dry for 48 hours to ensure it was completely dried.
5. Make a small opening on the back of your piñata so that you can put your treats inside. Your balloon will pop and you can take that out from the inside of your piñata.
6. At that point, I painted the newspaper white and then applied a layer of crepe paper all around the balloon. I kept applying until I got the desired look I wanted.
7. To achieve my poodle's hairdo, I glued cotton balls around the top of her head.
8. Cut two ears out of scrapbook paper or cardstock and adhere more cotton balls to the bottom of the ears.
9. Attach the ears to the poodle
10. Cut out eyes, a nose and a mouth as desired and glue onto the poodle.
11. I made two insicions on the sides of the poodle's head to run a ribbon through so that it would hang properly.

Linking up at The Chicken Chick and Our Life in a Click!

The result was a very Happy Birthday Girl!