Tuesday, April 19, 2011

how to make a dragon pinata

i branched out a bit this week and played with papier mache instead
my son turned the big 6 this week and he wanted a dragon theme for his party
so i happily obliged.

he asked if he could have a dragon pinata and after having a small heart attack at online prices i decided that i could make one for a fraction of the price if i was organised enough
if being the operative word here folks lol

 here is the basic shape of the dragon with a balloon body 
i added toilet rolls for the legs, neck and head
cardboard for the wings, neck spikes and tail and claws
i did 2 layers of old white dairy paper combined with a mixture of pva and water 
( approx half and half)
if you are planning on making one i can recommend buying decent balloons to do the body. 
the first 4 i tried popped or had holes in. 
it wasn't until i went and purchase a couple of decent ones that i had better success :>
 i left it out in the sun and in a breezy spot for a good 24 hours to dry
 i then added a layer of tissue paper instead of painting it.
the tissue paper goes on REALLY easy and dries very vibrant onto the white.
i left that to dry for another 24 hours.
then i went over it with black vivid marker to get the details in and added the googley eyes.
i looked ta it for a while and thought....hmmmmm...it looks a bit plain....what else does it need?

GLITTER!!!!
the cat thinks so too it seems rofl

then i gave it a c-section and shoved as many lollies, balloons, party poppers and snacks as it could possibly hold before tieing it up and letting a dozen six year old boys plus assorted siblings have a whack at it!!! 
everyone got at least 6 goes at whacking it and it took daddy's efforts to get it to explode
so it worked out to be a lot stronger than i thought.

i managed to keep the leftovers and plan on cutting the wings off it and letting the kids have them in the dress ups box
....once i varnish all that beautiful glitter so i don't see it ALL around my home lol

one very happy birthday boy enjoyed it a lot!

cheers ears

16 comments :

Sam said...

AWESOME pinata Clare. He looks so bright and glittery. Thanks for the tissue paper tip.....it looks fabulous.

:o)

Anonymous said...

I want one for MY birthday!

michelle said...

oh it turned out fantastic!!
i have only made 2 pinantas in the past...but may need to get my thinking cap on for my sons Pirate party...he seen a shark pinata in spotlight but i think i could think of something...the ones i have made have been a red rocket ship & a Green alien head...i used tissue paper also...so much easier!
have a hoppy easter

Kathy Simpson said...

Absolutely fabulous, I wouldn't have known where to begin, thanks for your tutorial.
P.S. I agree about the glitter!! lol

Anonymous said...

Fantastic Clare!! What a clever and wonderful Mum you are. The glitter is the piece de resistance!

Shirley said...

WOW!!! You are SO talented! I couldn't ever hope to make something even remotely as beautiful as that! I've awarded you a blog award. Visit http://foranyoccasion.blogspot.com/2011/04/blog-award.html to receive the award!

kksb said...

Clever and creative! Looks like you created a winner!

Anonymous said...

How did you hang it since it was probably very heavy, also what did you use to hang? Thanks for the great instructions. I am excited about using your pattern for my daughter's Royal Party! Since she has invited both girls and boys, It'll be nice to have a dragon to slay instead of smashing a princess crown or something like that! lol

Unknown said...

hi anonymous! thanks for popping by :>to hang it up i just tied ribbon around it's body and wings-looked a bit strange but it was then strong enough.. i originally had it tied through the skin but it was too heavy once it was filled lol. hope that helps! have a fun party!!

Anonymous said...

Love it! My son inherited my fascination with dragons - he's so excited to try (and then destroy) this project. Although he won't let me put the glitter on :(

Unknown said...

I was in a last minute panic for a pinata, because I not only didn't want to pay the money for a pinata, but I didn't think the ones online were worth it. I happened to stumble across your blog, & LOVED your dragon. We made one very similar, & even my 11 yr old was commenting on how much he liked it. THANK YOU!!!!

Anonymous said...

Its many years since I've made a pinata and really needed to go back to scratch for instructions, and I've copied yours to a tee for a fun occasion coming up. I'd forgotten how messy they can be, and how much fun! Well done, great job!

Anonymous said...

hiya.. did u paper mache the model after putting the legs, wings etc on and if so did u also paper mache over them??

Gossamer said...

this is the best Dragon pinata tutorial I've found. Thanks for all the info! Tissue paper is a lot smarter then paint too! I'll be doing this for my kids' party in 2 months.

Unknown said...

thanks for the comments guys.

i paper mached the balloon first and, then attached the card bits, then strenthened the wings and legs etc with a layer of paper mache. then i addded the layer of crepe paper
hth

Anonymous said...

Hi there

Thank you for the instructions. My little girl also turns six and I would like to make a dragon piƱata to go with her dragon theme.

Your instructions are easy and your dragon was beautiful!

Thank you!

Tersia