Paper Bag Pinata Tutorial

I just posted about our healthy Halloween party.  For one of the party games, I made a ghost pinata using a paper bag, a little white paint, tissue paper, and glue.  It's incredibly easy but a little time-consuming.  I would recommend cueing up some Downton Abbey or other such entertainment while you work.  Here's how to make your own paper bag pinata - you can use this tutorial to make whatever themed pinata you want. 

 Isn't it cute and fluffy?  It was a shame that little Casper here had to be destroyed during the party.  Anyway, to make your own paper bag pinata, you'll need: a sturdy paper bag (bonus points if it has its own handles!), tape or a stapler, acrylic paint in the color of your pinata, tissue paper, and Elmers' glue.

 First, stuff your paper bag with a few plastic grocery bags or crumpled newspaper pages.  Then put the goodies in - trinkets, candy, pencils, whatever - and top them off with more crumpled newspaper or plastic bags until the bag is full.  Staple the top of the bag shut (or, if you're like me, lose your stapler and spend too much time looking for it before you finally give up and just tape the top closed.)  If your bag does not have handles, staple some sturdy string or ribbon to the top to use as a hanger later on. 

 Next, cut your tissue paper into squares.  I folded my sheets of tissue paper up until I had a 2" by 2" square.  Then I was able to cut several squares at one time.  You can use bigger or smaller squares too, depending on your preference.  I got my tissue paper (white with glitter) at the dollar store.  One pack of tissue paper was more than enough for this project. 

 Meanwhile, or perhaps you should do this before you cut the tissue paper squares so the paint can dry, slap some paint on the paper bag.  Cover all sides with paint, but don't worry about the paint completely covering everything.  It's just there in case the tissue paper puffs are not thick enough.

 Now comes the fun part.  Take the four corners of a tissue paper square in your thumb and pointer finger.  Put a small dot of glue in the center of the square and attach it to your paper bag so that the four corners poke out in a ruffled shape.  Do another tissue square in the same manner close to the first one.  I used a chopstick to press in the center of each tissue paper square to keep my fingers from getting sticky and to position the squares better.  Continue filling in the area all around where you started.  I started at the top corner of my bag and went acroos.

 Well, if you stopped right here and painted the rest of the bag pink or zebra-striped, you have a very cute purse pinata. :)  For any other theme, continue poking and positioning your tissue paper squares until the front and the back of the bag is covered. 

 For the sides of the bag, scrunch up some tissue paper and glue in place in the indentations to make a level surface.  Then cover both sides with more squares of tissue paper. 

 Then, decorate your pinata!  Since I was making a ghost, I glued strips of tissue paper to the bottom of the paper bag. 

And of course, I glued on a very adorable face to make my cute ghost complete. 

 

You simply cannot get a cheaper pinata - the tissue paper was $1.00, the paper bag was free, and I already had glue and white paint lying around the house.  The biggest cost is buying the treats that go in it!

Happy Healthy Halloween

Last spring, we realized that the Beast was greatly affected by artificial food dyes and flavors.  We immediately removed them from our diet and changed our eating habits for the better.  Around that time, a good friend was trying to figure out her kids' food sensitivities, and she removed gluten, soy, and dairy from their diets.  Both of us saw such positive results that we knew these would be life changes for us.

Then came the season of let's-knock-doors-and-get-a-truckload-of-candy.  Our kids loved this time of year.  It meant pumpkin patch visits, pumpkin carving, and a visit to the local fall festival to obtain as much candy as possible.  With our not-so-new diets firmly in place, a fall festival seemed like a bad idea.

We decided to hold a small party in which our kids would dress up in their favorite costumes, play some fun games, and enjoy treats that were dye-free, gluten-free, soy-free, and cassein-free.  Yikes!  This was no small task.

 My friend hosted the party at her home.  Thankfully, amidst an October of heavy, cold rain, God saw fit to give us a few hours of sunshine for our party.  The kids had a balloon fight and played Red Rover outdoors.

 We played as many super-active games as we could to get that boundless energy out.

 

 My friend even had a fun bean-bag game and a tiger-hunting game for them to try out their skills.

 Treat time was successful!  We had these adorable tissue-paper covered juice boxes for the kids and all-natural root beer for the grown-ups.  My friend decorated mini-containers of oranges to look like jack'o'lantern faces.  Everyone snacked on veggie and fruit trays as well as little taquitos and yummy chicken meatballs.  Desserts included gluten-free brownies, gluten-free cookies, and homemade marshmallows.

 The final event of the party was the pinata.  I made a cute ghost pinata using a paper bag (will post tutorial later) and the kids had a great time taking turns trying to smash it.  Once broken, the kids quickly scattered to pick up the little Halloween trinkets, pencils, and all-natural lollipops.

We had a great time.  The kids got to wear their costumes.  They got their candy and sweet fix.  They were able to be at a party where all the food and treats were safe for them. 

 

I think this is going to be a yearly tradition!

Iphone Photo Phun - Holiday Fun

It's time for yet another edition of Iphone Photo Phun. I didn't remember taking very many photos with my phone this week, but when i checked my album, I was shocked to see over fifty new photos had been added! A quick perusal showed that a certain little someone who was supposed to be playing Angry Birds on Mommy's phone may have been taking a few extra photos as well. I would share these masterpieces, but they are mostly shots of knees, hair, and really dark objects.

So it's back to the few I actually took this week.

Even though I am laid up and cannot take the kids anywhere by myself, I still wanted to make Halloween a fun-filled day for them. We had these pumpkin pancakes with sausage and scrambled eggs to make dinner a little more special.

Lunch was fun too - ghost toast, jack-o-lantern carrots, and hairy hot dogs dipped in ketchup blood made up the menu. The Spud promptly dipped his ghost toast in the ketchup and declared it his "bestest snack ever."

On Sunday morning, a helicopter was supposed to fly over the fields next to our church and drop candy for the kids. Fog and rain thwarted the helicopter flight however; so the Nerd and several other miserable-looking men took buckets of candy and spread the candy out on the field by hand before the kids rushed in to claim their sweet treats. The kids were soaked!

All the Spud cared about at the Fall Festival that evening at our church was eating his hot dog that he had roasted over the fire pit.

And this big ole pumpkin needed to rest; so I basically just watched from the sidelines while Grandma, Grandpa, and Daddy took the kids around to the different Fall Festival attractions.

I can't believe it's November already! Never fear, there will still be pumpkiny activities in the future for us. . .

Happy October 31st!

Pumpkins have been carved. The Spud helped make a cute spider while the Beast insisted on carving his own "bat house." The Drama Queen drew out instructions for her pumpkin, and Daddy kindly did the carving for her.

Avast me hearties! These scalliwags had fun at the fall festival last night.

Our future veterinarian paused to pose before insisting that we make her a surgical mask to wear "in case she had to operate on her puppy."

Even Little Sprout got dressed up as the sweet little pumpkin she is! And her momma posed as a pumpkin smuggler.

The Beast's costume got double duty today since he got to wear it to preschool today! It's been a weekend of silly fun and family memories. Despite being homebound today due to the modified bed rest, I am doing my best to make it an exciting day for the kids. They are eating their lunch of ghost toast, carrot jack'o'lanterns, and hairy hotdogs now. . .

and linking up with:

Iphone Photo Phun - Mallrats

Well, I missed out on my Iphone Photo Phun post last week. Certainly it was a very busy week, but when I actually thought of it, I weighed my options of fishing out the phone cord, downloading the photos, and writing an legible post on my blog or I could go to bed. Sorry, peeps, the bed won. And the bed (or couch, or somewhat comfortable corner of the living room floor, or the kids' bed) continues to win out in many of the blogging vs. sleeping battles I've had lately.

Anyway. So there's a bunch of photos this week:

In Oregon, when you have three children screaming like banshees and racing up and down the stairs at breakneck speeds, you get a desperate need to take them to a park or playground. Only it's fall in Oregon, which means rain, rain, and more rain. So I take them to the mall for exercise. And while I'm waiting for the Spud to screech that he's done poopin' in the potty, I decide to take a preggo photo.

We like to start out our mornings with coffee and the newspaper.

We have to settle for wet leaves around here. We'll take what we can get!

Big jump for a kid with sensory integration disorder!

The Beast tests out one of many ridiculously awesome mustaches we purchased at the dollar store for Halloween fun.

The new winter hats at the Children's Place are to die for. Seriously, how cute are my three little raccoons? Like the frugal shopper I am, I am waiting for a good sale and may even pick up a tiny baby one for Little Sprout. :)

The kids are valiantly holding onto a giant Burmese python at a reptile show we went to at our local library. I am staying a respectable distance away, thank you very much.

The Beast is going to be a pirate for Halloween this year. He has no idea who Jack Sparrow is, but he sure loves this getup! Too bad he will be a short-haired pirate with an uber-fake mustache.

Hurray for the temporary Halloween store at the mall! We can go in every time and marvel at how shiny and fast-looking Lightning McQueen is. We can also hurry by the racks and racks of costumes that really ought to be reserved for the bedroom, if you know what I mean.

happy Iphone photo phun!

Three Little Pumpkins - Soon to Be Four

We made our annual visit to the local pumpkin farm last weekend. The day was cool but surprisingly not rainy; so we had to take advantage of the weather. There are dozens of pumpkin farms to choose from in our area, but we started going to Lee Farms when the Drama Queen was just a year old and have made it a tradition. I love that most of the activities are geared towards younger kids, but let's face it - the real reason we love going to Lee Farms is to eat their phenomenal pumpkin and apple cider donuts!

It just so happened that on that same day, Old Navy was running one of their "one-day-only" sales on their puffy vests. Since the kids needed some new winter wear anyway, we stopped there first and scored cozy vests for the whole family.

The Spud got his tractor fix.

The Drama Queen was sweet and helped her brothers find pumpkins before she chose hers. She is getting so grown-up these days!

The kids eagerly anticipated their apple cider donuts.

I enjoyed waddling all around the grounds, watching the kids excitedly choose pumpkins and run through the hay maze. It will be really fun next year with four kids!

We have the kids pose here every year. Mr. Beast is catching up to the Drama Queen in height and has already passed her in weight. Makes me want to stop time for just a little while. . .

Face painting was a first this year. The Spud decided half-way through that he was finished; so his pumpkin looked a little funny.

And this is my absolute favorite photo of the day. It was such fun to see the Beast enjoy himself without getting overwhelmed or having a meltdown. It is usually really hard to get him to pose for a photo anyway, and I love this candid shot of my little man.

So pumpkin carving will be in the near future for us. We can't do them too far ahead of time because here in rainy Oregon, carved pumpkins rot much more quickly.

Wordless Wednesday - Goodbye October

Can't resist showing off some pictures of my little cuties before their sugar high:

Our little kitty cat sat very patiently while I painted her face.

The kitty also requested a "really really twirly skirt" so I obliged by making one using this tutorial. The Beast was found flexing his Spidey muscles often while wearing his costume. He refused to wear the mask to Fall Festival, but since then has worn it every day. Silly guy!

The Spud made a very charming and adorable Thomas the Tank Engine!

We all had a wonderful time and brought home way too much candy. Farewell, October! We will miss your sugary goodness and happy happy pumpkins!