Have on Hand: Balloons, empty cans, newspaper, flour, water, oil or petroleum jelly, small paint brushes, paint, small toys or candy for filler
Boredom Buster Description: This fun cabin-fever craft is a perfect early activity in anticipation of Mardi Gras, Easter or or an everyday party. I'd often gather up a few friends to join in - after all, once you have the mess going why not go all the way.
1. Make a flour and water paste by mixing one part flour with one part water until smooth. Then combine this with 3 parts boiling water, stirring constantly. Allow to cool.
2. Tear multiple sheets of newspaper into small strips and pieces, no larger than 2 inches. I would count on 5-10 sheets of newspaper per pinata. Keep extra newspaper on hand in case more is needed.
3. Blow up a balloon and place on empty can as a stand. Coat the balloon with a thin film of oil or petroleum jelly. Dip newspaper in paste and begin to layer on the balloon gently smoothing strips as you go. Painting on additional paste to smooth. Cover the entire balloon with papier-mâché except the the knotted end. For best results let each layer dry several hours. The more newspaper layers you add, the stronger the shell will be and the more difficult the piñata will be to break.
4. When the shells are fully dry and the desired number of layers has been added, pop the balloon and gently pull it out of the egg.
5. Now fill the egg with small toys or candy and add papier-mâché to seal the hole.
6. When seal is dry, paint your piñata egg to decorate.
Variation: Rather than creating a piñata egg you can use a round ball balloon as the form and paint as a globe. Extra papier-mâché mounds can be added to form continents, mountains and island.
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