Weathered Grace: How to Make a Mickey Pinata

For my nephew's birthday last year, I made a Mickey Mouse pinata. This was a fun and easy project...and cheap, I might add.

Items needed to make it: a punching balloon, about 20 old newspapers, flour, water, black spray paint, one black and one white poster board, a paper clip or wire, and rope to hang it.

1. Blow up your punching balloon.

2. Cut your newspapers into 2" x 6" strips.

3. Mix 1 part flour to 1 part water. I added some elmer's glue, too. This will be a soupy mixture, but don't worry, it works. If you are making this a week or more in advance, add a tablespoon of salt to prevent molding.

4. Dip your strips of newspaper one a time and place on the balloon. Cover the balloon all the way around, but leave a small hole where the balloon is tied. The opening needs to be big enough to put candy through, so keep that in mind. Make the hole at the top of the pinata.

5. Do one layer at a time, allowing the paper to dry before beginning the next layer. I put mine in front of a fan to speed the drying process.

6. I did about 8 layers. The trick is to make sure your layers are completely dry. You'll be able to tell if you've done enough layers by how firm it is. If you are able to push in easily on the sides, you haven't done enough layers.

7. Once the entire thing is dry, spray paint it. I used black enamel spray paint, so it would have a shiny appearance.

8. After allowing the paint to dry, use a straight pin, and pop the balloon. It is essential to make sure all of your paper and paint are dry before you do this. I let mine sit all night in front of a fan. I highly recommend letting it dry overnight before popping your balloon.

9. Next, cut your black poster board into the shape of Mickey's ears. Cut out Mickey's pupils and nose, too, out theblack cardboard.

(I googled a template for Mickey's face, and then freehanded it on the poster board.)

10. Use the white poster board to cut out Mickey's face and eyes.

11. To attach the ears, I folded the bottom inch of the ears and taped them to the pinata.

12. Use a black marker to draw Mickey's mouth and nose crease.

13. Tape Mickey's face to the front. Use a red marker or red construction paper for Mickey's tongue.

14. Fill Mickey with the candy.

15. I cut a piece of black cardboard to cover the hole and glued it on. Then, I poked the wire through it. This was tricky, but I was able to twist the wire in order to get it to hold the pinata up.