Papier-mâché Pumpkin Piñata

...which, as it turns out, is something of a tongue-twister.  Go on, say it. Faster. Faster.  Did it trip your tongue up?

As all things Spanish seem to be seeping into our culture (I totally blame Dora the Explorer for this), I thought it would be fun to make one for Halloween.

The old-school method of papier-mâché -ing over a balloon lends itself to the round shape of a pumpkin, so it seemed the obvious choice.  You could try other spooky things though - maybe a spider with eight pipe cleaner legs, or a white ghost...

You will need:

A balloon
Newspaper
Orange tissue paper
Black tissue paper
PVA glue
Paintbrush
String

Begin by blowing up your balloon.  Sit it in a suitable sized bowl.

Tear up lots of strips of newspaper - this appeals to Ruby's destructive nature...

Make up a gloop one part water to one part PVA glue, and cover your balloon with newspaper.  Use a combination of glueing under and over the strips, ensuring they are smoothed out by using a paintbrush to apply the glue.

You may need to do this in two goes, allowing the first half to dry before turning it over.  Continue nearly to the top of the balloon, but make sure you leave enough gap to fill with sweets.

Once the newspaper is dry, repeat with orange tissue paper.  Make sure you overlap well to give it strength.

Leave to dry overnight.

Then pop the balloon, and pull out all the rubbery remnants.

Fill with sweets, then securely tape some string inside to give you a hanging loop.

Cover the gap as before, using newspaper then tissue paper.

Finally, cut out the face details from black tissue paper and glue on.

It's ready to smash the merry hell out of!

Check out the Halloween Blog Hop and add your posts.

Also linking up with the Perfectly Pumpkin challenge.