D is for Droid..

..our most favourite one,
Breaking it open
Was oh, so much fun!

Birthdays = pinatas around here. Actually, we will take any opportunity to make a paper mache object, fill it with candy, decorate, and then break it open for the candy!  I do most of the work - heaven  forbid any childrens get their hands mucky with the flour paste, but it is usually their idea and they help decorate.

This time the request was for R2-D2.

I love Star Wars, but I also love sphere-based pinatas.  So simple and easy!  I always have a ton of balloons around.  But a non-sphere pinata?  I was a little apprehensive, but I love a challenge!

It was actually pretty easy!  It did start with a balloon (of course) and a club pack cracker box.  I rounded the box and taped it to the balloon.  Then it was paper mache time.  I did add a layer on top of the whole cracker box, just to help the box keep a round shape instead of staying rectangular.

I let it dry by placing it outside (time crunch - the breaking was to be the next day) and set the open-end box over a round bowl to help the round shape set. Warning - If you are doing a pinata that is just using a balloon, beware when putting it outside to dry in the heat - the balloon will expand and can break through the lovely paper mache you have just spent all that time pasting!

Quick dry outside

I made some simple "legs" too by rolling up newspaper and taping it into the desired droidy shape, and then a quick paper mache over to cover the folds.

leg pic before the mache

I added the legs by punching holes in the droid body and the legs, using popsicle sticks and duct tape to join them together.  It is not my best work, but I just needed it to look decent and stay together until it got smashed apart.

Paint it white, then add some very quick details.  Try to make it wonky.  Adds to the homemade look.

Hot glue a white paper plate to the bottom after putting candy and some small pieces of tissue paper for extra fun.  Trim excess paper plate away.

Et voila!

Same pic as above - amateur blogger here!

Turns out that flour paste is surprisingly strong and the pinata broke where the paper plate was hot glued to the bottom, so we have an excellent condition droid to hang up somewhere!   Hurray for flour paste in all its mega-strong glory!  If I had known if would not break very easily I would have taken a bit more time decorating it!

Stay tuned for more Star Wars crafting...