DIY Captain America Shield Pinata

I am so so so excited about the next couple of posts coming up!  Follow my blog so you can see what's coming!  (Just a little teaser, they are related to Avengers birthday party ideas!) 

First of all, I am very happy to have my camera back :).  Note to self: do not leave an expensive camera on top of papers on the edge of the table, because when a toddler wants to grab those papers, everything comes crashing down.  Totally my fault.  I am guilty.  

Anyways, my son's birthday isn't until November, but since we are moving in two weeks (AHHHH!!!), we decided to do an early birthday party for him so he could celebrate with friends and family one last time, and the party was yesterday!  I have been SO excited about this party.  I love planning things like this, and I love to be able to use my crafty skills :)  If you've been following my blog, you may remember I did a post about letting your little ones make their own Captain America Shield, well, after making that shield, and playing super heroes, I think it might have just kept the super hero obsession burning bright :), because my son requested an Avengers party!

Warning:  There are lots of pictures ahead!  I really did miss my camera...Also, guess how much it cost me to make this pinata...anyone?  Nothing!  0!  Zilch!  What made me really happy was I had all these supplies at my house already, (except the cardboard box, I had to find that, but it was free!)

Supplies you'll need:

• cardboard box
• a thinner box, ex: cereal, pop can, etc.
• duct tape
• scissors
• glue
• tissue paper

I thought this was going to take forever, so I started it a few days in advance.  It only took like an hour and a half TOTAL, and that was with 'my little helper' helping me.

Ok, here we go:

First cut out 2 identical shapes of what  you want your pinata to be.  (As you can see my box has black paint all over it, that's because I've been redoing furniture, I will post that later!)

 Then cut your thinner box into strips.  This is what will go between the shapes, so cut them as wide as you want.  Don't cut off the flaps on the box, you will need those in a minute.

Using the duct tape place the thinner box around the edges of your shaped box and tape together.  Don't tape down the flap part, and make sure you have two flaps that overlap (pictured below).

 Then tape the top on...

 Here are the two flaps...

I like to keep gift bags and tissue paper that we receive, so I was glad I did, because I had all the colors on hand that I needed.  I thought it would take a lot of tissue paper, so I did the back of the pinata in this periwinkle color...little did I know, I think I used a total of 4 sheets of tissue paper for the whole pinata...yep, true story!

Here's my little helper showing the back for us...

I forgot to take a picture of how I did the tissue paper, so I remembered to take one while I was doing the front.  Open your tissue paper, then fold it 'hot dog' or the long way

Cut off about two inches, then do small snips along the bottom to give it a 'frayed' look.

Glue it onto your pinata starting on the outside, (or bottom if you are doing a shape with a distinct top and bottom), and layer inward, (or upward).

 The white layer was see-through...

 So I placed another layer of white on top of the first.

Another red layer...

So I was going to keep doing the strips for the blue part, and then my husband came up with this, cut out a circle just a little bigger than what you'll need.

Fold it 4 times and snip along the edge to get the frayed look...

and glue it on.

Since the white is see-through I folded the paper over three times and then cut out a star shape

 Glue the stars on top of each other, and the front is done!

For the sides I just used the same periwinkle color, with the same technique.

We filled it with assorted candy, but the best find was the Avengers fruit snacks, and from the Target dollar bins I got Avengers pencils and erasers.

To close the top, we kind of waited until the last minute, my husband stapled the flaps together so the rope could just go through the hole. 

Ok, tip here...there was so much candy in the pinata that the rope did rip up through the box, not through the staples, but right beside it.  I figured out two ways to prevent that from happening:

1. Put duct tape around the edge of the thinner box, then the rope can't rip through, or

2. cut a small hole through the front and back of the thicker cardboard box, and run the rope through there.

Then let the little ones have at it :)
Update:
Since the pinata only ripped a little through the top, we used the pinata again a few days after my son's party for another party for one of his little friends.
So I just recovered the top with leftover cardboard, but this time I put the rope through one side, laced it twice through two holes I cut in the top, and then through the other side.  I then put on the blue tissue paper to cover up the new part.

 This time it held up :)

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