Big Girl Halloween

Who says kids get to have all the fun? This year we had Big Girl Halloween! How? well, here's how.

First we planned the get-together for the gals and Dad can have a few hours with the kids. We gals  dressed up and brought munchies. We also had a home-made big-girl pinata. Yup, the funny thing filled with stuff that you get blind-folded and swing at with a bat.  Of course, because with alcohol on the menu, we did the pinata early in the evening.

So what makes it a big-girl pinata? The stuff inside, of course! But I'm getting ahead of myself! First, how to make your own pinata.  We looked at several YOU TUBE videos and selected an easy one.  Blow up a large enough balloon (12 inch diameter minimum, I'd suggest), mix up some flour and water, add strips of newspaper to cover most of the balloon, let dry, repeat. You need to plan at least a few days ahead (you still have time to do yours!) because the wheat paste takes a while to dry.

Some tips not in the video: wear disposable gloves, don't make the wheat paste too runny because it will take forever to dry, and don't hang your drying pinata by the balloon stem.  The drying paper forms points and will pop the balloon!

 Once the undecorated base was dry, I used holiday napkins, separated down to one ply to add the color. Because these are rather delicate, I used a mix of Elmer's glue thinned with water, a pastry ( or 1.5 inch paint) brush and the 'gold leaf' technique. This technique involves painting the center of the Target area, centering the piece of napkin on the painted area, putting it on and then painting it down gently with the glue from the outside.  Once the napkin is first placed, moving it will rip it, so use forgiving designs.

 

Leave a hole in the top large enough to fill the pinata. After the final drying, a simple hole-punch can be used to make the holes for ribbon or string to hang it. What makes it a big-girl pinata is the FILLING! Several of us got together and donated unused free-bee items.

 

 You know, buy a cosmetic and get a 'free' pouch of trial-sized blush, lipstick and mascara items.  Because those are meant to have something for everyone, no one uses all of it.  Fortunately, our neighborhood  ladies are diverse enough that some items will go with some one's complexion or eye color! The Bath and Body Works coupons for a free sample of their new offering is another good source of big-girl pinata filling.  Penzey's spices usually sends a free sample with your order, so those went in the B-G Pinata too. A few token candies are a nice touch. If you have a 'donation' that is too big or heavy for the pinata, put a surrogate in.  For example (from the picture), when everything is sorted out, whoever got the little cosmetic brush (small, light, non-breakable) gets the bronzer compact (large, heavy, does not bounce well) to go with it.

From here. it's like a normal pinata event. Blind fold, stick, turning the batter, waiting for the crack and going through the loot!