Paper Mache Piggy Bank

Last summer I had fun experimenting and making this paper mache piggy bank for a friends very special baby girl.

{My 2 creations in February}

January 1^st, friends of ours and best friends to Bri and Nate unexpectedly and joyfully became parents to a beautiful baby boy.  They have wanted to adopt for a very long time and all of a sudden, they get a baby, that day!  So amazing how things work out. 

Special babies and special circumstances deserve special gifts.  I wanted to make him something special and the kids had already started a paper mache project, so I decided to turn that random paper mache ball sitting on our table into something special for this special baby.

Meet paper mache piggy bank.  The color theme in his room is Peachy/orange, brown, cream and green.  So I tried to incorporate that into the pig.  Making boy presents is hard when all you know how to do is “girly up things”.  I wish people would stick to having girls, I know how to make things girly, not so much on making things special for boys.  I guess I need more practice.

We went to his baby shower this past weekend in VA.  It was a short busy trip.  The shower was unusual.  It was for a very large group and made up of guys and ladies and kids.  The food was fantastic and in a large variety because everyone brought a dish.  The 8 hosts made cupcakes and there was a large area with a vast variety of delicious cute cupcakes.  

~My children’s favorite part~

  I was so stuffed I could hardly eat one.  Buddy ate 3 or 4 and Kittycat ate at least 2.  There was also music and dancing.  The party lasted much longer than we did.  We are SO OLD! 

Sunday, we visited Bri and Nate’s meeting.  They had the CO that week, so that was an added plus!  He gave great talks.  After the meeting, we rushed over to Lauren’s new place.  She just moved a few weeks ago, into an old house in downtown.  We had to have a quick tour because she had to leave in a few minutes for her own meeting.

{ A candid shot of Lauren as she opens the door.  I retook the shot, but I like this one best }

We LOVED her new place and are very happy for her and her room mates!

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The next February project is an address plaque that I made for my dad and step mom.  Friday, I got a text from my step sister saying their 10 year anniversary is coming up this week.  It’s actually today, March 2.  Happy Anniversary, dad and L.  This weekend, we are all going out to eat to celebrate.  I’m thankful that they remembered me because I often get left out of their family events and it makes me sad.  No one told me about the 1 year surprise party they threw for S & S, and I would have loved to be there.  Any way, I wanted to make something for them and then the idea came to my mind....

{A mosaic address plaque}  

I have wanted to make one for myself for a long time, but I never make things for myself, so there ya go. 

They recently moved into a new house, and I haven’t seen it yet.  I have no idea what the color of the house is, or what their favorite colors are, so I chose things that I liked.

They will get their gift this Saturday.  I hope they like it!

Friday again

A little bit of what has been going on this week...

A Paper Mache piggy bank still in the works...

Shakespeare getting a bath

He's trying to kill me with his glare

KennaKats's Watercolor painting

Buddy's watercolor painting

Out to eat after the meeting on Sunday

KennaKat's first Dentist Experience

She did GREAT!!

Bailey destroyed 2 of the little pigs' houses that we made while I took Buddy to school this morning :(

Why do we still have her?!

Tissue Paper Mache Lanterns

I wanted to make something new with the kids.  I decided that Ethylwolfe was old enough to enjoy making paper mache and even though KennaKat really isn't, she had a good time regardless.  We used tissue paper to make lanterns.  I had never used tissue paper for mache'ing before, so I was a bit skeptical about how well it would hold up. I had saved a bit of tissue paper from past presents and decided to give it a go.  Besides, even if it was a flop, we would get messy, have lots of fun, and we would learn from it... one way or another.

Here are the supplies that you will need to make your very own paper mache lantern

(Tissue paper, balloons, glue, water, glitter -not mandatory, but delightful!)

Pour glue into containers and mix with water -make it like milk.  

(For me it equals out to about 2 parts glue 1 part water)

Blow balloons up to desired size, I was not careful to make them all the same size, I just puffed until I stopped.  Rip up tissue paper into strips.  Submerge paper into glue and then place on balloon. (not rocket science.)  

KennaKat dove right into her lantern project!  She chose 2 different shades of pink for her work.

I chose light blue, dark blue, and white for my lantern.

Ethylwolfe chose green for his.

Sprinkle with glitter when you are finished! (If you so desire)

Unfortunately, this project was way too messy for me to take pictures during the process, but here is our messy table after we finished :)

You have to let the glue dry for several days....we waited 2.  Thicker projects can take a week or longer to dry.  Surprisingly we were patient enough to wait until the end.  The 4th white lantern in the background I threw together during clean up.  The paper towels that I laid out underneath our work got so soaked with glue that I blew up another balloon and decided to test out paper towel paper mache with our scraps.

We finally got to pop them and this is the end result.  We wanted them open like a candle holder.

This is how the paper towel lantern turned out....

I put battery tea lights inside and we have been enjoying the glow for days now.

Sorry, I couldn't get a better image of them.  I'll try harder at a later time :)

The end results:

KennaKat broke down a little into the project, it was long and tedious and she got glue on her clothes....she HATES to get wet, and so she broke down.  I finally got her going after a while, but I'd say of the 2, Ethylwolfe enjoyed it the most.  They both did very well going through the steps.  KennaKat and I ran out of scrap tissue paper.  Ethylwolfe had tons so his is the thickest.  I'd say thicker is better if you want to try this yourself.  Go for multiple layers of tissue paper for added strength.  These will eventually be hung in the play room, but for now, they are decorating the table.  I liked how the paper towel lantern turned out the best.  It took 5 minutes and it much more stable than the tissue paper.  It is Ethylwolfe's favorite one as well.

I have made many paper mache items and I must say that this was my favorite time doing it.  It was fun and carefree.  We laughed, made mess, and the kids learned.  Because we were all making our own, and the kids just think mommy is cool anyways, I wasn't stressed to make mine perfect and it was just lots of fun.  We will definitely be making many more paper mache items in the future.  The possibilities are endless and I've already got a nice long list!

Have a great day guys!