LEGO Piñata Tutorial

Little Man, as previously mentioned, is obsessed with LEGOs. It helps that his daddy (my favorite Irish hubby!) loves them, too. Those boys play LEGOs for hours! So, when Little Man decided on a LEGO themed birthday party, I was all in. I love getting a birthday theme together and going all out, but in simple, affordable ways.

A piñata is obviously a party must for young kidlets, so I knew I would have to attempt one. I hadn't seen much LEGO anything in the party stores, with the exception of LEGO Star Wars (which was our theme last year--Star Wars). So, I knew I'd have to make the LEGO piñata.

I haven't made papier-mâché since 4th grade and was a little nervous to tackle this project, for fear of it not being perfect (I have issues. There. I said it.). I actually didn't even tell Little Man about it until I knew it was cute enough. (Again with the issues!)! Luckily, this project was super easy, ridiculously quick and the price was right (practically free!)! Three things I love in a project!

To start out, you'll need to make your papier-mâché "goo." I scoured the net and landed at Family Fun (which, btw, is a FAVORITE magazine of mine...such cute projects and ideas for kids and families). They listed their favorite recipe here and it worked perfectly. Make the papier-mâché:

Papier-Mâché (courtesy of Family Fun)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
4 cups cold water, divided
3 TB sugar

Bring 2 cups of the water to a boil in a medium sized saucepan. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour and reserved 2 cups cold water in a bowl. Add the flour mixture to the boiling water and bring up to a boil, whisking as needed to combine. Once it has come to a steady boil, remove from the heat and stir in the sugar. It will thicken as it cools, then it is ready to use. Store in the fridge after use; it will take about 2-3 days of separate coats of papier-mâché to build your piñata.

 While your Papier-Mâché cools, get your fancy, high priced tools. Just kidding. You need:
-2 cereal boxes of the same size (Little Miss Pink loves Cinnamon Toast Crunch)
-tape
-fruit and nut cups, or dixie cups with the top lip of the cup cut off could work, too
-knife

-lots of newspaper
-rope to hang your creation from at the end

 Lay your cereal boxes on their backs and stack on top of each other. On the long sides of the boxes (where the nutritional information that I ignore is listed...!), cut a rectangle (I used an envelope to trace the shape) out of the cardboard with sharp knife.

Repeat on both long, skinny sides of the boxes. Then, cut a larger rectangle out of one wide sides of the boxes. You will leave one wide side, and both box tops and bottoms intact.

See, the goal is to create a frame for your Papier-Mâché to go around. If you left the boxes fully intact and then did the Papier-Mâché over the top, the piñata would be practically unbreakable!

Now, tape the box tops closed and then tape the boxes together at the top and corners where the rectangle holes aren't. Does that make sense? We want to tape our frame together. I used painter's tape, but masking or box sealing tape should work just as well.

Next, cut a hole in the top that you'll use to insert your candy later (I did end up papier-mâché-ing over it, but it was easy to re-open at the end). Also, get your rope ready and put that in place, too. I put the rope at the top, as well as the candy slit. I taped the rope into place so it wouldn't wobble around.

Now, for the "LEGO" part. I consulted the household LEGO expert (aka my husband) and he said that, for a rectangle LEGO of this size, I should have 8 little knobby parts (who knows what those are called!?!) on top. I used Fruit and Nut cups from Michael's. See?

They were the perfect size and proportion for the LEGO I was building. I taped them on using Scotch tape. It was looking more like a LEGO already!

Then, I cut lots and lots of strips of newspaper in various widths, from 1" up to about 3". Lots and lots of them.

By now, your "glue" or Papier-Mâché should be cool. Mine wasn't quite cool, but I'm tough as nails and wore latex gloves (which I HIGHLY recommend...this stuff is messy. I also wore an apron!) and couldn't feel the heat of the not-quite-cooled Papier-Mâché. Must be the Norwegian in me.

This is the fun part! Run a strip of newspaper through the Papier-Mâché, squeegee it off with your fingers and apply it to the box frame.

I did all sides in one sitting, then hung it up to dry overnight. Notice the gloves, apron and plastic cover on the table...I recommend all of these! It is messy, but fun. 

Cover the Papier-Mâché tightly and refrigerate overnight until you apply the next layer.

I ended up applying 3 coats, but the LEGO was really tough for the kids to break. I think 2 layers would've been perfect.

Repeat the layering again. I did it this time in front of the TV! So easy! The second and third layers went on in less than 5 minutes.

Once the layers have dried, it's time for paint. Alternately, you could apply colored tissue paper to the top, but I thought paint would yield the truest color result I was looking for in a LEGO. And it was free, since I already had the acrylic craft paint. Tempera would work, too.

It took about three coats of paint, which dried very quickly between coats.

  I re-cut the opening for the candy and stabilized the rope with blue painter's tape and painted over the top again.

I let it dry overnight and it was ready to join Little Man's Sixth Birthday Extravaganza! First, it was on the table as a centerpiece...who doesn't love a gigantic LEGO?

Then, once the kids had arrived, we headed outside for the piñata fun!

All in all it was an easy project, the kids loved it, and it was practically free! A hit all around. My only complaint was that it took too long to break (which is especially problematic in Minnesota when it's cold and getting dark at 5:00pm...less of a problem in the summer, I'm sure!). But other than that, this project was great! I hope you'll try it!

I will post some more details of the LEGO party. I've already shared the invitations here and here, and a sneak peak at the party in pictures, too.

The LEGO Birthday Party, a Photo Essay

lego guessing game

Delicious Apple Pie for the Birthday Boy

One birthday tradition I love is to allow the birthday boy or girl choose the meal for dinner. This year, Little Man has become quite a good little eater. He loves steak and chicken, tacos and spaghetti. I had no idea what he would choose for his birthday dinner.

He thought about it long and hard and decided that he wanted Curried Chicken Pot Pie for the meal with homemade bread and Apple Pie for his birthday dessert.

One of my favorite Apple Pie recipes is Grandma Ople's Apple Pie from Allrecipes. I don't know who Grandma Ople is, but she is one clever lady. Little Man LOVES this pie.

I started with a blend of Granny Smith and Gala apples.

Peel all the apples. I hate this part; I'm not going to sugar coat it. I would buy one of those apple peeler gadgets, but think I'd hate cleaning and assembling it more than I hate the peeling. I'm just not as good at peeling as my mom is. Bummer.

 

 Next, slice the apples into thin (1/4" thick) slices and core the apple at the same time.

I'm still married, btw. My rings needed to be cleaned and re-sized, so hence the ring-less fingers.

Toss the apples in a bowl and squeeze some lemon juice over them, or use the bottled lemon juice. Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon on top and some freshly grated nutmeg--about 1/8 teaspoon.

Next, get your pie crust ready. I almost always use homemade since I discovered a couple good recipes, but today I just didn't have the time. I took the Pillsbury way out. Don't hate me.

Toss your apples in there and get going on the next step, which requires a stick of butter, brown and white sugars, and flour.

Get melting that butter over medium heat.

Add in your other ingredients: flour and sugars, then bring to a boil.

Mix well to avoid lumps. I love, love, LOVE this tiny whisk for making roux or for this recipe. It's from Pampered Chef. I highly recommend. While I think of it, preheat your oven to 425 degrees.

While the caramel syrup is coming to a boil, prepare your top crust. I couldn't just do a plain top crust. The reasons are two-fold: 1. I'm a nut-job and can't make anything "simple." 2. It's a Birthday Pie! It needs a little birthday love in the form of a number SIX!

I also couldn't stop at just a number 6. SO I cut out tiny stars out of the "6" scraps and added those, too.

I have issues, but at least I recognize it!

By now your caramel syrup topping should be at a lovely rapid boil, like so:

Let it boil for a few minutes and it will reduce a bit. It will become a nice caramel brown color and smell delicious. Be careful; it's VERY hot!

Next, carefully and slowly pour the topping over the apple pie. It works to beautifully color the top of the pie, bring amazing flavor and it also drips all inside the pie. Yum!

You'll want to use a silicone pastry brush to evenly spread the caramel-y goodness all over the top of the pie.

Wipe the edges of the pie plate (to keep it pretty) and place on a foil-covered heavy baking sheet. Bake according to recipe, and enjoy!

Isn't it lovely?

Isn't he lovely?

The pie was delicious and Little Man was thrilled with how it turned out. I was too! He ate his entire piece and was ready for seconds before I sat down to eat my piece! I guess he was a fan!

And guess how he rewarded his mama? In the best possible way:

Lucky me.

Grandma Ople's Apple Pie

adapted from Allrecipes

1 recipe of pastry for a 9" double crust pie

7-8 peeled, cored and sliced apples, I use Granny Smith and Gala or Golden Delicious

Juice of 1/2of a lemon

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4-1/8 teaspoon grated nutmeg

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

1/4 cup water

3 TB. flour

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Prepare crust in 9" pie plate. Peel, core and slice apples. Toss apples with the lemon juice, cinnamon and nutmeg in a medium sized bowl. Add to the prepared crust and top with the 2nd crust.

Over medium heat, melt the butter. Add water, flour, and sugars. Bring to a rapid boil for several minutes, reducing. Carefully pour over the crust, ensuring it is evenly covered using a pastry brush. Place pie plate on a foil-covered baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 and bake for 35-45 minutes longer, until apples are tender-crisp. Cool and serve!