Turtle Pinata DIY

 For O’s turtle-themed birthday party I want to bring a turtle piñata.

Papa Bear thinks I've lost my mind. Why would I take a piñata to Europe? How will I get it there? Do we have to buy another suitcase?

Undeterred, I went shopping. Piñata’s cost between $40 and $100. Ridiculous. I was sure I could do it for a fraction of the price.

The first step was to seek inspiration online. Once I got past all the Ninja Turtles, I found two examples of DIY sea-turtle pinatas that I used for inspiration.

Next, I looked at dozens of pictures of turtle templates (free, printable) and actual turtles. Top view. Bottom view. Side view. In water. Out of water. Sea turtles, land-dwelling tortoises, freshwater terrapins. So interesting. So many colours. How do they see? How do they pee? Do they really cry? Went down a rabbit hole that took me longer to get out of than it did to build the dang piñata.

Anyhoo...

I have made a piñata before - a puppy piñata - using crepe paper streamers and felt. But for the turtle I bought some tissue paper and a piece of green craft foam.

The whole process was a bit hit and miss (pun intended) but I eventually got there. I’m hoping it will withstand half a dozen 7-year-old boys whacking it long enough for everyone to get a turn with the stick. Papa Bear assures me, however, that the candy is the point - not the whacking. But I’ve met 7-year-old boys and I disagree.

Except for the tissue paper, the materials were all on hand. I started with dollar store tape which did NOT stick to anything. Then I went on to masking tape which was not much better. I considered using duck/duct tape but thought that would make it indestructible. In the end, Scotch tape and lots of hot glue was the answer. I threw it on the floor a couple of times once the shell was constructed and it seems solid.

So here’s what happened. . . .

Getting started.

A turtle-ish shaped bowl for the carapace pattern

I drew the turtle shape on one side and then folded the paper in half to cut it out so it would be symmetrical. For final assembly, I made some adjustments on the fly and the front flippers ended up being a bit bigger than is pictured here.

Not sure it would work, but decided I would glue on foam head, feet and tail at the end.

I needed to figure out the circumference of the shell so I could cut a side piece long enough. I couldn't find string, so used the masking tape to measure.

It worked! The masking tape is the exact length I need to cut.

 

I folded the pattern to find the centre.
Also I am now sporting a band-aid thanks to the utility knife mishap.

Once I found the centre, I divided the oval into 8 parts.
Look, I used a protractor for the 45 degree angles. Haven't used a protractor since grade 9. Real world application of math skills.

Look at those lines. So straight

In case you want to make a pinata, here are the measurements based on a Royal Doulton serving bowl.

Luckily, I remembered I would need to hang the pinata. I made some holes for the zip tie.

Then I remembered: 7-year-olds with sticks. So I reinforced it by gluing an extra piece to it.
Sadly I didn't put the zip tie in the right way so it won't lock. I suppose I could have used twine.

 

 

 

Cut 1" strips of tissue paper and made slits all along one edge.

Taped the top to the side. Like I said third time lucky. I removed all the dollar store tape but left the masking tape.

Glued the inside like crazy.
And remembered to keep a section open so the candy can go in later.
(Laura has a glue gun so we'll close it up the morning of the party.)

Finally it's time to glue on the tissue.

Top is done. Now time for the sides.
I thought the patterned tissue would be cool, but it just looked weird so I didn't use any more.
And testing out the head size.

I couldn't glue the bottom from the inside so I piled glue on from the outside, filling every crack before taping over it.
Then based on extensive research on sea turtles, I used gold for the bottom.

The top didn't look finished so I made a little oval piece covered in tissue which I glued  in the middle. It will probably fly off with the first whack - or maybe when the customs guys open my suitcase and manhandle it.
In order to see all the pretty gold on the bottom and not make the pinata impenetrable, I cut the centre out of the flipper/head/tail foam piece.

Doesn't that look like the bottom of a turtle?

And googly eyes, of course.

Ta da! the bottom.

Ready for the suitcase.