Pinata Time

If you're not terrified of messes (like Sue) and have never made a pinata before I highly suggest gathering up some newspaper, flour, water, and a balloon and giving it a try. Little Abe and I made one together last year around this same time so I guess you could call this our annual pinata making time. The process takes several steps but it's so inexpensive and tons of fun, especially sensory wise for little ones.

1.) Inflate a balloon. You can tie it to a hanger or string it up somewhere in your house. Ideally it needs to be hung somewhere.

2.) Cut some newspaper into strips. You probably want to keep the strips under 2 inches wide and about half the length of a full page of newspaper.

3.) Mix up some flour and water (a little goes a pretty long way). I do not ever measure but I think one part flour to two parts water is probably a safe ratio. It really doesn't matter that much if the paste is a bit thick or if it's a bit watery but you're ideally going for a pancake batter consistency, maybe a tiny bit thicker than that.

4.) Completely cover one strip at a time in paste. I always wipe excess paste off each piece of paper by placing the strip in between two fingers and running the excess off. You really just want both sides of the paper wet. Of course the little guy isn't quite as thorough in his paste application. Layer the balloon with one layer of overlapping strips. This isn't rocket science but if you let layers dry in between layering on more wet pasty paper you'll get a better result. Once your pinata has three or four layers of strips it should be pretty well set. You can put as many layers as you'd like overall though.

If you want to add shape to your pinata (other than a round balloon) you can tape crumpled up pieces of newspaper to the paper mached balloon once it has two layers of dried strips. Then just add two more layers over top of the shape you've created (let one dry before adding another). You can pop the balloon when you're all done and you should totally cut a hole in your creation, fill it with treats, hang it somewhere and break it open with a bat or stick. I know, all that work just to smash it to bits... it's tradition.

This marks one more thing off my weekend to-do list and it was fun. We're quite proud of our paper alligator.

Average daily spending for 2015: $18.04

No spend day 45 today.

Pinata Day

We busted open the Pinata today and I spent what feels like a ton of money on nothing.

I had to pick up some candy to put inside the pinata because I forgot to get it yesterday. Little Abe and I went to his cousin's house for the festivities. I stopped at a "convenience" store because the parking lot at the grocery store was filled to the brim and there was no way I was going in there today (on a holiday weekend) with that many people shopping. Sometimes time does cost money and they call it a convenience store for a reason... convenience comes with a charge. Haha, I bought mostly clearance candy though. Total: $5.95 and the kiddos had a blast!

On the way home from pinata time my child freaked out and I flew through the drive thru at McDonalds to get him apple juice. It was naptime after a very fun morning and someone forgot to bring his fire (pacifier). The juice helped a lot but it cost me $5.38 for a kids meal, and a coke for me, and I hadn't planned on spending any money today. That brings today's cost to $11.33. Every minute of today was worth the $11.33 but it's weird how you can plan so diligently to spend NOTHING and then end up spending so much.

Que sera sera! Today was so much fun!!!

We actually started a pinata with the girls of their very own before we revealed that we'd brought ours along full of candy. It was a very fun, VERY messy activity for all the kids. And then so much excitement upon finding out they didn't have to wait for all 4 or 5 steps (takes a few days) for theirs to be finished before they could break one open. Now on to yard work. Oooh, there's a strawberry in my itty bitty garden that's recently developed a little pink hue. I believe I'm way too excited about it but still, seemed news worthy to me.

Average daily spending for May: $19.53

We've a week left of May. I'd like to finish with the daily spending average under $19 a day. Should be do-able. I just need to focus and plan.

A Little Newspaper, Flour, and Paint

Little Abe and I started making a paper mache pinata (a little bit too last minute) in anticipation of the two birthday parties this weekend. I thought we might be able to bring it to one of the parties but it was still drying.

This craft was so much fun!!! Granted there were many steps: three layers of paper (drying in between each time), the painting (two rounds), gluing on the eyes and drawing on the rest of the face. Our third round of flour and water and newspaper was a bit rocky (he stuck his foot in the paste and smeared it all over my pants) but the rest of the process was just great. I'm genuinely amazed at the loads of fun you can have for ZERO dollars. Okay, I do intend to purchase some candy or little trinkets to put inside the thing and we'll break it open with cousins or friends but the craft itself was all done with stuff around the house.

I asked him what we should name the little fellow and he suggested that we call it "daddy." He doesn't know that we're going to smash it with a bat (he won't be sentimental about that. he loves smashing things) so I told him that name wasn't quite right. I don't feel right about smashing "daddy" with a bat. For now the little creature remains nameless but I'm pretty proud of our creation. Most of the painting, tons of the paper macheing, and the mouth were all done by my little two year old!!!

FUN!!!!!