So here are a few of the most popular in the last 30 days (counting down the top 8- if I have time tomorrow I’ll do some more–I should be working on my Dalek cake right now, but I’m procrastinating…)

How to Make a Paper Graduation Cap

This one makes total sense, since it’s June and we’ve just had Graduation season going on.  This is a quick and easy cardboard ‘mortar board’ perfect for kids graduation ceremonies.

Tumblr as a Portfolio Platform (How to)

I believe this tutorial may be slightly out of date, but it remains quite popular.  I’ve moved on to WordPress myself!

The Homemade (#6 Plastic recycled) faux Shrinky Dinks project 

This was a four part series of experiments around making, coloring, and sealing items made out of #6 Plastic.  Remains quite popular (for some reason, page 4 shows up in the top 10, but I’m linking to the start of the series here, for ease of reading).  There are several other faux-shrinky projects around here too, including: HAPPY FOURTH! (SHRINKIE GLASS MARKERS & HOLIDAY LINK ROUNDUP) and HOW TO MAKE A LOVELY ECO-FRIENDLY DISC BRACELET

Fusing Plastic: Make disposal grocery bags into a cool crafting material

This was a great tutorial by the very talented Brooke, of So She Sews.  Dabbled has had some AWESOME guest bloggers. She take the ubiquitous thin tan plastic grocery bags and turns them into an interesting material that can be used to make all kinds of cool items.

Perry the Platypus Cake

This tutorial for The Boy’s birthday cake, two years ago, remains one of the most popular items on the site– and it’s one of my favorite cakes I’ve ever done.  And yep, right now I should be working on his Dalek Cake which is needed for this weekend’s party.  That’s coming soon, but I’m having some ‘fails’ with my prototyping!

How to make an Awesome Flower Pinata

This was another great guest post- by Joanne of Ready, Set, Craft!-, and since this pinata is perfect for Cinco de Mayo, that might have been why it was popular last month.   But really, it would be great for any summer party, or a little girl birthday.

The Phineas & Ferb Perry Cake, but made from Twinkies!

After I published my Perry Cake (above) several readers tried their hand at it… And this reader (Janelle) decided to modify it, to make it from storebought Twinkie snack cakes.  Inspired!

• Go read: How to Make a Flower Pinata, just in time for Cinco De Mayo!
• For more party ideas: Piñatas, Cinco de Mayo, Fiesta ideas, and more!
• And for food ideas: We’re having a Fiesta! Foodwhirl’s Gone Mexican…

How to Make a Flower Pinata (instructions below photo)

(photos correspond by row from left to right)

Materials:
One 10inch balloon
Newspaper
White liquid school glue
Pinch of Salt
¼ cup Warm water
Spray paint
Tissue paper
Brads
Hot glue gun

STEP ONE: Cut newspaper into strips. Mix ¾ cup of glue with one ¼ cup of warm water to create paste. Add a generous pinch of salt and mix in. The salt will stop your piñata from molding. VERY important!

Blow up balloon, tie the end, and tie a long piece of string or ribbon to the knot. Dip newspaper strips into paste and layer onto balloon. Do two layers at a time, and let dry completely by suspending from ceiling (or other tall space!) with ribbon/string. I did four layers total, but you can do up to eight.

Note: to speed up the drying process, set one or multiple fans directly underneath your piñata, facing upward. Two layers will dry in less than half a day- no joke! (My husband’s idea – GENIUS!)

STEP TWO: To make the points (and this is where you can get creative – you don’t have to have points, you can add whatever shapes you desire!) I folded cereal boxes into cones using a bone folder to score the folds, and secured them with masking tape. When attaching the cones to the balloon, be sure to use multiple layers of tape for security.

Cover entire form with at least a couple more layers of newspaper and glue mix, paying extra attention to the areas where the points and balloon meet – those are the weakest areas.

STEP THREE: Spray paint! Mine needed three coats – but that will depend on your color choice. Let dry.

STEP FOUR: Push a pin or needle all the way through on side of the balloon to allow the balloon to deflate and air to escape. Using a craft knife, cut three sides of a square to create a flap big enough to insert your candy through. Insert candy, and tape closed if desired (don’t worry, you won’t see it later!)

STEP FIVE: Cut lots of tissue paper flowers. If you are one of those lucky folks with a die-cut machine, I’m sure this will take you all of two minutes. For the rest of us, I drew the flowers free-hand and then cut them out by hand. Because tissue paper is so thin you can cut multiple flowers at once.

STEP SIX: Make sure you have a variety of flower colors and shapes

STEP SEVEN: Cut some strips of tissue paper to use as streamers. They don’t have to be perfect or exact – make them whatever length and thickness your heart desires!

STEP EIGHT: (not shown) Grab a couple of flowers in varying sizes, and stick a brad through the middle and fold over in back. I just used regular scrapbooking brads from Hobby Lobby.

Using a glue gun, attach the assembled flowers to the piñata form. Overlap them slightly and “froof” (I know that’s not really a word!) the petals so that they have some volume and don’t just lay flat. The closer the flowers are together, the cooler it looks! Be sure to cover the entire form, and check for “NAKED” spots!

STEP NINE: And you’re done! Based on how you’re going to hang it, you may need to cut some small slits or holes at the top of your piñata to allow rope to be tied though. Hang, hit, and enjoy!

NOTE: I didn’t made the piñata stick shown – but it would be easy to do with a lightweight wooden dowel from a craft store and some more tissue paper.

More Cinco de Mayo/Fiesta ideas here!

Published on: May 2, 2009