Summer Fun Day 23 - Ice Cream Cone Piñata

I made this piñata for a summer birthday, but it would also work nicely for National Ice Cream Month in July, or National Ice Cream Day, which according to the International Dairy Foods Association, will be on July 21st, this year.

For a small "individual" piñata, start with an empty toilet paper tube, a 9 oz. paper cup, a small, elongated balloon only partially blown up (to allow some room for shaping), masking tape, and scissors (you will also end up needing white paper, a brown paper lunch bag, white school glue, water, and a bowl).

Note:  For a bigger sized piñata, use 9 and 12 oz cups to form the cone, instead of the cup and toilet paper tube, and a larger balloon for the ice cream.

Cut all but about 2 inches away from the bottom of the cup.

Tape the balloon just above the the middle, to draw it in, and give it more of the swirled, soft served look.  It's a good time too, to make sure the balloon will fit into the rim of what is left of the cup (you can cover the cut edge of the cup with masking tape, if you are afraid it will pop the balloon).

Stab into the bottom of the cup with the scissors, and cut out a hole big enough...

...to squeeze the toilet paper tube into.

Shorten the tube, to make a wafer-type, ice cream cone shape with the cup.

Tear a sheet, or two, of white paper, and a lunch bag into strips.  Prepare a bowl of glue mixed 1:2 with water.

Dip the strips into the glue, squeezing off the excess.  Use the brown paper to cover the "cone", and the white paper to cover the balloon (see below for balloon instructions).

The cone can be left upside down on top of another cup, to dry. It will only need one coat of paper, but be sure the bottom of the tube has been covered well, with long strips, secured with strips wrapped around the base.  One final strip draped over, and wrapped around the lip of the cup, will give the cone a nice finished look, too.

The balloon will need two coats of paper.  With the first, leave the tied end of the balloon exposed, and form a short cone around the tip, as pictured.

Allow, the glue to dry over night.  You can place the balloon into the top of a small cup to dry, but turn it over at least once, so it will dry evenly.

When you apply the second coat of glue soaked paper to the balloon, extend the cone, until it is long enough to twist into...

...a twirl on top of the ice cream.

Once the cone, and the second white coat of paper are completely dry, punch or poke holes into the sides of the cone, just below the lip, and run a hanging string through.

Remove the balloon from the "ice cream", by grasping the knot between two fingers, making a cut into the balloon between your fingers, and slowly letting the air out of the balloon, while you hold on to it.  Don't stress if you leave bits of the balloon behind, just use an unsharpened pencil, or knitting needle to scrape the pieces loose from the sides of the interior, and dump them out.

Fill both parts of the piñata with candy, toys, and /or stickers (in this case they need to be small candies and toys).  The base will need to be loaded heaver than the top, if you want the ice cream to hang right side up.  Otherwise, if you want to fill the top heavier, poke the holes closer to the top of the "ice cream", and use a long needle to help you thread the string through.

Squeeze a line of glue onto the bottom of the "ice cream", where it will meet up with the cone, and place the two together, being careful not to get glue on any of the candies or toys (the cup sticks out beyond the tube, making this easier than it sounds).

Add an extra line of glue around the outside of the seam where the "ice cream" and "cone" meet.  Allow the glue to dry, and your done.

It's great to be a homeschooler.