I love surprising our friends with unusual little treats, so this Halloween we got really creative and made cute little Jack-O-Lantern treat balls!
You will need:
- Orange tissue or crepe (streamers) paper
- Glue
- Water
- Balloons
- Black marker
- Small bowl (plastic containers work fine)
- String
- Clips (I like clothes pins)
- Halloween treats (candy, bubbles, plastic trinkets)
Good to have:
- News paper or plastic table cloth to cover your workspace
The Project:
Blow the balloons up to fit in your hand and knot them. Set them aside. Cut the paper into strips about a half inch wide by a few inches long. Set the paper aside. Pour the glue in a small dish and water it down a bit. You still want it a little thick and sticky, but liquid enough that it drips easily off the paper. Lay out your newspaper (or whatever you have on hand) to protect your workspace, setting the strips of paper on one side and the glue toward the middle. One strip at a time, dip the paper in the glue, wipe off any excess with your fingers and then smooth it on a balloon. Continue with the next strip, working your way all around the balloon, overlapping each piece just a little. Try to get the paper as close to the knot as possible, but DO NOT COVER THE KNOT! When you are done covering the balloon with several layers of paper, hang the balloon to dry by clipping the knot of the balloon to a string with the clips. Let them dry until they are hard, usually overnight. When you think they are dry, pop the balloon and pull it out of the paper, leaving you with a great little hollow paper globe. Fill the paper ball with treats, and then patch the opening with a few strips of wet paper. Let it dry again. Decorate the paper ball with a Jack-O-Lantern face!
Tips:
- Make sure to separate all the paper as you cut it, or you’ll have a hard time later when they are all stuck together and your hands are all sticky with glue!
- The first row is the hardest, because the paper is kind of wiggly and moves around a bit. It gets easier and stays in place better with each layer.
- If the balloon sticks to the paper, use a fork to help get it out. If the paper ball collapses, just blow it back out as if you were blowing up a balloon; it should pop back into its original shape like magic!
- Try to keep the opening as small as possible. The first batch we made turned out to be flat on one side because I left the opening too big and the patch had to be spread out too far. Without the balloon, it left us with either a large flat spot or an indentation; very ugly. A small slit would work well, because you could push one side down to get the treats in and then use your finger (or a tooth pick or fork) to pull it back up into shape. The patch to close it would be harder to find if the edges of the paper ball were touching or close to touching because it would maintain its shape, even though the balloon isn’t still inside to keep it round while it dries.
- We only made enough for our friends, but think how cute this would be for your kids to pass out at school! C’mon, you know you want to make 50 of them!
