It's raining blueberries

As usual, today's post is a follow-up DIY (in case you missed it, here's last month's DIY) to our May Eco Emi unboxing. I actually have two projects planned for this month, but decided to divide them into separate posts. The first made it rain blueberries for Hayden.

Rain blueberries? Okay, so maybe it wasn't actually raining (although it did rain outside yesterday). It was just Hayden's reaction to the blueberries falling out of her personal pinata. I wish I could have gotten a clear picture of the berries "raining" down on her, but unfortunately, my camera isn't fast enough to capture them in motion (Hayden, on the other hand, captured her berries quite quickly, gobbling them up with glee).

Luckily, you can recreate the experience using fresh blueberries, another healthy treat or other fun pinata fillings (small toys, stickers, erasers, etc. are good ideas). All you need is a paper towel or toilet paper tube (cut the tube down to size, if using a paper towel roll tube), the festive packing material from this month's Eco Emi box (colorful tissue paper and crinkled paper shreds), scrap ribbon (I like to use leftover ribbon from other projects or the ribbon meant to hold items of clothing on a hanger; those ribbon loops always seem to slip out of place, so I tend to snip them out of my tops, dresses, etc.) and some tape.

The first step is to cut a small square of tissue paper to fit the bottom of the tube. You'll also want to cut a tiny slit in the center of the tissue paper square (you'll see why in the next step).

Then, take a few of the crinkled paper shreds (or a piece of ribbon/string), stick the end(s) through the slit in the tissue paper square and tape them in place on the other side. This will be your pull-string for emptying the contents out of your finished pinata.

Next, attach the tissue paper square to the bottom of the tube with some tape, making sure the pull-string is facing out.

On the other end of your tube, poke a hole on either side of the rim, thread through your ribbon and tie a loop for hanging your pinata.

Now, it's time to decorate your personal pinata. It's really all up to you, but this is how we decorated ours, using the items from this month's Eco Emi box. Simply cut a strip of colorful tissue paper and make some fringe.

Tape (or glue) the tissue paper fringe around the base of your pinata tube.

Then, I added a layer of bright pink crinkled paper shreds. I folded each shred in half before attaching it to the tube.

The next layer I added was another strip of orange tissue paper fringe. Then, I attached some neon green crinkled paper shreds ...

... followed by yet another strip of orange tissue paper fringe.

Lastly, fill your finished personal pinata with berries (or whatever else you want. I recommend filling it right before you use it), hang it up, pull the string and watch the contents fall out of it. The best part is that you can re-use the pinata tube. Just add a new tissue paper square with pull-string to the base before you refill it.

Today's DIY was inspired by my brother-in-law's wife Karen, who is hosting a graduation party soon (congrats to Lauren for completing her bachelor's degree). She mentioned that she'd like to make a bunch of personal pinatas for the occasion. It reminded me of when I'd make them as a kid. I just know the kids and kids at heart in attendance will really love this idea. Thanks Karen for reminding me about these.

Speaking of graduation, Hayden completed her first of year of preschool and received a special certificate at her school's beach picnic the other day. She still has another year of preschool, but we were all very proud of her.

Hayden also had dance pictures this week. I can't believe her first dance recital is right around the corner. Here she is checking out her hair, makeup and costume in the mirror.

Jacob is also busy with end-of-the-year activities. We all went to his school's mini Relay 4 Life the other day (Hayden displayed her unique sense of fashion, insisting on wearing mismatched winter gloves). He also had his field day scheduled for yesterday, but it was postponed due to the rain. That means he still has something fun to look forward to next week.

Hope everyone is enjoying their holiday weekend. Have fun!