Like most children, my kiddos love to “collect” money…anymoney that they can find! The only problem we had is that they did not have a place of their own to keep it. We had a ton of Gatorade bottles and had recently made a pinata so we tried to combine the two into a couple of piggy banks. We all think they turned out great and the kids L.O.V.E. them! They were very inexpensive to make and the kids loved taking part in the process to create them.
What You Need:
- Gatorade quart sized bottle (one with a wide mouth)
- Paint
- Knife
- Pipe cleaner
- Googley eyes (optional)
- Permanent marker
- Clear acrylic protective finish spray
- Empty egg carton – the cardboard-ish type
- Glue or tape (hot glue gun is what I found worked best/quickest)
- Newspaper, white paper, Flour – supplies to make the hard outside of the pig (from the pinata tutorial)
Directions:
Step 1: Clean and dry the bottle. Try to get the wrapper off as much as possible.
Step 2: Cut a slit/hole in the bottle near the back for the money. You want to make the hole long enough and wide enough for the money to easily go in the bottle. If you make the hole too large, don’t worry! You can fix that when you cover the bottle in the wrapping process.
I know it is hard to see, but this is the hole we made for one of the banks.
Step 3: Prep your bottle for a piggy makeover! Use the egg carton to create legs and ears for your piggy. We forgot to add ears to the blue pig and I think it looked fine. We also used tape to hold the legs on one pig until we wrapped it and the other we used a hot glue gun to secure the legs on. Either worked fine, the glue gun was easier and kept it in place better. Make sure you balance out the legs on the pig, too. If you look at the finished picture of the blue pig, you can see that the legs are off balance. It gives it a little personality, right? =-)
Step 4: Wrap your pig! Follow the quick drying pinata instructions with these 3 tips/variations You can do 2 layers of newspaper (or even one, but it helps to do 2 to make sure the legs are secure.) For the 3rd layer (the last layer) use white paper. Feel free to take breaks in between layers, if the kiddos need it. You really can not ruin it.
Step 5:Let it dry completly. I found it dried quickest with the nose down. We made one pig in the Fall and one during the Winter and I expected the one in the Winter to take a long time to dry, but I was wrong. Note: The pigs do take a little longer to dry than the pinata with a balloon in it.
We used a popsicle stick for one of the pigs to hold the money slit open, but it didn’t really seem to make a difference.
Step 6: Once dry paint the pig your favorite color! And don not forget to paint the nose, too!
Step 7: When everything is dry, paint your accents…ears, nose holes and eyes (if your not using googly eyes). You can also use a permanet marker instead. Tip for the Nose: Screw the nose on tightly and then mark your desired spots for the 2 nose circles otherwise your nose may be crooked.=-)
Step 8: Spray the entire pig and nose with acrylic clear protective spray. Let it dry.
Step 9:Make a squigly tail by wrapping a pipecleaner around your finger or a pencil and then attach it to the tale to the rump of the pig with glue (or a hot glue gun). Cut the length done if it is too long. see picture in step 7 on the far right picture
Step 10: Cut your money slit into your piggy. Touch up the outside, if necessary.
Step 11: Add googley eyes.
Step 12: Add money and Enjoy! My kids love to do this over and over again.
ENJOY!!!
Amy says
June 29, 2011 at 8:28 amLove the new makeover!!!! LOVE IT! cute project too:).
Jenni says
June 29, 2011 at 8:45 amI just gave you the ONE LOVELY BLG Award. You can check it out here http://kissedbyafrog.blogspot.com/2011/06/one-lovely-blog-award.html
I am really looking forward to getting to know you better and reading your blog!
Jenni
kissedbyafrog.blogspot.com
Joseph says
June 29, 2011 at 5:16 pmI LOVE this theme for your site! Is it Studiopress? Just curious. 🙂
Joseph
Jessica @ Life in Mommyland says
June 30, 2011 at 11:17 amI LOVE LOVE LOVE this idea! SO cute and creative!
maggy, red ted art says
June 30, 2011 at 11:53 amI love that idea!!! What a perfect way to make a piggy bank!! You have the basic shape already sorted AND i love how you can get the money out. Too clever. Love love love!
Thanks for linking to Kids Get Crafty!
Maggy
Ali says
July 1, 2011 at 1:33 amCongrats on your winning post! What a cute craft! My kids are all about collecting coins, so I could definitely see this coming in handy in the next few months, as all of their other banks fill up! Thanks for sharing!
anna says
July 2, 2011 at 2:57 pmVery sweet idea 😀
Mindie says
July 2, 2011 at 5:19 pmI would just love it if you would link this to my Party Mindie Style link party at BACON TIME! So cute!
chelsea says
July 3, 2011 at 5:50 pmThis might be my favorite project I’ve ever seen on your site! SO cute and not too hard!
And seriously – your bloggy makeover looks amazing!!
Emma @mummymummymum says
July 4, 2011 at 7:38 amThat is brilliant! My children would love that. We will be having a go!
Carolyn says
July 10, 2011 at 10:49 pmSuper cute! When kids make craft items, nothing has to be “perfect”. And usually they love what they’ve made…that’s what is important. Love the post and the involvement of the children.
mindie says
July 11, 2011 at 8:36 amThanks for linking to Bacon Time. I am going to feature this on Friday morning too! Hope you will link up every week with us!
Kat Griffin says
July 12, 2011 at 10:56 amLove it! great creativity wonderful instructions too
I love anything with googley-eyes!
KAT
Macy says
July 12, 2011 at 1:35 pmWhat a cute idea! I would love it if you would link up to my Tuesday Confessional party going on now. There is a really great giveaway going on with it. I hope to see you soon!
~Macy
angie says
July 12, 2011 at 6:41 pmthanks so much for sharing come see me at http://shopannies.blogspot.coma
Tracy ~ Craft Junkie Too says
July 12, 2011 at 8:11 pmHi there — this is soooo super adorable and creative. I LOVE it! I will be featuring this on my blog Wednesday 7/13 along with a few other crafty and creative things I’ve found to share with my readers. I hope you’ll have a chance to visit and maybe consider grabbing the featured me button for your blog. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Tracy
somedaycrafts says
July 14, 2011 at 8:30 amOK! That is the cutest thing ever. We will be making some of these!!!!
Carlee says
July 15, 2011 at 7:59 pmWhat a cute, fun, and thrifty project, I think it is perfect! I found you at TT&J!
Jackie says
July 17, 2011 at 1:48 pmLove this project. It is so cute. My boys will love it as a cool place to store all those pennies they find and earn. My daughter will love it simply because she collects pigs and this one she can make.
Crystal says
July 18, 2011 at 2:00 pmso cute now my kids wont break them
Ginger Snaps says
July 19, 2011 at 11:45 pmSo cute! My kiddos would love this. Following from Sumo‘s Sweet Stuff link party. Would love to have you link this up to my {wow me} wednesday link party going on right now over on my blog. Hope to see you there.
Ginger