cardboard dragon.

In theory, this was an amazing idea.  The kids would wear the dragons and pretend to be riding a dragon.  In execution, it was a bit more complicated than I had planned.  The activity itself was good…but having 10 kiddos all making dragons at the same time… got interesting.  I’m going to break down how we made our dragons, in true Twitchetts fashion…but I’m also going to let you know how I would do it next time…now that I’ve learned a thing or two.

What you need to make your Cardboard Dragon

• cardboard box
• paint
• box cutter with extra blades
• string/cord
• hot glue
• white cardstock
• black marker or sharpie
• Pipe cleaners
• tissue paper (optional)

How to Make a Cardboard Dragon Body

I gathered several boxes from various sources. Some from my grocery store, some from the warehouse at my 9-5, some were leftover diaper boxes.  I didn’t want to spend eternity painting boxes, so I picked up a few cans of spray paint and did the base coats that way.

After the boxes were sprayed, I started cutting off the tabs. These pieces were going to become the head, wings, and tail of our dragons.

The Wings, Tail, and Head

For the wings, I freely cut out the shape of one wing, and then used that wing as a template for its match. All the wings were slightly different so that each dragon was different.  To make the wings easily attached to the box, I scored a tab on one end of each wing. Make sure to score the opposite side of the wing on the match. (this was my first lesson learned in this process…I scored them exactly the same, so when they were attached, the dragons had one backward wing…)

For the tails, I scored the cardboard so that 4 curved lines came to a point. Then I cut the shape out of the cardboard, leaving a tab along the bottom of one side.  I cut 1-inch slits along the bottom.  This created a way to attach the tail after it was folded.

I folded the cardboard along the scored edges and used hot glue on the tab to keep it together.

To create the heads, I scored the tab so that it would fold into a box. Then I cut slits about an inch long at the bottom, along the fold lines. Again, we did this so that we could ay to attach the head to the box.

For eyes, we just cut out some circles, ovals, and whatever shape felt fun from the white cardstock. Then we drew in some dark circles with our black marker.

Now, this is where things got interesting…I hadn’t assembled the dragons at our party.  I wanted the kids to be able to pick which head, tail, wings, and eyes they wanted.  Backfire…If you’re doing this activity with a large group of kids, assemble your dragons first.  Huge time saver!!

How to assemble your cardboard dragon

Start by cutting 1 inch wide strips of cardboard from one of your remaining box tabs.  You will need 4.

Glue these to the interior corners of your box.  This will be used to attach your straps and it helps your box hold its shape.  I scored my strips, but I don’t recommend doing that.  The scored edges became weak spots on the dragon and were the only spots that really needed to be repaired.

Poke holes into the tabs of your head, wings, and tail.  Then poke holes in your boxes so that they line up with the holes you just poked in your extremities.  String pipe cleaners through each hole to attach the pieces to your box.

Finally, tie some string or cord to your corner pieces to create straps.

At the party, we gave each kiddo a big white shirt to wear as a smock. They each got to paint the pieces of their dragon…again, next time I’ll have them decorate their whole dragon.

After everyone was done painting, we went inside for cake and presents. This gave the dragons a chance to dry before playtime.  Since the kids were so young, there was a lot of excess paint on the pieces.  To speed up the drying process…some gentle wiping off the extra paint was done behind the scenes.  None of the kids noticed.

When it was time to play, the kids had a blast “riding” their dragons.

We even tucked tissue paper into the mouths to make it look like fire.

The kids got to take home their dragons as a fun party favor.

Check out the rest of our Dragons: Race to the Edge party!

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My sweet little girl, who loved every minute of her very girlie princess party, wanted a party based off of a TV show that involved some very non-girlie dragons. Sure she loved watching the show, but she didn’t run around the house pretending to be Dragon Racers.  I was initially stumped…but completely up to the challenge.

If you’ve ever seen the Netflix show, then you know that a Dragons Race To The Edge party would be based off of the characters from the How to Train your Dragon movies. So the characters are pretty well known.  I wanted to make sure that the party involved the characters, but mostly I think she just wanted a Dragon party. So not all of the dragons necessarily looked like a specific character in the show.

A Cake for our Dragons Race To The Edge Party

The Toothless cake was the closest thing the party got to a character in the show.

Food fit for Dragons

When I was planning the food, I felt like it was missing a fun play on the theme, so when I dug into the watermelon, I decided to make it in the shape of a dragon. This watermelon dragon was my first attempt at carving a watermelon. I felt very proud of my accomplishment.

Dragon Racers Activity

The activity was the best part of the party. In the show and movies, the characters ride their dragons. I wanted to make a way for Little Miss and her friends to ride dragons too. So I let them each create their own dragon and “ride” it around the yard.

The activity wasn’t without its hitches, but it was definitely a success. You can read all about it very soon!

Over the food table, I hung what was originally supposed to be a dragon.

In the end, I think it looked more like a bat, but Little Miss didn’t mind.  She loved every minute of her Dragons Race To The Edge Party.

Check out the rest of our Dragons: Race to the Edge party!

The post Dragons Race To The Edge Party appeared first on Twitchetts.

If you follow along with us, you know that chemical food dye is never on our party supply list.  So I was faced with the challenge of creating an all black character naturally.  Cake decorating is definitely not high on my list of talents.  In fact, the cake is usually the part that frustrates me the most.  I always envision a beautiful cake, I’ve even learned to plan easier designs, yet every party I stumble on the cake.  (remember Mr. Monster’s farm party cake last year?)

I think this cake will go down as being my most successful…or at least a close second the Monster Cake from Mr. Monster’s first birthday.

This year, I skipped the homemade cake and found a box cake that I really like.  But I had to whip up a batch of our go-to frosting from Andie Mitchell

How I created the Toothless Cake

I started with a graphic of Toothless that I felt was easy.  A lot of detail in the design would have made things more complicated than I needed.  I showed the graphic to Little Miss to make sure she recognized it as Toothless, and she did…so I ran with it.

I cut the shape out of the paper and gently laid it onto the cake.

Then I used a skewer (they were still out from the watermelon dragon…but you can use anything in your kitchen that is equivalent) and traced the shape into the frosting.

Next, I ground up a package of chocolate cookies in my food processor.

Using a spoon, I gently poured the cookie crumbs into the large parts of Toothless’ body.  Then I smoothed them out with another skewer…they were handy!  I’m sure a butter knife would work too.

For the smaller parts, I placed a small row of cookie crumbs along the edge of the spoon, lined it up to where I wanted it, then gently tapped the spoon so that the crumbs fell out together.  This worked surprisingly well.  (much to my relief.  I was a little nervous about the small parts)

Once I was done filling in the Toothless Cake, I scooped as many stray crumbs away that I could, and cover up the ones I couldn’t with more frosting.

Of course, the candles were strategically placed near the mouth to look like he was breathing fire…even though technically Toothless doesn’t breath fire, it still looked cool.  It was definitely Little Miss approved.

Check out the rest of our Dragons: Race to the Edge party!

The post Toothless Cake ~ A Dragon Cake appeared first on Twitchetts.

What you need for your watermelon dragon

• 1 watermelon
• wooden skewers
• sharp knife
• melon baller (optional)

How I made my watermelon dragon

I started by cutting the watermelon in half and scooping out all the fruit.  I used a melon baller, but you can use any method you prefer.  This half became the body of my dragon.

From the other half of the watermelon, I cut a slice from the cut side of the watermelon and set it aside.  Then I scooped out the second half.

From the second half, I made the wings and feet of the dragon.

I used the natural curve of the watermelon to my advantage and just cut triangles for the wings.

To make the wings sit flush along the top of the body, I cut two small notches for each wing.

Then I attached the wings with the wooden skewers.

For the feet, I cut smaller triangles, but I used my melon baller to help made guidelines to cut out the toes.  I wedged the feet under the body of the dragon.

Next, I moved onto the head.  From the large slice I cut earlier, I cut out the length needed for the neck.  Using my melon baller, I scooped the fruit away to leave a slightly scalloped edge.

I used skewers to attach the neck to the body of the watermelon dragon.  To create the tail, I repeated this process with a smaller piece.

I felt like the head was still missing something, so I cut a small piece from the leftovers of the giant slice and attached it to the head of the dragon, to resemble an open mouth.

After I was OK with the placement of all the pieces, I cut the skewers down so they were not as noticeable.

Finally, I filled the dragon with watermelon and added it to the food table.

I was expecting the process of making a watermelon sculpture to be a lot longer, but since I used basic shapes, and let the curve of the watermelon work for me, it only took about 30 minutes.

Check out the rest of our Dragons: Race to the Edge party!

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