VIVA PINATA!

I finished my first pinata today. It's for a swap-bot swap. Here are the steps:
First, I made the frame. Luckily, Chuck bought Zach some boots right before school started and the funny wedge-shaped inserts to the 'pipe' (as in stovepipe), when squeezed together and taped made great head and neck shapes. For the body, I rolled a piece of posterboard, then made cuts all around each end and folded them inward. All of it taped together very well.
This looks like a huge mess, but it IS coming together. It's been strengthened and melded together by a number of layers of paper mache'. As it was big enough, and was going to be sort of difficult to box and mail as it was, I made flexible legs that could be bent and folded without damage. I used heavy black duct tape and taped over the body, down and back on itself, to form non-sticky legs. In this photo I have already started covering the nose and the ends of the legs with tissue paper. You can see how I cut the paper strips and then cut them into fringe.
I needed a way for the candy to get in and out without the person getting this actually having to smash the pinata. Most people in the swap wanted to save their pinatas to hang as decorations. So I made a little 'vent' that could be opened and closed discretely. It is in an unfortunate location, but by the nature of the base, it had to be on one end or the other, and I was afraid it would weaken the chest end that had to bear the weight of the neck and head. I hope the recipient doesn't mind. When it was finished, and all the fringed added, it was almost imperceptible.
More progress. Can you guess what it is, yet? Actually, it looks more like the animal I intended it to be at this stage rather than how it turned out to look in the end.
Finished! Garrett came over to bring us some bbq that he cooked, so I had him hold it up for a photo, even though he objected because he had been cooking and his shirt was dirty. Sheesh!
...and from a different angle, hanging on a cabinet nob. This was SO much fun to make. I have one more to make for a one-on-one pinata swap. But it's a swap for a smaller, simpler pinata. I'm going to try to start on that one tomorrow, while I have all the supplies out already.
QUESTION OF THE DAYIf you had to guess, what kind of animal would you say this pinata is? And please be honest. You won't hurt my feelings. And if you know what kind I was trying to make, don't tell. ;)