Today, New Years Eve, is one of the most important times of the year in many cultures, and there are many different ways to celebrate the coming of the New Year. From the ceremonial ringing of the Temple Bells in Japan to the First Footing in Scotland for Hogmany, people celebrate the New Year and ensure good luck in a myriad of ways. There is one icon of the New Year though which features in the traditions of several cultures - pigs! Pork is eaten for New Year in Cuba, Spain, Portugal, Hungary, Sweden, Austria, Italy, Germany and the United States, though the way it is cooked and the parts which are eaten do vary. So, this year Roy decided that the perfect thing to create should be pig themed. Now the question was, what to make! After much thought, Roy decided that the perfect thing to create would be a paper mache piggy bank, to keep all your New Year wealth in!
So, why are pigs such a symbol of the New Year for so many people? The answer to this is really quite simple - pigs symbolise progress because they always root forwards. They put their noses into the earth and then walk forwards, whereas cows tend to stand still and poultry, like chickens, scratch backwards. Poultry is doubly unlucky, because not only does it scratch backwards, it scratches in the dirt for its food, so it symbolises poverty. Pork, high in fat and as a result a rich, succulent meat, also symbolises wealth and prosperity.
You Will Need:
- 2 balloons
- Strips of newspaper, about 2-4 centimetres wide.
- 2 old flower pots
- Flour
- Water
- An egg carton
- A craft knife
- Paint
- A Paintbrush
- Glue
- Masking Tape
- Googly Eyes
- A pipe cleaner (and to make twisting it easier, a knitting needle or pencil)
- A skewer
- Scissors
Method:
- Blow up your balloons to the size you want your pig's body and head. You want them to be about the same size.
- Sit each balloon into one of the flower pots, fat end up
- Mix your flour and water together to make a watery glue. You will want 2 parts water to one part flour (so for 1 cup of flour, use 2 cups of water). You want a smooth, thick glue, but not as thick as paste. Don't make too much glue in one go, because it does go off. You are better to make small amounts when you need them.
- Put a thin layer of glue onto the balloon, just to help the paper stick. The glue and paper together make paper mache.
- Dip the strips of newspaper into the glue and lay them across the balloon. Cover about 2/3rds of each balloon.
- Leave the balloons to dry.
- Put another layer of paper mache on the balloons and again leave it to dry, then repeat the process one more time
- Make a small cut in the balloon and allow them to slowly go down. Then, remove them from the paper mache pig parts.
- Trim the ends so they are even. Slide the pieces together so that they slightly overlap and paper mache them together.
- Cut 5 sections of the egg carton out and use the masking tape to attach 4 to the bottom of the pig for legs and one to the tapered end of the pig, as a snout.
- Sit the pig back in the flower pot with its legs pointing up and paper mache the legs and snout onto the pig. You want this layer to be as flat and even as you can make it.
- Cut 2 more sections out of the egg carton and cut them into the shape of ears. When the pig is dry attach the ears to it with masking tape. Then, paper mache the ears onto the pig, again making this layer as flat as possible.
- Let the pig completely dry.
- Paint the pig with a layer of white paint, or use one layer of white paper mache, to ensure that when you paint your pig the colour will be vibrant and no ink will show through.
- Using the craft knife cut a slit in the top of your pig to drop the money through and then put masking tape onto the cut surfaces to stop them from tearing. Don't do it in the middle where you have made the join - it will be too difficult to cut.
- Use the skewer to make a hole in the pig for the tail.
- Paint the pig as you like. Roy needed one layer of white and then two of his chosen colour - pink.
- Twist the pipe cleaner tail around the knitting needle or pencil to make it into a curly pig tail and then push it through the hole you made. You can use a little glue to secure it in place if you like.
- Glue the eyes onto the pig. If you don't want to use googly eyes, just paint the eyes on.
- Fill up your pig with the New Years wealth!
- Roy decided that he will give his pig, which he named Petunia, to a charity for Christmas next year. You will have to come back in December next year to see which charity he has chosen and why. If you wanted, you could do the same thing. In fact, you could make a class pig and everybody could contribute and choose a charity or use the money for a class Christmas party!