Trick or treat bags

I love working with paper so here's a tutorial for making monster and pumpkin trick or treat bags!

You'll need pva glue, two balloons and pieces of newspaper. You can either pick the balloon with the size you want and blow it up completely or just use the ones you have (I had big size balloons) and just blow it up to the size you want. Start gluing the paper on, cover the entire surface of the balloon leaving enough space at the bottom for your hand to go through. Let each layer dry before applying the next one, four or five layers of paper make a very sturdy bag. Once you have applied the final layer and it is dry pop the balloon, then cut the edge of your bag so that it's even. Apply gesso to the inside and outside before you apply paint. Paint it like a pumpkin or green monster. Make two holes at the side and tie your cord and you're done! My nephew loved the green monster, when he saw it he said "brains, brains" :-)

Tips:
Start with a layer of white wrapping paper (I have a lot of it from Ikea, the one you wrap glass and breakables) that way you won't have to paint the inside. You can also end with a layer of the same paper so won't have to gesso the outside before you paint it.
After you have done all the layers and popped the balloon hold the bag up to the light, that way you'll see the parts that aren't so thick, that's where you'll need to add paper to make them stronger.
Or you can alternate layers between newspaper and wrapping paper so it will be easier to see which parts you've missed.

Hope you like it :-)
Aleka

Linked to Whipperberry and LizMarieblog!