Ninja Turtle Party - How to Make and Do it All

It was about time that I finally posted the tutorial for our Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Party (seeing as it was nearly three months ago now). In this post I'll show you how to do all the cool-but-simple things that made our party so cute-and-fun. Like the Ninja Turtle Piñata, the cute Ninja lollipops, felt masks, the brick-stenciled table cover, that Turtle Face Fruit Platter - and of course the CAKE.
It's all here in this post.
Here it is, as simple as I can make it - How to throw a super Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Party...

How to make a Super Easy Ninja Turtle Piñata

YOU WILL NEED:

• Newspaper, torn into large strips
• Cornflour (cornstarch) glue - made in a moment by mixing cornflour with hot water
• A balloon (the regular kind) and a bowl for balancing it on
• Green serviettes/paper napkins/tissue paper
• Green duct tape, a craft knife & string for hanging
• Two large googly eyes and a hot glue gun (or double sided tape) for sticking
• One felt Ninja Turtle mask (see below for instructions)
• Wrapped sweets for filling

1. Cover the balloon completely with one layer of papier mâché by dipping the newspaper strips in the cornflour glue and applying
2. Draw a circle at the top of the balloon and leave this area empty (this will be our hole for filling the Piñata later)
3. Next, rip the green serviettes in large strips and layer over the still-wet papier mâché. 
4. Apply extra glue if needed; cover the balloon completely with the green serviettes
5. Balance your green balloon on a bowl somewhere warm to dry. It will take 2-3 days to dry completely. (You will need to turn it occasionally as the top dries faster)
6. When your papier mâché is completely dry and hard, pop the balloon and strengthen the edges of your hole with green duct tape. then use a craft knife to poke four holes and thread with your hanging string as shown.
7. Tie on your felt ninja turtle mask and stick on your googly eyes - we're almost there
8. Fill your turtle head with the wrapped sweets; hang it up and bash the heck out of it, while blindfolded - Great Fun!

DIY Stenciled Brick Table Cover

YOU WILL NEED:

• Plain neutral fabric, e.g. taupe big enough to cover table
• Large sheet of Craft card (any colour)
• Craft knife
• Acrylic paint in burnt sienna or brick red
• Sponge or pot scourer for applying paint

1. Create stencil template by roughly drawing a brick pattern and then cut out using your craft knife, as shown
2. Spread your table cover on your table (with newspaper underneath to prevent seepage) and lay your stencil in the top left corner; get out your paint
3. Squirt a blob of paint onto a plastic lid and dab some onto your sponge/pot scourer
4. Apply the paint roughly to the fabric while holding the stencil in place with one hand
5. Continue until all "bricks" are done

• Move the stencil to the next section of the cloth. Try to get the brick pattern to line up as shown
• Repeat until the whole table cover is stenciled

• With a clean sponge, dab on some green for "moss/slime", as desired. Allow to dry - that's it!

I bought half a metre each of Red, Purple, Blue and Orange felt from my favourite Emporium (Geoff''s) for $3/metre. This was more than enough make all of the following "masks", perfect for easy theming.

First up, Felt Masks for Take-Home Party Favors - and to wear throughout the party...

Next up, Cute Easy Ninja Turtle Lollipops:

YOU WILL NEED:

• Plain green lollipops (I got mine here from Lollies Online)
• Thin Strips of felt (in Blue, Red, orange and Purple)
• A Packet of small "Moving Eyes" (available from most dollar stores)
• A hot glue gun

1. Assemble your "ingredients" (felt strips should be cut approx. 5mm x 20cm)
2. Tie your first felt strip onto a lollipop, with the knot at the back
3. Repeat for all the lollipops with "masks" in a selection of the colours
4. Once all the masks are tied on, we can start gluing on the eyes
5. Glue on the eyes. Repeat. Voila. Done.

Themed Goody Bags & Popcorn Boxes

These are so easy you really don't need much by way of instruction! Purchase plain green paper "goody bags" and popcorn boxes - I found mine in a dollar store for $2 per pack.

Cut felt strips for the "masks" - approximately 12mm wide. I cut mine long enough to go right round the popcorn boxes, but shorter for the goody bags, to cover just the "face" of the bag.

For the popcorn boxes, use a glue gun to secure the masks onto the bags/boxes.

Glue on your googly eyes (I used medium sized ones). That's it.

How to Make a Ninja Turtle Face Fruit Platter

And finally, the Ninja Turtle Birthday Cake ...

YOU WILL NEED:

• Two layers of your favourite chocolate cake recipe (baked in a round tin)
• One batch of your favourite buttercream icing, green
• Brick red fondant icing (available here)
• Brick pattern embossing mat (available from Kiwi Cakes)
• Cornflour (cornstarch) for dusting mat to avoid sticking)
• Green fondant icing (available here)
• Ninja Turtle Cookie cutter plunger (available from Kiwi Cakes)
• Rolling pin
• Rubber spatula
• Baking paper
• Fondant cutter (optional but worth investing in)

1. After baking your cake in two layers and letting it cool, sandwich your cake together with green buttercream. 
2. Cover the top and sides with buttercream, but then scrape off the buttercream from the sides with a rubber spatula to give the "nude cake" effect
3. Now we're up to the fondant, so assemble your equipment. I work on a silicone baking mat with a sheet of baking paper over the top. This prevents the rolled fondant sticking, and also makes it easy to move and place on the cake later.
4. Break off a lump of red fondant, press into a roughly circular shape and then roll out until it's about 3mm thick
5. Dust the brick embossing mat with cornflour (to prevent sticking) and press firmly into the rolled fondant until the whole surface is embossed
6. Place your (cleaned) cake tin on top of the fondant and use a fondant cutter (or sharp knife) to cut the embossed fondant into a circle.
7. Peel away the unwanted edges
8. Voila! You have a brick-embossed round sheet of fondant ready to top your cake. Place another sheet of baking paper over the top of your circle and carefully pick it up and flip it over. 
9. Peel off the "bottom" sheet of baking paper and place your brick fondant on top of your cake
10. With the rubber spatula, smear some more green buttercream onto the brick fondant, then scrape off. The buttercream will lodge in the grooves like grout.
11. Repeat the process until all the bricks are "grouted". You could skip this part if you prefer, but I like the "slimy mossy" brick effect for the ninja turtle theme.
12. Looks good, right?

Next, we make the Ninja Turtle faces.

• Roll out a lump of green fondant and press your ninja turtle cookie cutter (with embossing piece) into it. Repeat until you have four turtle faces.
• OPTIONAL: I used the embosser (and my fondant cutter) to stamp out coloured fondant for each of the turtle's masks. You could do with by colouring white fondant with a few drops of gel food colouring or alternatively, use edible pens to colour in the masks.
• I used my green metallic pen from Kiwi Cakes to enhance the features, and a dot of white chocolate ("Queen" squeezy tube) to add eyes.

This was actually very simple to do - the turtle faces were the fiddliest bit, and probably would have been just as effective plain green embossed fondant, with no fussy fiddling with coloured masks (that was the trickiest part TBH).

Anyway - the birthday boy (and his friends) loved it - which is what matters right?

MORE NINJA TURTLE PARTY HELPFULNESS:

>Our Ninja Turtle Party - on the day

>Ninja Turtle Party FREE Printables

>Ninja Turtle Party Invitation - personalised with Photo

>Other Parties on my Party Page