The Amazing Adventures of Duck-Dog

My youngest daughter's birthday party was today. Being the creative (insert cheap) mom that I am, I've made my girls' pinata's since they were old enough to hold the bat. I actually enjoy it, it's a creative process. Most of the pinata's go really well and turn out great although I get teary-eyed when the time comes for the kids to beat my beloved creation to smithereens without thought for the hours & hours of work I put into each one. *sobbing*

I've been doing these paper-mache pinata's for 8 years now. I've made characters from Dragon Tales, Garfield, Winnie the Pooh, etc. etc. as well as puppies, and kittens. But this year.... well, this year I made duck-dog.

Duck-dog started out as a puppy for my daugher's puppy party. Once the snout was applied however, I looked at him and realized... he looks like a duck not a dog. I was totally freaked and went on and on to two friends about this duck-dog pinata. And so, in the darkest hours of the night, with the help of friends and a little creative inspiration, an idea was born. What if I take pictures of duck-dog's short but magnificent life? I could create a picture story.

So I fixed the face (I THOUGHT) and left it to dry. The very next morning, my middle daughter sees it and asks if it's for my youngest daughter's puppy party. She then announces that it looks like a duck. I'm horrified. She was in bed asleep when I discovered the awful truth about the pinata so there is no way she overheard me talking about it. AND I had modified the face and thought it looked more like a dog now. I very earnestly explained to her that this is how it's dog-face is supposed to look and even go so far as to pull out the puppy that I'm using for a 'model' to convince her. She shrugs and says it looks like a duck. *banging head on table*

Now it's Sunday evening, and the festivities are done. Duck-dog has nobly sacrificed himself on the alter of my daughters' greed and it is time for the story of the brave and valiant dog that looked like a damn duck.

The Amazing Adventures of Duck-Dog

This is the moment when I first realized that my dog pinata looked like a duck. I blame it on my husband - he looked at it while I held the snout to the face and said that the length was perfect. *snort*
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This is what my middle daughter saw when she inadvertantly confirmed that the dog did indeed look like a duck.

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*Singing ZZ Top song* He's got legs.... He knows how to use them....

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Duck-dog and my youngest daughter (the birthday girl) discussing the issue of names. They both agree that Sally is perfect.

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Whew! Body-shaping complete.

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Duck-dog just kickin' back and relaxing after the grueling tail-shaping process.

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I'm an idiot.

That becomes glaringly obvious right about now. I am decorating the pinata with 1" squares of orange tissue paper. AND I'm doing it the hard way... there are easier ways to apply this tissue paper but it doesn't look quite as good. So here I am, after about 2 hours of 'furring' duck-dog. This is also the point where I say "Screw it" and start doing it the easy way.

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Yes, orange is an unfortunate choice of 'fur' color when the dog already looks so much like a duck. However, in the mind of a 4-year-old, orange is a kick-ass dog color!

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Almost there....

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It's alive... ALIVE!
*mad scientist cackle*
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The tongue was Y's idea. LOL! I think it takes a little of the 'duck' out of duck-dog.
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It's the end of the line for duck-dog.

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Birthday girl taking the first whack (with help).

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Vicious beasts aren't they?
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This next hit breaks the rope hanging duck-dog and he ends up taking a nose-dive into the dirt.
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"That there be a hangin' offense."
Poor duck-dog...

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Duck-dog's last stand.
Bringing out the big guns....
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She's enjoying this just a LITTLE too much!
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The broken carcass of duck-dog dangles as my girls descend like vultures on his 'innards".
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Yeah, because cracking him open wasn't enough! Let's just rip the head off.

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Duck-dog LIVES!!!

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My twisted children....
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THE END