Tinkering and Cinco De Mayo

I've designed several projects for work in the past for the Cinco de Mayo celebration (the Mexican holiday honoring the country's triumph over invading French forces) including Sombrero Hat Cookies and mini pepper piñatas (yup – that was me) but this year in our home, we're metal punching to honor the holiday (we've made ornaments at Christmas using this process).

Materials:
"EZ Foil" oven rack liners (2 pack) with their edges cut off (adult job) or any disposable foil pan
A sheet of Fun Foam
Push pins
Permanent Sharpie markers
Simple pictures- flowers might be nice (we used copies of Elliott's bird drawings and some copies from the Charlie Harper Coloring Book)
Tape and Scissors

Elliotts drawing and a B&W copy

Cut the edges off one pan- we tried smoothing out the grooves with a bone folder and a tongue depressor over waxed paper but really, it wasn't necessary with such a big piece (maybe with a pie tin?)



 


Cut out the image being reproduced and tape it to a piece of metal trimmed to the same size.








Round any sharp metal corners with regular scissors.






 








Make sure to use a straight pin- not one with a nub or defect like the one shown here- okay?

Lay the covered metal on top of a piece of fun foam on a protected surface (like a cutting mat) and use the push pin to poke holes on the images lines.

Remember you can pick up the design and look at it on the other side or peek under the paper.

When you're finished poking, remove the paper and trim around the edges of the design.

Use permanent color markers to color in or leave the shapes plain.






























 














We hung ours on a stick with string- the holes are already there!