Piñata

History

If you played the Felipe Femur Android app, you probably recognize what a piñata is, as one of the collectible items in the game is a colorful piñata. For those of you who don’t know what a piñata is, a piñata is a container frequently made of papier-mâché (paper mache), but also traditionally made with pottery or even cloth. Piñatas are usually filled with candy or toys and broken in during a celebration such as Cinco De  Mayo, Christmas, and birthdays, by a blind-folded person with a stick or bat. Piñatas are commonly associated with Mexico. The Spanish brought what was originally a European tradition of breaking containers full of candy to Mexico and the piñata is still part of Mexican tradition today.

Today we want to show you how to make your very own simple, papier-mâché piñata using newspaper, balloons, and other everyday materials.

Make Your Own Papier-mâché Piñata

Materials needed:

• Balloon
• Glue
• Newspaper
• Paint
• Scissors
• Tape
• Tissue paper
• Water

Directions

To make your own papier-mâché piñata you need only follow these directions.

Step 1:

Cut long, skinny strips of newspaper half a ruler long and about a ruler wide. Make at least 30 strips for each piñata you want to make.

Step 2:

Blow up a balloon to about the size of your head and tie the end shut. We’re making a simple egg shaped piñata, but feel free to tape on additional shapes to make cone shaped arms, etc., using cardboard or rolled newspaper.

Step 3:

In a bowl, mix together equal parts water and glue. Dip each newspaper strip in the mixture and then apply the wet strips to the balloon in a criss-cross fashion.  Several layers will be needed to make the papier-mâché piñata strong. Cover all of the balloon except for a hole at the bottom large enough to stuff your choice of candy through. Let dry overnight or until hardened.

Step 4:

The next morning, with a toothpick or needle, pop the balloon. With the balloon now flat, pull it out through the hole in your papier-mâché piñata frame.

Step 5:

With your choice in color, paint the newspaper to make it all one color (text and newspaper photos can show through). Glue tissue or crepe paper onto the painted newspaper once dry, either straight and even, or in bunches as most traditional pinatas do.

Step 6 (optional):

If you’d like,  glue on more dry tissue paper cut into frills or fringe. In fact, after all your hard work, you deserve to decorate your piñata anyway you’d like, be it glitter (not recommended), googly eyes, or foam cut outs.

Step 7:

Fill your papier-mâché piñata with candy, hang it up high, and whack away (preferably blind-folded).