How To Make A Pinata For A Classic Party Game!
Handmade party games and activities really bring life to any celebration. One craft we really enjoy making for birthdays, Sunday BBQs and summer park days is a pinata! No matter what your age or the occasion, there’s something about whacking a homemade pinata and releasing that prize that brings about a pure sense of joy and celebration.
Cardboard or Paper Mache Pinata?
There are two different ways to make a pinata, depending on your craft level, how strong you want it, and the amount of time you have. To make a pinata for, say, a baby’s 1st birthday, or if you want to use more complex shapes for an animal pinata, you will want to go with the first tutorial. For more classic homemade pinatas, go with the second tutorial.
How To Make A Pinata With Cardboard
Time Needed: 20 Minutes
When you need to make a fun activity fast, go with the tape-it-up cardboard pinata.
What You’ll Need:
- Masking Tape
- String
- Elmer’s glue
- Ruler/Straight Edge
- Scissors
- Tissue paper
- Cardstock/Cardboard
- Pen
- Candy or other small prizes
- Cut Out Your Shapes. Using your pen, cardstock or cardboard and scissors, cut out the shapes you will need for your pinata. Depending on your 3-D crafting knowledge, you can make whatever shape pinata you’d like!
- Construct the Pinata. Tape your pieces together to construct the shape. Be sure to use masking tape!
- Fill’er Up! Before taping the top on, fill the pinata with your treats.
- Add String! Tie a knot in your piece of hanging string and feed the string through the top of the pinata. Tape it set.
- Cut The Tissue Paper. Fold your tissue paper over and over, then use the scissors to cut strips about 1.5 inches wide. This will start the desired fringe paper. Be careful not to cut too close to the
top and sever your fringe. Add the fringe to your pinata with glue, and there you have it!
How To Make A Paper Mache Pinata
Time Needed: 45-60 minutes
For this classic pinata tutorial, be sure to lay out lots of extra newspaper to keep paper mache paste or paint from staining anything.
What You’ll Need:
- Large balloon
- Newspaper
- Large bowl
- Paper mache paste
- Paint
- Crepe paper
- String/Yarn
- Masking Tape
- Candy/ Prizes
Blow up your balloon really big!- Grab your bowl, cover it in plastic wrap and set the balloon on top of it.
- Tear up your newspaper into strips. Don’t be shy, you’ll need quite a bit! Make sure they are at least 1 inch wide and about 6 inches long.
- Set your paste in a bowl, and dip the strips in. Remove extra paste with your fingers
- Lay your strips onto the balloon, alternating directions until the whole thing is covered. Leave a hole at the balloon tie. Let it dry.
- Once dried, add at least 2, but preferably 3 additional paper mache layers to your balloon, waiting for each layer to dry before adding the next one.
- When dry, pop the balloon and remove it through the hole you left.
- Paint your pinata in bright colors, or decorate with tissue paper (like the tutorial above!) and then fill it with candy and prizes.
Now you have a pinata to liven up your party!
Need a few things to get started? Come on down to Paper Plus for balloons, tissue paper, and other crafting supplies today!
