DIY Craft: Make a party pinata

A piñata is a timeless craft that provides the perfect big bang at the end of a celebration, and making your own allows you to come up with a design custom to your theme. It’s also a fun project little ones can help with.

This colourful piñata is a traditional shape, easily made from just one large balloon and lots of paper strips. Just be ready to get your hands gooey!

Read more: Birthday party ideas archives> 

Here's what you'll need:

• A few large balloons (in case you pop one by accident)
• One newspaper, cut into 2-inch strips
• Paper mâché paste: 2-3 cups flour + 4 cups water
• Masking tape
• Crepe or construction paper, assorted colours, 4-6 sheets of each colour
• Scissors
• Ribbon

Fully inflate a large balloon to create your base shape. Then, mix your paper mâché paste. Add flour to water slowly, mixing well to ensure a runny but slightly gummy mixture (a little like glue). 

Dip newspaper strips in the paste, allowing the paste to fully saturate each piece, and begin layering on to the balloon, one piece at a time. You don’t need to wait for each layer to dry before adding another layer. Once you’ve done 3-4 layers of newspaper, set aside and allow to dry fully. Once the piñata is set, use a box cutter to cut a cup-size hole in your piñata. Pop the balloon carefully and remove. 

Choose a material to cover your piñata with. Crepe paper may not be easy to find, but works best. Tissue paper is too delicate and can frustrate tiny artists, so opt for construction paper (wrapping paper also makes for a nice bright finish). Choose your colour palette, then cut the sheets of paper into shapes. (We chose squares.)

Add glue in a line to the top edge of your shape, adhering each square to the balloon one at a time, until you have a row around. Repeat, making sure to tuck each row underneath the one before until you get to the middle of the balloon. Allow the top half to dry and then flip the balloon over and continue in the same manner from the bottom up. All to dry completely.

Once the piñata is hard, poke holes on either side of the opening and feed a decorative ribbon through. This is where your piñata will hang from. Fill with candy and tape over the hole with masking tape. Hang it according to the height of your guests, and happy swatting!

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