Pinata Crafts
- Most piñatas are made with a balloon or two and some paper mâché. You can make paper mâché a few different ways. One is a simple glue recipe that uses white craft glue. Mix 4 parts glue with 1 part water and this paste will dry clear on your project.
The next two recipes are very similar except one is boiled and one is raw. The boiled recipe is not as strong as the raw recipe, but it dries clear; the raw mixture will dry to an off-white color. Place 1 ½ tbsp. of flour in a cup of water and stir it with a whisk until there are no lumps left in it. Then place it on a burner and bring it to a boil, stirring it constantly. Once it has boiled for a minute or two, take it off the burner and allow it to cool. The paste will thicken after it cools.
For the raw flour and water paste, place a cup of flour in a bowl. Add water a little at a time until it starts to resemble pancake batter. Then use a portable mixer to mix it well and get all of the lumps out. You can make this paste as thin as you like for ease of use. In all of the paper mâché paste recipes, you can use a tsp. of fine salt to prevent mold, but the trick to not having any mold in your project is to allow each layer to dry completely before adding another. A pinch of cinnamon will not only make the paste smell better but will keep bugs from wanting to snack on your project too. - You can use almost any type of paper in a paper mâché project and the one you choose will help with the texture of whatever you are making. If you are making a football piñata, you don't want the outside layer to be smooth, so you may consider using paper towels as your paper. To make a nice smooth face, you can use newspaper or tissue paper. Brown craft paper or even brown paper bags can be used to model a heavier texture.
With all types of paper, it is torn into small strips, dipped into the paste and placed on your mold to create the piñata figure that you want. It is done in layers and each layer must dry before the next one is added.
Balloons are normally used as the mold for the piñata. You can use round, long or egg shaped balloons. The balloons can be molded into shape with rubber bands or string, and other items such as cardboard tubes can be shaped into legs or arms. After the paper mâché is dried out on the balloon, the balloon is popped and the piñata is filled with goodies. - To make a simple piñata for a birthday party, use a large round balloon. The simplest piñata to make is a big smiley face, but if you want to make an animal or something with legs or a tail, add cardboard tubes using masking tape to hold them on well. For the smiley face, mix up a batch of raw flour and water paste and use newspaper. Put the tied end of the balloon on the bottom and push the tie up into the balloon. Cover the balloon with strips of newspaper dipped in the paste but leave a hole at the top large enough to put in your goodies. Allow the first coat to dry overnight and then add a second coat the next day. Repeat with a third coat and allow the piñata to dry out completely. The time it takes to dry will depend on the heat and humidity the piñata is in as well as the thickness of your paste. Once it is dry you can paint the outside yellow and when the yellow paint dries, paint on the smiley eyes and mouth in black. Pop the balloon by sticking a pin in the top where you left the hole open. To make clothes on people piñatas, glue on some colorful crepe paper when the piñata is finished. Fill the piñata with your goodies and poke two small holes on either side of the opening. Thread through some string to hang your piñata up and you're finished. Give the kids a stick and have them take a swing.