Pinata Tutorial - How to make your own Pinata

A few weeks back I decided to make a Pinata for my little girls birthday.  I thought I would write a little tutorial as it was fun to make and a hell of a lot cheaper than buying it from a shop :-)  Be warned though, you will need to do this a few days before the party (rather than 1 day before like I did lol)  to let it dry thoroughly.

So, what will you need?

Newspaper, ripped up in quite large strips.
A balloon.
A small bowl to hold the Pinata as you make it.
A large bowl to make up in the glue in.
Tissue paper to decorate.
Some string.
Water.
Flour.

Make up the paste that will hold the newspaper together, for this you just need 2 cups of water and 1 cup of flour.  Mix it up until there aren't any lumps.

Blow up the balloon and then pop it into the bowl for support.  Start dipping the newspaper stips into the paste mixture and then layer it on the balloon until it is all covered but leave a hole  large enough to put sweets in, this is where the balloon is tied (this should be sitting in the bowl).  As you can see from the above photo this is quite messy so make sure you either do it outside or on a surface that is easily cleaned or thrown away.

Make about 3 layers and if possible make the top a few layers thicker (the top of the Pinata so the area that is nearer the bowl as when you take it out of the bowl that will be the top of your Pinata).

When it is completely dry make two holes near the entrance, thread some string through this .  Now cut up some tissue paper and decorate the Pianta however you wish, we used strips of tissue paper in various colours.  I glued this on with PVA glue but double sided sticky tape would work too.

Now fill the Pinata with sweets or treats and some cut up tissue paper to add to the effect when it explodes :-)

Hang it up and have fun!   

Remember it is best that the children do this one at a time to lower the injury risk, we used a wooden spoon to smack ours :-)  Here is a good video link for more info on how to make one - click here.