Pinata

January 22, 2016

Pinata !! Such a fun and exciting little thing for kids of all ages !!! I believe that no birthday should be complete without it !!

Materials used:

• cardboard boxes
• crepe paper
• chart papers
• Ribbons
• scissors
• Glue / tape / stapler

Method:

• Give your pinata the desired shape – use tape / glue/ stapler to hold it in shape. Leave the bottom open to insert the goodies.
• On the head of the pinata, make 2 small holes in the center, but a little apart to hold and hang the pinata properly. Run the string through them and make a loop.
• For the bottom cover piece, make 2 small holes in the center. Run the ribbon through them and tie a knot. Let the ribbon hang loose and in long length to be pulled open later. The ribbons can be single or two colored.
• Fill in the goodies and stick the bottom piece to the pinata- sturdy and able to hold the weight of goodies but still weak enough to be ripped off once the ribbon is pulled down
• Cut the crepe paper sheet into strips – 2 inches wide. Cut the width strips almost half way through to make frills.
• Start sticking the crepe paper frills from the bottom of the pinata and go all the way up – as you can see in the image.
• Add the accessories  from above, as desired and you are good to go !!

As for the items that can be included in the Pinatas, ensure that they are light weight. Secondly, do not include anything that can fall and hurt the kids. Give the kids small baskets to gather the goodies or simple packets. You may include:-

1. Toffees
2. Chocolates – use mini versions
3. Erasers – we get them in plenty of designs and are light weight too
4. Small stickers
5. Any other items you find exciting for kids

Here I enlist a few that we made over the last 3 years!

1. Car shaped Pinata – This was my first one and it took me a really long time. The birthday party theme was cars, and the major challenge was getting the car-shape right and joining the card-boards without breaking it. Once i got the shape, I stuck the crepe paper and added windshield, tyres and head lights. Then I added eyes on the windshield with a black marker.

2. Simple Pinata – Its not necessary to have a theme every time, so for my niece’s birthday my sis-in-law made a simple and colorful one. This pinata was made from a simple square box. It was easy and quick to make !!

3. Simple Pinata – for animal themed party – Inspired from the above pinata, I too made my second one from a simple square box and added eyes, nose, whiskers and a mouth. Here, I used a single color only – yellow – to look like a lion. It was easy and quick to make and suited the theme of the birthday party too !!