Awesome Birthday Pinata!

My youngest had a birthday party recently.  Actually, since two of his close friends had birthdays within a day of him, their moms and I decided to throw a big collective birthday party. The boys share almost all friends, with an exception of a few. As you can imagine the turnout for the party was enormous. There were close to 50 children.  We all pitched in, and had pizza, salads, fruits and berries, a beautiful chocolate cake, and a 'no presents' rule so that folks wouldn't feel overwhelmed by having to get gifts for three kids.  It was a good party, everyone had a good time.

His favorite thing for every birthday is having a Piñata that he can break open with his friends.  We didn't do any party favors, and decided that the prizes in the Pinata would serve that purpose.  Now the question is: where do you get a Pinata that size, one that is strong enough for all the kids to have a turn at hitting it (and some kids are older and much stronger).  I looked around online, and after seeing the prices and the sized that weren't big enough, I decided to make one.

It turned out to be better and way cheaper than buying one. While it did take some time for me to make it, I feel like it was worth it! The Piñata I made came out strong (it held up through all the kids and even some parents), beautiful, and definitely big enough for everyone to enjoy!

At first I was going to make a very simple one: just take a large square box, strengthen it with papier-mâché, then wrap it all pretty like a present and let them whack it with a bat. However, my kids had a different idea in mind: they wanted a car shaped piñata. Go figure. So, with the help of my kids, here is how I made my beautiful car shaped piñata.
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You will need a large piece of strong, good cardboard. I happened to have one from a shipment of something or other in my garage. It has to be big enough to cut out two sides of the piñata, and the center for it. You will also need a roll of packing tape, some recycled brown paper bags from a store, newspaper or recycled paper for papier-mâché, tissue paper, some recycled wrapping paper and a few construction paper sheets (I used 12x18 inch construction paper: 2 black, 2 blue, 1 red, 1 orange), also some flour and water to make the glue.

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To begin take your giant piece of cardboard and draw the shape of the piñata you would like, in my case it was a car, but the less curves, dips and bends you have the easier it will be to make. Cut the shape out. I started cutting it out with scissors, but that was too tough, so I used a small sharp knife instead, box cutter would probably be better, but since I don't have one, knife did the job. Once you have one side cut out, put it on top of the remaining cardboard, trace it and cut it out again. You should have two sides that are the same.

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To continue reading the instructions, please visit my website here: http://www.happyfamilyart.com/Pinata.html