I have made a four pinatas now for my nieces and nephews (3 for Andersons and 1 for Pippins). They are always a big hit (pun intended). They are quite easy to make as well. You start with balloons and fill them up and tape them together to make whatever object you desire. In some cases, such as the letter "P" one below, it's a good idea to wrap paper around the balloons to eliminate the gaps between balloons. Then you get a large bowl and pour water into it and add flour. You add enough flour to make the mixture fairly runny but with enough flour to make it have a paste feel to it. Then you cut up a newspaper into strips and run the strips through the flour water mixture. It's best to skim off excess paste so you don't make the pinata too wet. You make sure to cover each area about 3 times. For best results add two coats after the first one dries. It takes about 24 hours to dry in room temperature (it dries quicker in direct sunlight). Once it dries then poke through the dried newspaper and pop each balloon with a pin. Then you buy candy and cut a hole in the top. I've found that a square hole is best cutting only three sides. I don't recommend fully filling the pinata, about 1/2 to 3/4 full is best. After you add the candy, then you should add some kind of hook (I prefer the top of a clothing hanger). Then you do the paste/newspaper thing again to seal off the candy hole and the holes you poked in to pop the balloons. After this dries then paint it as you wish. Candy can be added to the outside for fun colors and creativity (see the Turkey pinata). The rest should be self explanatory. I like to use a hard plastic bat or a sturdy stick and go from youngest to oldest with the kids.
P for Pippin pinata at the recent reunion at the Pippin family cabin.
Heart pinata for Valentines Day (at the Blair's house)
Snowman pinata around Christmas time (at the Blair's house)
Turkey pinata for Thanksgiving (at the Blair's house)
2 comments:
Very nice. I like making Pinantas too. If we ever do a Blaisdell reunion, we should have a pinata making contest!! How fun would that be??
I read that instead of cutting the newspaper, to rip it because the edges seal better. Have you ever noticed a difference?
The one I made was for Josh's firefighter birthday. You should check it out on our blog sometime. I believe it's in a post from june or july. Can't remember exactly.
But good job Brian, I'm very impressed!!
I've never tried ripping the newspaper. However, I did find that making the newspaper stips as large as possible means less times you have to keep applying new strips. Cool that you do it too Jamie.
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