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What is the best way of making a pinata? I know it'll be fairly easy, though, I've never made one before and have a request for a few. The person doesn't want it to shred, but more like crack open in a few hits.
Once I get the hang of making the mache clay,(trying to get my blender back!!).....
I was thinking if that would be good to use... or would it be to hard for kids to break? How many layers are normally used in pinatas if i used just strips? They want them to be medium to small size instead of huge like what you find in the stores.
I do have the basic idea of how to make one, just don't know the best way to go about making a good one, instead of a cheesy one... 
tkaz ~
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While I've never seen a piñata made from pulp, that doesn't mean it couldn't be done. But usually (and traditionally) they are made with paper strips. Commercial ones are made over formed cardboard, but I've always thought the kids would have to beat those to death to get it open.
Personally, I would use weak paper strips like newspaper, a brittle type of glue like cooked flour and water. Acrylic or tempera paint. In other words, the basic, simple, easy-to-break piñata.
For cooked flour glue, follow Jackie's recipe #1 (the thin glue) at http://www.papiermache.co.uk/tutorials/ … ier-mache/ If you only want to do one at a time, you can make a smaller amount of 1 tablespoon flour to 1 1/4 cups water.
Form it over a regular balloon, a beach ball, or a mylar balloon if you wanted a different shape (mylar might be reusable if you're careful & leave the neck exposed, and stays inflated longer, too). You could turn it into different things with a few add-ons:
* a star with lightweight cardboard cones,
* a teddy bear with a small balloon head and paper cups for arms and legs,
* a fat angel with paper wings on an especially egg-shaped balloon, with face and arms painted on,
* a fish with cardboard fins and tail,
* a pink pig with egg-carton snout and paper cup legs (don't forget the corkscrew tail!)
* a monkey head with two ears sticking out, the face painted,
* for Easter, decorated eggs,
* if you have heart-shaped mylar balloons, they would look great.
* weird outlandish space creatures (a purple people eater?)
* an owl,
* a chicken with tissue paper feathers
* a clown head
* Hello Kitty head
* lion head
And if you were really ambitious, you could make something like this: http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/look-pinata-boy-32273
Sue
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cool... so keep it simple! Pretty much what I was thinking, though it never hurts to ask what options are there!!
I love that zebra one and could think of someone that would love it hehe.. maybe not that big however!! The person asking for em likes simple shapes so all the ideas are awesome!
Think I'll make a mock up one and see how it'll break with what I'm using now, maybe even with the pulp... If it proves to be a lotta work to break., I'll use the flour mix.
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If you use any adhesive with the pulp, use the cooked flour one. Don't use PVC/white glue, as it is plastic, which would resist breaking or cracking. The flour one is more brittle. There aren't a lot of things that REQUIRE brittleness, but piñatas may be #1.
There was a guy who was looking to make some huge (like 4 or 6 feet across) PM eyeballs... I occasionally wonder how that worked out...
A test piece is always a good idea!
Sue
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I have only made one pinata. It was the Death Star for a Star Wars Bday party for 7(8?) year olds with light sabers. I made it over a beach ball. I covered it in 5 layers of strips, then made "Ribs" with 3 more layers so that essentially their were vertical strips that had 8 layers and the rest was 5. I did use PVC and it broke apart VERY easily. In fact the mom had to give each kid just one whack at it. Original pinatas were paper mache reinforced with wire and a plaster plug in the bottom. It is the plaster that eventually broke and released the candy from the bottom hole. Sadly I didn't find that out until after I made mine LOL.
http://www.papiermache.co.uk/gallery/item/13137/
Joey
Last edited by paper soup (2012-12-30 04:50:13)
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