How to make a pinata

I first found inspiration to build a pinata for Maren's 3rd party via Pinterest. Oh Happy Day has a great tutorial on building a number pinata. I modified Jordan's technique a bit, and this is what I came up with!

I started by free-handing a number 3 on a large moving box.

I used a serrated knife to cut through 2 layers of cardboard at the same time. This ensured that the numbers were exactly the same size for each side of the pinata.



Next I cut out long strips for the sides. Mine were about 6 in. wide. I used packing tape to connect all the parts.

Near the top of the '3' I left a flap open to fill the pinata with candy. I just closed it up with a few strips of tape when the entire thing was done. Since I used wide packing tape to connect the parts, I ended up puncturing the tape near the bottom in several places so it would break open more easily. The pinata stood up to several hits from each kid at our party. We actually invited one of the adults to give it a few whacks in order to break it open.

I only ended up using 1 package of tissue paper for the entire pinata. I started by using a glue stick to cover the surface with a layer of tissue.

Next I covered large sections of the '3' with Mod Podge.

I tore up random chunks of tissue...

...and scrunched them up a bit...

...then I just stuck them to the pinata.

This was a relatively quick and simple way of adding texture. I decided to only add the layer of 'scrunch' to the front and back of the '3'. I did one side in the evening, allowed it to dry overnight, and finished the other side the next morning.

Maren and her '3'.

This ended up to be a more time-consuming project that I had originally anticipated. I'm so glad I stuck with it, because the pinata was the 'hit' of the party. [Please excuse the lame pun...I can't seem to help myself, especially when I'm writing past 9 pm!] It really was a great way to add some fun to the party without spending much money. If you can find a free box, the tissue only costs a couple dollars and most people have some sort of glue on hand. We filled the pinata with packages of suckers, Jolly Ranchers and Tootsie Rolls. I'm sure everyone agrees that birthday parties are the perfect time to see that children are getting adequate amounts of sugar into their systems, right? If so, I did my part! *wink*