How to make a Paper Mache Piñata

Tucker asked back in June for a piñata for his birthday.  But since we were in San Diego and I wanted to make one instead of buying one it got postponed until last week.  I guess you could say it was an end of summer piñata   I was a little surprised at how durable the paper mache was.  I thought it was going to fall apart on the first hit, but it held its own and took a while to break apart.  It was easy to do and Tucker loved that he got to help make it.

Materials Needed:

Newspaper

Flour

Water

Balloon

String

Duct Tape (maybe)

 1) Tear your paper into 1-2 inch strips.  Both Tucker and Penelope loved this part.  I just made a big pile and then made more when we ran out.  We didn't come close to using the whole newspaper.

 2) Make the paper mache by mixing 1 cup flour and 2 cups water.  I ended up needing a little bit more then this but you will need to make more the next day so don't make more then this now.

 3) Blow up your balloon.  I got lucky because Tucker wanted a Spiderman head.  All I needed was one balloon. If you are going for a more adventurous shape you may need to use more then one balloon, different shaped balloons, or even toilet paper rolls.

 4) Dip the newspaper strips in the mixture and use your fingers to get excess goop off.

 5) Place the strips on the balloon covering the entire thing.  Once it dries do another coat.  I tried to alternate the direction of the strips between coats.  I did three coats at a time and then waited a long time to dry.  then I needed to do another coat.  It is best to let it dry between coats.

 6) Between your second and third coat tie a string around the balloon.  Once it is all dry ad another coat or two.  Our string ended up being the first thing to break when hit so make sure you use sturdy string.

7) Decorate the balloon.   A lot of people use folded tissue paper with fringe cut on the edges.  I thought painting would look more like spiderman so we went ahead and painted it.

 8) Cut a hole and fill it with candy. You are done.  I thought that it would break around the string so we duct taped it as an extra precaution. I am not sure if it is necessary though.

Tucker was the most into it out of my three kids.  Scarlett didn't know what to do and Penelope started crying saying she wanted to be done.  I don't think she liked the blindfold.