How to Make a Party Pinata

A piñata is a fun activity of parties for all ages, and one we have all enjoyed at some time or another. Participants are blindfolded and then swing a stick, hoping to shatter the piñata and collect the goodies inside. Making a piñata we found is a much more complicated task than breaking it and one that takes a lot longer than the minutes spent swinging at it hanging high in the air.

The first thing that we did to make my piñata was to blow up two balloons, one smaller (about half the size) than the other. Then, we covered them with 3 layers of paper mache, in which we mixed pink paint so that if the paper didn't cover part of it, then it would still be pink. The nose is made out of paper mache, which is the only part that we didn't completely cover with the crepe paper, other than the ears. Feet for the pig were constructed out of paper towel rolls, covered in paper mache and were additionally secured after it dried with a glue gun.

Petunia proved to be sort of top heavy when we applied the paper mache so it ended up being a task for two people. One applying the paper mache and one steadying Petunia's head.

After several days of drying with fans aimed at the piñata, we were ready to work further on the piñata. Petunia was one "cool" pig at this point but we were working to beat the clock so we had to dry her as fast as possible! In no time Petunia was ready for the finishing touches.

Before we began to cover the body with the crepe paper strips, we attached the ears and feet more securely using a hot glue gun. Then, we began to cover the pinata in light pink crepe paper which was cut in narrow fringe like strips. This took a lot longer than we anticipated. The closer the crepe paper strips are placed, the fluffier your pinata will appear. Plan accordingly for your needs.

A purple bow and eyelashes were added to give "Petunia" some personality. Those who have seen Petunia think purple is Petunia's color. And Finally we put a sign on her side stating, " Comer el pollo, la otra carne blanca!", in Spanish. Does anyone here know what it says?

You know, making a piñata is fun, but the history of the piñata is interesting too. The piñata first originated in China. Marco Polo discovered the Chinese making these objects to resemble animals like a cow, oxen, or a buffalo. They covered them with colored paper and used them to celebrate the Chinese New Year. But these piñatas weren't filled with candy like ours are today. When the Chinese broke them, seeds came out, which were then burned and the ashes were gathered. It was supposed to be good luck for the year ahead.

By the 14^th century, the custom of piñatas was used in the celebration of Lent in Europe. The first Sunday of lent was named "Piñata Sunday". In the 16^th century, Spanish missionaries in North America attracted people to their religious ceremonies by using the piñatas.

The Spanish used clay pots for their piñatas and decorated them with ribbons and paper fringed a lot like the paper that is used today. By this time, the use of the pinata had spread all the way throughout North America.

Other people who used the piñata and spread it's popularity were Spanish missionaries, Mayans and of course those of Mexican decent. There are a lot of hidden meanings and beliefs to the piñata and more information can be found at the websites listed below.

We estimated the time spent on the piñata and found we spent at least 14 hours on it's construction not including the 2 days it took to dry to the place where we could decorate it. The expense of the piñata was about $10 (not including candy and toys we could have put inside had we decided to really use it) but the time to create it was much longer. We now realize when a kid breaks a piñata at a party how much time and trouble went into the piñata and honestly, don't know if I will ever break one and not think of all the work that went into mine when we do.

Resources:

http://www.sanbenito.k12.tx.us/schools/bertacabaza/hssb/Language_Arts/Pinatas%20%231.html

http://www.spanishtown.ca/familystory3.htm

http://www.mexconnect.com/mex_/travel/wdevlin/wdpinatahistory.html

http://www.ishopsouthwest.com/pinatas_history_of_pinatas.htmlhttp://www.partymerchant.com/pinata_history.htm