D-I-Y Piñata

This year for Blaine's birthday, he was dying for a piñata. I checked out the ones at the grocery store, and they were all expensive, ugly, and way too big (=too much candy!). I decided we should make one instead, which turned out to be the greatest idea ever because a) it was free b) creating it made for a really fun afternoon activity and c) it was a Blaine original, which was really fun for him to tell the children at the party.

There are two ways to make a homemade piñata. One involves paper mache (=messy! Fun for older kids!). We chose option two--a brown paper bag with some decoration. (A brown paper bag is especially nice for young birthday parties because it doesn't take forever to break.) I found these instructions helpful, and went from there.

Basically, first you put your loot in.

Next, you stuff some newspaper in, staple it up, and decorate it. I let Blaine dictate every single thing that went on it, and I was pretty impressed! (His rainbow order was exactly right, and did you catch the cotton ball clouds? Awesome.)

The hardest part is making a hole in the top and attaching a string handle. You definitely need to reinforce your paper bag at that point and use sturdy twine or rope.


It was such a big hit (oh my gosh, seriously no pun intended!) that I'm considering never buying a piñata again!