Little ChuBBy PInATA

INTRO: Piñata history

A piñata is a item used in Mexico in posadas and children´s birth parties, it´s a container for candies and fruits, often made of papier-maché covered with brightly-colored paper as decoration.
Originally the piñatas are used in posadas they are shaped as a star with seven points that represent the sins, and the bright colors of decoration paper represents temptation; the stick is used as weapon for overcome the sins, and the candies, fruits and goodies the richness of heaven after defeat the sins.
Actually, they are also used for birth parties, filled with candies and goodies made with the shape of cartoon characters or other themes as dinosaurs, monsters, cars, animals, etc.

Traditionally, piñatas are made with the papier-mâché technique, so you are going to need to make the wheatpaste (don´t worry it´s easy to made), you must consider the size of you piñata for gather the enough materials , I’m going to make a little one just for show how to make it, but the process still been the same.


For the wheatpaste:
Wheat or rice flour
Water
Boil
Spoon
Oven

For make the body
Wheatpaste
newspaper
Ballons, (you can use different sizes and different forms), the color don´t matters
Scissors and/or cutter

For decotarions
China paper, Silk paper or similar

For make the wheatpaste you need 6 parts of water for 1 part of flour, put it all in a boil, with the burner on low and constantly stir the mixture, when it get the consistence of potato purée turn the burner off. Just wait for the mixture get cold and it`s ready to be used!!!

1) Cut the newspaper in long and thin strips

2) Blow up a balloon, it’s going to be the main body, you can also use a papercraft model.

3) Take the newspaper and wet the paper in the wheatpaste, put it over the balloon for get a thick layer, ad more paper layers (5 or six), in this phase you can put some that help you to get your desired figure.

4) When the body wet dry, blow down the balloon for get a shell for put the candies in.

For make the decoration, use the silk paper or any other kind of thin paper, for simulate texture (fur, scales, etc) or effects (shine, transparency).

1) For simulate fur you must fold the papier-mâché half by half, until you get the desire size, cut a piece and then draw the desired shape an cut for get a long paper strip.

The limit is your creativity; you can make waves, peaks, half circles, rectangles, angled shapes, wides, etc.

2) Whit a brush put a layer of wheatpaste in the body, an begin gluing the paper just for the edge rolling it around the body form the bottom to top so you can cover the glued line.

You can combine different colors, textures and, shapes in different areas of the body for get a brightly colored piñata.

Also you can ad little pieces of paper as mouths, eyes, nose, claws, wood etc. for give your piñata a personality. REMEMBER, your limit is your imagination!!!!!!!!!!

If you want it for a kid´s party you can make it bigger, and make sure to left a hole in the top for fill it with candies