Today’s post is from the lovely Joanne of Ready, Set, Craft!. She was one of our prolific participants in Make Something Cool Every Day in April (MSCEApril), and when I saw this awesome pinata she did, I had to get a tutorial out of her! She graciously agreed, so without further ado, here she is! – Dot

How to Make a Flower Pinata (instructions below photo)

(photos correspond by row from left to right)

Materials:
One 10inch balloon
Newspaper
White liquid school glue
Pinch of Salt
¼ cup Warm water
Spray paint
Tissue paper
Brads
Hot glue gun

STEP ONE: Cut newspaper into strips. Mix ¾ cup of glue with one ¼ cup of warm water to create paste. Add a generous pinch of salt and mix in. The salt will stop your piñata from molding. VERY important!

Blow up balloon, tie the end, and tie a long piece of string or ribbon to the knot. Dip newspaper strips into paste and layer onto balloon. Do two layers at a time, and let dry completely by suspending from ceiling (or other tall space!) with ribbon/string. I did four layers total, but you can do up to eight.

Note: to speed up the drying process, set one or multiple fans directly underneath your piñata, facing upward. Two layers will dry in less than half a day- no joke! (My husband’s idea – GENIUS!)

STEP TWO: To make the points (and this is where you can get creative – you don’t have to have points, you can add whatever shapes you desire!) I folded cereal boxes into cones using a bone folder to score the folds, and secured them with masking tape. When attaching the cones to the balloon, be sure to use multiple layers of tape for security.

Cover entire form with at least a couple more layers of newspaper and glue mix, paying extra attention to the areas where the points and balloon meet – those are the weakest areas.

STEP THREE: Spray paint! Mine needed three coats – but that will depend on your color choice. Let dry.

STEP FOUR: Push a pin or needle all the way through on side of the balloon to allow the balloon to deflate and air to escape. Using a craft knife, cut three sides of a square to create a flap big enough to insert your candy through. Insert candy, and tape closed if desired (don’t worry, you won’t see it later!)

STEP FIVE: Cut lots of tissue paper flowers. If you are one of those lucky folks with a die-cut machine, I’m sure this will take you all of two minutes. For the rest of us, I drew the flowers free-hand and then cut them out by hand. Because tissue paper is so thin you can cut multiple flowers at once.

STEP SIX: Make sure you have a variety of flower colors and shapes

STEP SEVEN: Cut some strips of tissue paper to use as streamers. They don’t have to be perfect or exact – make them whatever length and thickness your heart desires!

STEP EIGHT: (not shown) Grab a couple of flowers in varying sizes, and stick a brad through the middle and fold over in back. I just used regular scrapbooking brads from Hobby Lobby.

Using a glue gun, attach the assembled flowers to the piñata form. Overlap them slightly and “froof” (I know that’s not really a word!) the petals so that they have some volume and don’t just lay flat. The closer the flowers are together, the cooler it looks! Be sure to cover the entire form, and check for “NAKED” spots!

STEP NINE: And you’re done! Based on how you’re going to hang it, you may need to cut some small slits or holes at the top of your piñata to allow rope to be tied though. Hang, hit, and enjoy!

NOTE: I didn’t made the piñata stick shown – but it would be easy to do with a lightweight wooden dowel from a craft store and some more tissue paper.

More Cinco de Mayo/Fiesta ideas here!

Published on: May 2, 2009