Wednesday 16 January 2013

How to make a rainbow pull string pinata



How to make a simple rainbow pull string pinata

Firstly I have to admit that I have never actually seen a piñata in action. But we are having a little birthday party for Harry this weekend, and I wanted to do something a bit different so I thought I'd have a go at making our own piñata. I wasn't sure about having a piñata to be bashed about with sticks (what a waste of my hard work!) so I thought that I would have a go at a pull string version, with the added bonus that I am hoping it can be re-used year after year! Harry's party is going to have a rainbow theme (all based around a certain pinnable masterpiece of the cake variety, which I am hoping to pull off) so I went with rainbow colours.

I was at a bit of a loss with how to begin, as all the piñata tutorials that I found were very fancy and involved papier mache and balloons. However this pull-string pinata tutorial gave me the confidence to have a go at a simple version using a box.

How to make a simple rainbow pull string pinata

I used one of the many rectangular cardboard boxes that we have hanging around after Christmas. Harry helped me to paint it red all over, then I made fringed strips from tissue and coloured paper (whatever we had about) in rainbow colours to glue along the sides. I added a loop of string to the top so that it could be hung up.

The bottom of the piñata is one large flap, which we also painted red. I found it best to make the flap open over the entire bottom of the box, so that nothing gets caught inside.

To make the pull strings I used some of that metallic ribbon that I keep for decorating wrapped presents and never use. I made 15 strings. The winning string is knotted firmly in place, with extra tape for good measure. The other strings are just threaded through using a large needle and pull out easily. To uncurl the ribbons, the piñata spent the night on the dining table with the ribbons stretched out and flattened under large books.

How to make a simple rainbow pull string pinata

I filled it with various sweets and treats. This is a delicate process, as of course the weight of the sweets inside forces the flap open, so you need to secure it in place. After a few experiments, I found that four strips of tissue paper, each about 1cm wide, glued into place around the edges of the flap worked well. Then hang it up (or pass to a tall, responsible adult) and let children take it in turns to pull a string and see who is showered with goodies!

10 comments:

  1. Just brilliant! Such a clever idea to make one you can use again. The kids are going to LOVE it x

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  2. ooooh this is great! looks quite easy even for me too x

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  3. I've always fancied making a Pinata.I think I'll make one for one of my kid's birthdays

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  4. Love this idea!

    I'm hosting a "Party Party" at Mums Makes Lists for all birthday party related posts - would love for you to link up http://mumsmakelists.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/party-planner.html

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  5. That's an excellent idea - we have a Pinata that we've brought out twice now and bashed for ages and never managed to actually demolish! :D

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    1. Thank you! The real pinatas do always look very solid to me, I'm not sure that little ones would have the strength to actually break it anyway!

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