How-To: Make Your Own Pinata

Trying to plan for Tall Boy's 4th birthday has made me realize how expensive everything is these days. I really don't like feeling as if I need to take out a mortgage just so my kid can have a great party. So, one of the things I did for his Minecraft-themed birthday party, was to make our own pinata. I had no idea what I was doing, but I had a whole lot of fun making it! Here's what I did!

Step 1) Found a box that was the size and shape of what I was looking for. I was lucky in that the Creeper I was making is just a rectangle. Then I spray-painted the box so it was a uniform color and so the wording and pictures didn't show through.

Step 2) Get rolls of crepe paper at the store, and the take measurements around the box so you know what lengths you will need. Then cut strips of the crepe paper the lengths you need. I would cut several to length, the stack on top of each other, the cut slits every half inch or so through half the crepe paper.

Step 3) Glue the strips of crepe paper onto the box, starting at the top and bottom, so that the loose ends will be covered by the rest of the crepe paper when you glue the rest of the paper onto the box. Kind of like shingling a house, you want to layer over the bottom pieces, so start at the bottom of the box.

Step 4) Once the crepe paper is covering the entire box, I glued the face of the creeper on. You can still see the glue drying, but you get the idea.

Step 5) When the glue is dry, turn the box upside down and cut a 3x3 inch hole on the bottom of the box. Only cut three sides, so that it hinges. I just used a serrated steak knife for that. Then I glued some crepe paper around the edges of the cut of the trap door, so that it looked finished.

Step 6) Poke a hole through the middle of the trap door, and take a ribbon and pass it through. Tie a knot at the end of the ribbon large enough so that one end cannot go through the hole. I used green for the "real ribbon" and then glued the "fake ribbons" around it. Tall Boy will get the green ribbon, of course!

Step 7) Wait for the glue to dry and then add the candy! Push the trap door closed, it should close very well with the added crepe paper around the edges of the trap door. Voila, done!