With summer comes parties! And what says “party” more than a piñata?
For this month’s Michaels Maker’s summer party challenge, I created a piñata that is great for summer or really for any time of year. It’s a shooting star, so it can easily be adapted for celebrating summer nights, graduations, birthdays, or make it in patriotic colors for Fourth of July.
It’s a PULL piñata, so it’s great for indoors as well as out. Kids take turns choosing a curling ribbon to pull. All but one are decoys and the one that isn’t, pulls open the hidden trap door at the bottom. So, you still get the element of anticipation to see who is going to be the lucky one to crack it open and you save dad from having to whack the thing to death to finally get it to open. 😉 Plus! You can keep the piñata and use it as decor later, or reuse it for another party. Just reattach more ribbon to the bottom and you’re gold…and silver. 😉
If you’re a long time reader….like a really long time reader (thank you and I love you) then you might remember this Lego Pull Piñata I made for my son’s 6th birthday party (who is now 11…hold me). At his party, I ended up having the kids all pull at the same time so no one would feel left out and everyone would have “a turn.” It worked out great for that age.
MATERIALS
- Large cardboard boxes (not refrigerator box big, but big enough to cut out a 13 inch star)
- Sharp box cutter
- Craft scissors
- Craft glue
- Brush
- Hot glue and glue gun
- Masking tape
- Clear gift wrap tape
- Curling ribbon
- Metallic tissue paper (found in the gift wrap/party aisle in Michaels)
- Thick wire
- Wire cutter/pliers
The steps show you how to make a 13 inch star piñata, using this handy template I’ve created here:
It’s only a portion of the star shape, but the video shows you how to use it to make the full star.
Watch the how to video here:
If you want ideas of what to fill it with, aside from candy, I’ve got another post about that, coming down the pipeline later this week. I’ll add a link here when it’s live.
Oh, and don’t you just love these mylar balloon letters? They sell them at Michaels too! I bought the “Happy Birthday” pack of letters and then used select balloons to spell “party.” They have lots of other options too, like emoji balloons. Yes…they have the poop emoji. Ha!
What a great idea! I love your time lapse video too!
Brilliant as always, Delia!
You are so kind. Thank you Michelle!
O wooooow! It is so pretty that I could make one just to put it in the living room 🙂
Aria
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Right? Totally love that you can use it as decor afterward.
this is awesome!! I didn’t know you could make a pull-apart piñata!
Thanks Kate! Yes. They’re my favorite. No swinging bats and Funniest Home Video moments – ha! – but they’re still exciting enough. 😉
Oh how cute!! I made a pull-string pinata for my oldest’s birthday a couple of months ago, but it sort of failed! The weight of the candy kept making the flap fall open, so I added more tape, but then I taped it too much and it wouldn’t open when it was party-time! 😉
The glittery effect on the star is really fun. =)
Oh no! What a bummer! You must have had a lot of candy in there!
Wow! What a fun idea! This would be great for almost any type of party!
Thanks Andrea!
Thank you very much for this nice idea, i will make this pinata for my daughters third birthday. Could you just explain, how the flap i getting closed? Just with some tape? I dont really understand, how this could work.. ?
Thanks Esther! Great question. Yes, you want to hold it closed with some tape. You don’t want it too securely taped that it’s hard to open again, but you want taped closed enough to hold the flap in place until the right ribbon is pulled. The other ribbons are false. When those get pulled they will just break away from the pinata. The ribbon that is tied into the flap will pull the flap open when it gets tugged, letting all the candy fall out. I hope that helps? Let me know if you have any further questions.
HI Delia,
Thank you so much, i will try to find the right number of tape 😉