Tissue Rose Piñata {DIY Feature} And Chickabug Giveaway Winner

I was blown away when I first saw the gorgeous tissue rose piñata from the Cornish Fairies Party by Nicole of Tradewind Tiaras. Nicole was kind enough to share the instructions on creating it, so if you love it as much as I do, you can do it yourself and create one at home! Nicole mentioned the thought of using it at a bridal or baby shower--basically, these aren't just for children, but adults can enjoy them too!!!



Materials You Will Need:

One balloon (Nicole went with a 24" round version, to avoid that distinct oblong balloon shape, but any would work)


One glass filled with stones to act as a weight


Tape


Newspaper cut into strips


Wallpaper paste

Tissue paper

{Step One}


Making a papier mache pinata is simple, but does take several days (including drying time).
1) Tape your balloon, knot side down, to the glass filled with rocks. This provides a weight and stabilizes the pinata as you're making it. Don't worry about the hole--that's where you'll fill the pinata when it's done.

2) Dip strips of newspaper in the wallpaper paste, wiping off any excess. Smooth on the balloon, covering the entire visible surface. Pay extra attention to covering near the base, where the glass meets the balloon. That's where you'll end up drilling holes and threading ribbon to hang the pinata, so you want it to have some extra strength.

3) Allow each layer to dry before adding another layer of newspaper. Criss-cross the strips of paper to make the pinata stronger.

4) Cover the pinata with at least three layers of newspaper. I did four, and it held up very well through two rounds of fairies whacking it with a stick. If you're doing a painted surface to your pinata, use white paper or paper towels for your final layer of paper. You'll have to use far less paint to get good coverage that way.
Once the pinata form has been made and is completely dry, cut away the tape and pop the balloon inside. Ta-da, a basic pinata!

 

{Step 2}

You'll need a lot of tissue paper roses to cover a pinata. Way more than you'd guess. I made what I thought was an excessive amount for my pinata...and covered only half of it. In the end, I used about 300 tissue paper roses to cover the entire pinata.



{Step 3} 

Cut the tissue paper into strips approximately 4" wide. Happily, this was basically where you find the folds in a standard package of tissue paper.
 

{Step 4}

Don't worry about the edges curling a bit on one side where you cut on the fold--that actually adds volume and separation of the petals and is desirable.

{Step 5} 


Fold a single layer of the tissue paper in half.  Wrap loosely around your finger.

{Step 6}

Carefully pull the rose off your finger, and pinch at the base.  Staple at the base to secure the rose shape.  I used wire to wrap a bunch of the bases, and while that works, it was a lot more complicated, and I'm glad I finally figured out that a stapler worked just as well!

 

{Step 7}

Use a pair of sharp scissors or a drill to punch a hole for the ribbon to hang the pinata.  Be careful, especially if you're punching through with scissors!  The pinata is surprisingly strong, and it takes some real effort to push through.

Spend some quality time with your glue gun and glue all the roses to the pinata.  My pinata was hung high enough that I didn't bother covering the hole on the top, since nobody could see it, but it could easily be covered by gluing a sheet of paper over the gap and gluing roses on top.

Then, your finished piñata!!!  Nicole shares that in their family, instead of inserting loose candy and treats, they fill the piñata with small bags each filled with the exact same amount of everything--that way, they avoid tears and tantrums, and help make sure the little ones get the same amount as the older ones--brilliant idea!!!

Now, for the winner of the $50 gift certificate to Heather's fabulous Chickabug shop.....

Karissa!!!!

Congratulations Karissa! Please e-mail landers.kate@gmail.com to accept your treat from Heather's shop, and I will put you in touch with her directly.

Stapler

Scissors

Ruler