Piñata Madness

What if your pinata arrives and you love it so much you don't want to smash it??

Does it have to be paper mache?

I saw some cute ones made of construction paper, streamers and a stapler. :D

OH.MY.GOSH!!!!! Please, please, PLEASE let me join! I am absolutely swooooning with the thought of pinatas. As my profile mentions, Viva Pinata is one of my favorite video games. And I live in South Texas. Pinatas are part of life, here.

Okay if you love it so much and don't want to smash it, you DON'T have to :D <-- this will probably be the case for most of us.

damn you mujer!!! i hope your by your phone !!!

I'm so excited! Excellent work, RudeNun!

You should be damnin' babysingsing ;P

In regards to the paper mache: It's very cool, we're lovin' "streamy piñatas" but it MUST be a quality piñata!! Something nice that you would WANT to receive.

Aahuuwaa! I'm so in this swap.

TRUE story: I had my seventh birthday party in Michoacan, Mexico. I had seven pinatas. And they were all made out of CLAY. Yes, hard, heavy, clay pots. I know - hitting a clay pot with a wooden stick ABOVE your head is super-dangerous, right? (Worthy of a Darwin award , if you ask me, but, hey, "when in Rome, etc.") ANYway, those kids were professional pinateros - when the pinata broke nobody moved in on the candy until the dust settled.

A TIP: If you don't want to "ruin" the pinata, some careful dissection with a boxcutter will allow you to extract the candy and patch up the patient afterwards. No one will know what happened unless they're looking where they shouldn't be looking.

My boss said when he was a kid that they also used clay pots!! I said, that's some dangerous stuff!

That's crazy! I'm glad you survived your seventh birthday unscathed, TiaBel. Amazing there aren't more Mexican children with serious head injuries...

This is too much fun to pass up and its been ages since I played with paper mache. I think other little goodies could be stuffed in along with the candy too- stuff gleaned from your swap partners profile...

Aye yi yi yi! Everytime I get my pesky list down to what looks like a manageable level, Here ya come with temptation! Crimeninelli! What's a girl to do(lol)

And there will be more to come... ;P

BAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHA!!! A much needed laugh after the day I had.

I can't take on a piñata swap right now, but I wanted to tell you about what I saw yesterday. I helped a friend get craft supplies ready for a summer camp. So that she would have some examples, we made one of each of the projects, among which was a piñata.

Instead of paste, she used a 1:1 mix of Elmer's glue & water. And instead of newspaper, she used colored tissue paper. It was gorgeous!

TíaBel: Did your piñatas look like this? http://www.mexconnect.com/mex_/travel/wdevlin/pinata1.html

babysingsing LMAO

Kate Yup, that's them. I have pictures somewhere.

I think I'm going to start working on mine soon- before partners are assigned, as I don't think I'll have time then. Looking forward to making a non-traditional pinata and filling it with fun stuff!

Very cool yarnpunk! I'm thinking that I need to get started on one soon! I haven't made one since I was in grade school. That was a long long time ago, I can still remember..

Sorry I often break out in song in mid-conversation.

oh, god, wow.... i so shouldn't do this... but I'm an impulse swapper and wow... the pinata swap... I'm so impressed. I just have to do this. I have to. It's like a biological imperative... wow. Pinatas. I love this. This is like, the best idea, ever. I'd better go get some paper mache stuff, now, huh? Wow. Blinking awesome.

yeah, I've had this swap open for days, staring at me. I've never made a pinata, but I totally want to try.

A bagged hard candy I really like that would be pretty looking (and I don't buy for myself) to fill is Werther's Originals, but I'll also eat hard peppermints like crazy. These are totally not requirements, I just wanted to share what I'm envisioning filling a pinata!

aw poopers, money is too tight right now for me to consider international shipping, but if you make another, PLEASE tell me, hopefully I can then participate - I'll be on the lookout for pinata pictures in a few weeks on Flickr! Have fun folks ^^

I can't wait to get my partner!!!

Nanu-nanu everyone! Partners have been assigned, and I think it's hilarious that the "Marmot Connection" is running strong..

Questions on the "Marmot Connection"? Please watch The Big Lebowski.

How's everyone doing on this? I am having a blast with mine. The form is made and strengthened sufficiently, and I have started the fun part - adding the fringed strips of colored tissue paper. There will be photos of the process (more or less) on my blog when I finish, which should be in a couple of days. It would have been sooner, but I forgot to add the hanger (rope), so had to go back and tie it around, make the top loop and then add another layer of paper mache over it to seal it into the form. So now I am waiting for that to dry before I can glue more colored tissue strips. Rude Nun, this is the most fun I have had with a swap! I'm so glad you thought of this idea!

OMG, I am almost done. I just have to fill mine up with yummy goodness.

I'l admit, I was kinda stumped, but I ended up having the best time with this swap. Good looking out oh nasty, I mean Rude Nun.

Ey! Sacred, the nasty stays in babysingsing's pinata, errr I mean on myspace. Besides you and Mala bring it out in me.

Let's hope you have more "sewing" nights...the monkey, I mean I'll be visiting your profile.

Oy my gosh, I'm so glad to see that extend date. I usually get my stuff out early but this swap item has me cobweb cleaning my brain. Still looking for an easy build it site for making one of these bad boys.

Again thank you for hearing my unasked usaid (outloud) extend date prayer.

The nun hears ALL prayers.

Ok yall, be nice, here is my Pinata creation.

http://flickr.com/photos/sacredsnatch/1353409241/

sacred its incredible!!!

Thank you! I actually embelllished it even more. (lol, I'ma stop before it wieghs 20 lbs.)

chappykat, I had to redo my piñata because the first one came unglued - literally. My layers started flaking off as they dried. My niece (8-year-old piñata maker extraordinaire) kept telling me to use more starch, but I didn't want to make a mess so I didn't listen. My mistake. Hers came out perfect.

Oh my gosh! Sheeeeesssssss here and so purty I won't be able to hit her. Wow! Ms.Snatch, you "tow da roof owf da sucka" Amazing. I'm at work at she's at home right now. I'm trying to see if I can pull a Mission Impossible stunt to remove the insides and leave her whole! Maybe photo shop a picture that would have Ya'll believin' I did the right thing, snicker!

I'm still in "Lame" lake as far as the pinata for my pal. The one saving grace is she's within driving range so if I go to crazy with the fill, I might have to make a drop and run.

Thanks so much for my too beautimous to hit pinata.

Awwwwwwww, I am glad she made it safely! There is a hole in the back and you should be able to shake everything out of there.

Salute!

Thank you THANK you for extending the swap by a week! Even without the recent unexpected rainy and humid weekend, every step of making this pinata is taking way longer than I planned. Who would have guessed that I'm more of a perfectionist now than I was when I last made a pinata (at age 8, probably)?! With the extra time, this one will still be far from perfect but I think it's turning out kinda nifty. :)

Anytime ARTitude Suz! :D

okaaay shecooks... your pinata is on its way to new orleans :) i wanna see it after its smashed! HAVE FUN!! (and pictures of it can be seen here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kateybarrett/1476489809/ if you want to spy!)

KateyB, If I was shecooks I wouldn't smash the guy. I love him.

ArtitudeSuz, your pinata was shipped today-yea!

Yarnpunk your pinata will be mailed Tuesday since the Post Office will be closed for Columbus day.

sacredsnatch's pinata will be mailed tomorrow! Here's a shot of it: http://www.flickr.com/photos/babysingsing/1510460877/

Here's a photo of the pinata I made for kateyb (left) and the pinata I received from chappykat (right). What a pair!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/suzyvroom/1559051971/