I just received an urgent request for help with a pinata project on the Paper Mache Recipe page, and I don’t have the answer. I’ve never made a pinata,and I’m hoping you can help. Please read the comment below and offer your suggestions:
Hello there!
First, I must say how truly gifted you are. These sculptures are AMAZING! I am not doing anything that intricate. I have made 3 large dinosaur egg pinatas for my daughters 7th birthday party. There will be about 39 kids in attendance. I made this by covering plastic trash bags (filled with more plastic bags) with paper mache (using the flour/water/salt/cinnamon recipe). I have done 2 layers of paper mache and it’s SLOWLY drying. I plan to spray paint them, then go back and add details with a paint brush – like adding a crack and a claw sticking out, etc. My goal is to give each kid a good whack at the pinata – so each pinata should be able to withhold about 13 whacks before cracking open. What can I do to strengthen them more? I have run out of time to do a 3rd coat as it seems to take longer and longer to dry. Thank you for any insight you can provide to me – It’s much appreciated!
Suzanne
(The dino egg idea is really clever, don’t you think?)
Thanks in advance for your help. I know Suzanne will appreciate it.
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{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
Wow, thats a hard one. 2 layers aren’t going to be nearly enough to withstand 13 seven year olds with the scent of candy LOL.
How much time do you have to work with? Using straight glue rather than flour mixture may dry faster. Or you can alternate masking tape with a layer of glued strips, giving you strength with half of the normal wet layers.
I love the dino egg idea! I have to file that one away. I have a 3 year old, who is probably going to catch the dino bug soon.
Good ideas, Joey. I like the glue idea. Also, if just flour and water paste is used and the eggs aren’t too huge, a few more layers could could be dried quickly in a warm oven. But don’t try baking real glue – you end up with the smell of cooked plastic all over the house. And even with the plain flour and water you wouldn’t want to turn the oven so hot that the paper begins to scorch. About 200 degrees F seems to work pretty well.
Oops, see Joey’s note below. I forgot about the plastic bags. They will melt in the oven, and ruin your project. Normally it would work, but it’s probably not a good idea for this project. Putting the eggs in front of a fan will help them dry faster, without adding extra heat…
I was worried about using the oven as she said her core is plastic bags. Not sure what their melting point is? That could get messy…and smelly!
Oh, you’re right. I forgot about the plastic bags. I’ll edit my comment to remove the oven idea. Thanks for catching that!
the dino eggs are a great idea!!!
I would suggest taking tissue paper and mod podge-ing the eggs to make them stronger. Mod podge dries super fast and a layer or two of tissue couldn’t hurt. i would also varnish them afterwards with a safe gloss craft spray.
hi Suzanne and Jonni,
My experience always goes the other way and my pinatas end up too hard…that really makes the kids wild, all that candy is so close and still so far…
If you know you are definitely out of time, my suggestion is similar to above, but you might be able to get two birds with one stone here; Podgy.
I’ve found that if you dilute Podgy or Mod Podge with water you can use it to add paper to help decorate the pinata. Even a few tissue paper layers on top of what you currently have will strengthen the piece and not take long to dry. Especially if you are planning on adding details with paint, you could do the tissue in all one colour and use it like a primer while you are reinforcing the pinata.
Also, out of complete desperation I’ve thrown Podgy’d pieces in the oven (low temp) and they didn’t smell all chemically.
Good luck! I really have found that the Podgy layers are strong and dry quickly. Desperate times call for desperate measures
Well, the best thing I would recommend is to add more layers. I just made a bear paper mache and I used flour, water and good old fashion white glue. It really made the surface hard. If you need to expedite the drying, you may want to try to use a heat gun. Try using an embossing one. A hair dryer will work but if you have a diffuser on it will offer it direct heat. If you have a dryer that allows a drying rack inside, do not put it inside. Since you used spray paint, it may cause a bit of a fire. Keep a watchful eye on the egg if you do put it in the oven too. Again, if you used spray paint it will not smell good in the house and may cause fire. Good luck.
Thank you so much everybody! I really appreciate the advice… and so quick too! So far, everything is going well. What I can tell Joey, who may be thinking of doing this sometime… is to use a punch balloon instead of plastic bags. It will give you a perfectly round egg – much better than the trash bag idea. And, it will be a lot smaller, too! These pinatas I have made a REALLY big – and they will not fit in an oven, dryer or anything else. Because of the size, I decided against Modge Podge (only due to cost as otherwise I think that really would have been the way to go). I’ll remember that next time I make a SMALLER pinata. I have filled them up with candy and little stuffed animal dinosaur babies, and just added some pieces here and there where I thought it was not hard enough. I’m really hoping that the fan I have on them now will allow me to add another layer to the top (where I filled in the pinatas) late tonight as tomorrow is the ONLY day I can paint them. For some reason, spray paint needs 50 degree temps. After that base coat of paint is dried, I will add details, like a giant crack in the egg and claws and eyes, etc… Then, back outside to varnish it. Another great suggestion – thank you Pamela. Thank you so much everybody for your great suggestions. What I wasn’t able to do this time, I will next time!
First off, let me ask you a serious question: why so many whacks? So you give each kid one whack, I am assuming. But is that really necessary? They are seven-year-olds! They will get bored or frustrated long before the last one swings, especially when you take into consideration the fact that each one will need to change places, get blindfolded and positioned, etc. between tries. All that will take considerable time, and while it would take up a chunk of time during the alloted birthday party time, I would suggest you make the eggs with as few layers as possible to hold them together until the event, thin mache layers, 3 tops, and the paint will do amazing things to hold them in place. Hype up the fun, and when the candy flies in 5 whacks instead of 13, let them scream and eat their well earned booty… I don’t mean to be a party pooper, far from it! I just have a bit of experience with kids that little, and the fun needs to be compacted into short bursts, or their poor little over-active bodies go into melt down.
If you really need the eggs to be sturdier, about 3 layers of mache, the paste type or diluted Elmer’s glue and water are good for this type of work. The suggestion of tissue paper over the top is a good one, and the paint will add more strength than you might realize. If you go any more than that, they will be rocks instead of pinatas, and very hard to break… Trust me, I am speaking from my own pinata making experiences!!! I really hope that helps!
well i cant help much on how to strengthen your project as i am just getting into working with paper mache…however i would think the best way to go with drying something that large without melting your trash bags would be a hair dryer and a fan. my hair dryer has a “cool” button on it so it wont heat the air up as it blow dries….ive used it to help speed up the drying process and i usually use regular latex balloons for my projects and trying to dry the item without popping the balloon has always been problematic when im in a time crunch. im not sure how common it is for hair driers to have a cool button but if you have one i suggest using that. i know its not much help but there ya go….hope the party goes well!
My Advice is to mix some glue into the mixture or to put more flour in. The less water has to dry, the faster your sculpture will be finished.
-CoOkIe MoNsTeR <33333333
That’s a really good idea!
P.S what’s up with the whole cookie monster thing???
Hello Everyone!
The party was a huge success! The pinatas varied, but each took between 4-10 whacks before breaking. Some kids were upset they didn’t get a swing at it, while others just wanted the goods inside. I ended up doing 2 layers of paper mache, spray painting with that faux stone flecked paint, adding some really cool details with acrylics, then sprayed on a triple thick gloss coating. Thank you to everyone for your advice and help with this project!
Next time you make a pinata, depending on the size, you could try to use a thin gage of chicken wire as the sculpting base. Push and mush the wire into the desired shape, then use wire cutters to snipe a few open areas. cover with paper mache and tissue paper. This works well on the larger designs and gives it the sturdy whackablity that the kids love.
Had to laugh at the pinata experience. For my daughter’s 8th birthday party I made a world globe pinata out of about 4 layers of paper mache over a balloon. Since the party was the next day I cooked it in the oven to dry it fast. I thought it would be destroyed after a few whacks. Well, was I surprised when after about 2 turns for each of the 8 kids present the pinata was still intact!! Everytime one of them hit it there was a loud smack but no damage other than some slight denting. Eventually the holes through which the string holding up the pinata were threaded ripped and the pinata crashed to the ground. The kids finally smashed it open on the lawn with the stick and scrambled for the spilled candy. They loved it and I had gained a whole new respect for the strength of paper mache!