Piñata Design for Celebrations
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People celebrate in many ways and on many occasions. From holidays to birthdays or weddings, we gather and carry out traditions to bring people together. In Latin culture, we often have the tradition of breaking a pinata during these celebrations.
[1] The tradition of breaking a container filled with treats or candy has been celebrated across the world over the centuries. It went through Europe and Spain as a celebration of Lent, China for New Year, and was later brought to Mexico even though there was already a similar tradition for the birthday of Huitzilopochtli. Since then, pinatas have changed significantly from simple clay pots and other similar types to more intricate paper mâché designs. People now make pinatas designed to look like animals, animated characters, and traditional 7-point star pinatas.
Image from Upsplash [2]
There is a reason and cause behind traditions and sometimes they are sadly forgotten. A 7-point pinata was designed to be symbolic of breaking free from sin. Each point on the pinata represents one of the seven deadly sins. Because of its meaning, it is most often used during the “Posadas” at Christmas time. Las Posadas is a time of gathering with family and friends. You go from house to house, each hosting a representation of the journey Joseph and Mary took to Bethlehem. So, the pinata represents something significant despite its simplicity in tradition.
Many kids would argue that breaking the pinata is the only fun part, but I may argue that designing and creating the pinata is just as fun. So, let’s go through some of the steps to design your own.
You need to figure out your design, whether it be a traditional 7-point pinata or if you want to have some fun and try a cartoon character.
Determine the style of piñata you want to do, some are full papier mâché, some are just cardboard, and others are wood frames with cellophane.
To keep the steps consistent let’s move forward for a 7-point star. Let’s gather some supplies. We’re going to need a round balloon or few (just in case), tape, glue (ideal for paper mâché), newspaper, tissue paper, scissors, string, and party hats or cardstock.
We’re going to start by creating the base. We’re going to blow up a balloon and start covering it in layers of newspaper and glue mix. How many layers you do will affect how thick and hard the pinata is to break. We let it dry fully after we have done all our layers. The end of the balloon should be left out as that will be the main hole for the treats.
We can pop the balloon and gently pull it out. This will now be the top of the pinata.
Then we will attach our party hats or create cones out of paper and attach those. We can tape them down and add a layer of paper around the base. Once again, we let it dry fully before moving on.
Now comes the fun part, we decorate!! A large part of the attraction to these pinatas is their colorful nature. We are going to take out the tissue paper and cut about four-inch horizontal strips and on one side cut some short lines in the paper only going about halfway up creating ruffles. Once that is done, we attach the other side to the pinata. Repeat until fully covered.
All that is left is cutting a hole at the end of one of the points near the top of the pinata to put the string through to hang. Now fill your top hole with treats and enjoy!
Image of step 4 and 5 [3]
Image of step 7 [4]
Designing and seeing your creation come to life is always fun, especially when you are taking part in a centuries-old tradition. Making pinatas every year allows you to continually grow and learn better techniques to use! Give it a shot and you’ll be an expert the next time you do it!
Image and Source Credits
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pi%C3%B1ata
[2] Photo by santiago filio on Unsplash
[3] https://honestlyyum.com/3172/diy-star-pinata/
[4] https://mom.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/65293-7-making-a-pinata-with-frindge.jpg
[5] (Cover Image) https://www.library.pima.gov/blogs/post/los-multiples-origenes-de-la-pinata/
