Hey, y’all! I posted this on the old site and decided to resurrect it here because I just whipped up a mini piñata and remembered how easy and fun they are to make and give away!
This tutorial shows a heart shape, however, you can make them pretty much any shape you want (for example, my partner requested a rhombus - not knowing it was going to be a piñata - and after some math it worked out great. 
).
You’ll need:
- Thick cardstock or thin cardboard
- Tissue paper
- Ribbon
- Scissors (regular; multi-blade are optional)
- Tape
- Glue stick
- Any other wanted embellishments
- Treats to fill it
Step 1: Gather your items and prepare your base.
The piñata will consist of a front and back shape, and a strip(s) that gives your piñata it’s depth. The depth can be whatever you want. The strips need to equal the perimeter of your shape, minus about 4-8 inches (which serves as the opening to fill and retrieve treats). Make the bases however you prefer. I’ve used stencils/traced items and cut with scissors, an electronic cutter, a paper trimmer and math - whatever works best for your desired shapes.
Step 2: Construct your base.
Tape your side strip(s) to your base pieces so it’s perpendicular to them. Just tape around until it feels sturdy enough to account for your filling. Make sure to leave the gap!
Step 3: Make your tissue paper fringe.
Cut strips of tissue paper. I usually make them about 2.5-4 inches wide, but don’t really measure too carefully. Fold the strips in half and start fringing. I like to use my multi-blade scissors. I’ve done it plenty of times with regular scissors, it just takes a little longer. (You could also definitely do this ahead of time, I just usually like to see how much I think I’ll need based on the finished size of the base.)
Step 4: Fill your piñata.
Chuck all those fun treats in there!
Step 5: Mind the gap.
Cut a piece of tissue paper that will cover your opening, with at least a .5 inch margin on all sides, and a piece of ribbon at least three inches longer than the tissue paper. Tape the piece of ribbon down to one of the short ends of the tissue paper only. (This is what the recipient will pull to open the piñata!) Tape the tissue paper (with the attached ribbon) over the gap, with the ribbon facing into the piñata, and the tail dangling out the end. Make sure the tail of ribbon is on the outside (the rest of the ribbon facing the inside), and is oriented correctly for the direction you want the recipient to pull.
Step 6: Cover with tissue fringe.
Use your glue stick to attach your fringe strips in slightly overlapping rows.
Step 7: Embellish.
Add any embellishments. I usually put a tag that says “pull.” I’ve also added paper images - like goofy faces and a printed pictures.
Step 8: ENJOY!
Give them away and enjoy the novelty!
Here are a couple others I had photos of:
Have fun!
