Star Piñata

Building your own piñata can be a fun addition to any party. Plan in advance though because it can take 3-5 days from start to finish. It's well worth the hard work though. Look to your right for a list of supplies.

You'll need 2 pieces of 22"x28" regular white poster board for the star points. Each piece needs to be 11"x14" which is 1/4 of the board. Cut 5 pieces.

Roll each piece into a cone shape. Use your judgement on how tight to make them. These will be the points for the star so you can hold them up to the balloon to measure. (Blow up your balloon first and seal so no air leaks out.) Tape them closed with masking tape.

Smash the cone down with one hand and cut along the bottom. When you open the cone, two of the bottom sides will come to a small point. This will help you form the cones to the balloon.

Using a large bowI and whisk, mix the glue. I started with 1 cup flour to 1 1/2 cups water. You can always add more and adjust as you build your piñata. The paste should be the consistency of thick glue (slightly runny, not thick like paste). Now cut 1 1/2" strips of newspaper.

You're ready to start applying the paper mache. Dip the strip of newspaper into the glue mixture. Once completely covered, lift the strip up and run it through your fingers to remove all excess glue. Lay the strip across the balloon and repeat.

Only apply one layer at a time and allow to dry (8 hours on average). An easy way to do both sides of the balloon at once is to hang it above the table with a string. To make a sturdy shell, the balloon will need three layers and the cones will need one.

Once all the layers are completely dry, it's time to attach the cones to the balloon. You can do this with masking tape. You'll be putting more layers of paper mache over the tape so it's okay if there are some gaps.

Depending on how you would like to hang your piñata, you can add a rope hook to the back and paper mache over part of it so it's secure. Or you can wrap one around the points once you're finished. Then add two more layers of paper mache to the entire star.

Let it completely dry and harden before popping the balloon. At this point, the balloon may have lost a little air. Cut a hole through the newspaper layers and balloon and pull it out.

The hard part is done and now you can have fun with decorating. Cut 2" strips of tissue paper in a variety of colors.

Stack all the strips together and cut into 3" sections. Then cut part way up to make fringe.

It's best to use a variety of colors to make your piñata bright and colorful.

Using Elmer's glue or the leftover glue mixture, start attaching the fringe to the start points. Start at the tip of each cone. Draw a line with glue and wrap the tissue paper all the way around. I used two pieces together to give it more coverage.

You can arrange the colors any way you like. Just keep laying more tissue paper over the previous layer until it's covered.

After you finish each cone, move on to the center. Once the front is finished, flip it over and repeat the process for the backside. You want tissue paper to cover all the paper mache.