Fancy adding a little action to your upcoming party? A piñata could be just what you’re looking for, and you can even make your own using an old paper bag and the following items:

  • Coloured Tissue Paper
  • Scissors
  • Glue Stick
  • Stapler
  • Hole Punch
  • Thin Rope or Twine
  • Sticky Tape
  • Plenty of Sweets and Treats

You can always pick out treats favoured by the person of honour, or you could go for healthier options. Since the design is up to you, add anything from a birthday message to a whimsical photograph.

However you decide to go, here’s how you go about making your paper bag piñata.

  • Start by putting your treats in the bottom of the bag. Fill it to around the halfway point – any higher and the bag will get too heavy. Add some tissue paper up top to maintain the bag’s shape.
  • Crease the top of the bag and staple the creases shut.
  • Add sticky tape over the bottom seams of the bag to prevent it coming apart after just one or two strikes.
  • Cut a piece of tissue paper about two inches wide, then use your glue stick to adhere it around the bag.
  • Keep stacking new lengths of tissue paper until the bag is completely decorated.
  • Use your hole punch to add a few holes along the top of the bag.
  • Cut a length of thin rope or twine, weave it through the holes you’ve just made, then use it to tie the piñata up where you fancy.

Not sure what to use when it comes time for guests to start whacking your piñata? Any relatively thin length of plastic tube works best. Save some coloured tissue paper to wrap around its length, and don’t forget to have a blindfold ready to go before you start – it’s just not fair on your piñata if people can see where they’re swinging!