Lovingly decorated and filled with sweets:The Mexican piñatasare now also very popular in Germany. Small children in particular have a lot of fun breaking into the cardboard and glue figures and finding the surprises hidden inside. Originally they were only made and hung for birthdays, but now piñatas can be found for almost every festive occasion. You can also surprise the children with a Halloween piñata on Halloween. Because it is not just a decoration, but also has a strong symbolic meaning. We reveal what it is and offer you several quick and easy DIY instructions as well as ideas for filling.
Making a Halloween piñata: Where does the custom come from and what symbolic meaning does it have?
Nowadays we all know the Mexican piñata: it is round and has 7 points. But in their home country, the piñata is not only used as a decoration for birthdays, but also has a symbolic value. If you beat them, you also destroy the evil forces. The gifts that fall upon one after destroying these evil forces symbolize good fortune, wealth and the blessings of God.
Originally the piñata was not a piñata. At various folk festivals, people filled fruit, nuts and flowers into clay pots and decorated them with crepe paper. Nowadays the piñata is made from papier-mâché. For this purpose, a balloon is first inflated and then a mix of papier-mâché and glue is applied to it. After the mixture has hardened, cut out a hole at the top and fill the piñata with sweets and small gifts. The piñata is then hung in the garden and can then be smashed with a stick.
A much simpler version has become established in the USA: there, enthusiasts make piñatas out of cardboard. This alternative has a big advantage: the shape and size can vary depending on your own wishes. The next ones are like that tooCraft ideas in no timecomplete.
Halloween piñata: make a ghost figure
The first craft idea is for a sweet ghost figure that even complete beginners can quickly put together using hot glue. Here is an overview of the necessary materials and accessories:
- cardboard
- White paint and brush
- Cardboard in pink and black
- Crepe tape in white (weight 32 g/m²), 5 cm wide
- a pair of scissors
- a cutter knife
- Bindfad
- Hot glue
Filling: You can fill the piñata with small, individually wrapped candies such as chocolate or lollies, streamers, confetti and other gifts of your choice. Don't forget that the filling will fall on the children. Therefore, avoid heavy objects or objects with sharp edges that pose a risk of injury.
Directions:Draw the outline of a ghost on the cardboard at the desired size and cut it out. Use the first ghost figure as a stencil and cut out another ghost figure. Then cut two strips about 6 cm wide from the cardboard. Then glue the strips to the two elements so that they form the piñata body. Try to lay the strips so that their edge lines up as closely as possible with the edge of the ghost figure. Don't forget to fill the piñata with candy, streamers, and confetti before gluing it shut with hot glue. Spray the piñata with white spray paint and let it dry. Then stick the white crepe strips on them, which you cut with scissors to about 0.5 cm below the top edge to create fringes. Then cut out the tongue from pink cardboard and the eyes from black cardboard and glue them in place.
Make a Frankenstein Halloween piñata
Monster piñatas are particularly popular at Halloween. The next craft idea was inspired by perhaps the most popular monster from Mary Shelley's novel. Unlike the monster in the book, which even its creator was disgusted by, the Frankenstein piñata is not scary at all and is perfect forFamilies with small children. Here is an overview of the necessary materials:
- Cardboard box, rectangular
- Crepe tape in green
- Cardboard in white and black
- green tape
- Scissors
- Hot glue or glue for paper
To fill:Individually wrapped small cookies, cookies and candies, hair ties and streamers, balloons (not inflated).
Directions:Fold the cardboard box into the desired shape and secure it with the green adhesive tape. Cut the crepe tape to size and cut about 1 cm above the bottom edge. Then stick it on the box. Then cut out the hair, scar, eyes, eyebrows, lips and teeth from the white and black cardboard and attach them.
Instructions for Mexican skull “Sugar Skull”
The “Sugar Skull” is also a Mexican symbol that is typical of Halloween. Mexicans celebrate their dead on Día de Muertos. During the three-day celebration, respect is shown for deceased relatives and friends. The houses are colorfully decorated and flowers adorn the hatsof women and many make-upa skull. But not an ordinary skull, but a “sugar skull” decorated with rhinestones, flowers and glitter. The next craft idea is inspired by this. Here is an overview of the necessary materials:
- cardboard
- Crepe tape in white, 5 cm wide
- a sheet of black cardboard
- transparent tape
- a pair of scissors
- a cutter knife
- Hot glue or glue for paper
Fill the piñata with sweets (homemade lollipops or individually packaged fruit gums work well) and flowers. Be careful not to make it too heavy.
Craft instructions:Create a template for a skull and cut out two details from cardboard. Also cut out an 8 cm wide strip from the cardboardmake Halloween craftsPinata. Then attach the white masking tape. From black cardboard, cut out a heart for the nose, one long and three shorter strips for the mouth and two equally sized circles for the eyes. You can also decorate the Sugar Skull Piñata with flowers and glitter or you can paint it however you like.
Halloween piñata: make your own witch hat
Halloween is approaching and you haven't made a costume or decorations? Then you can make the next witch hat piñata and use it to decorate the children's room. This craft idea is super easy and quick to implement. Here are the materials necessary for this:
- a cardboard cone
- a sheet of black crepe paper
- Black cardboard
- Orange streamers
- Plastic spiders
- oranges Dekoband
Instructions: Stick the black crepe paper on the cardboard cone and cut out a large circle from the cardboard. Cut a smaller circle in the middle of the circle and glue the finished brim to the bottom of the cardboard cone. Decorate the witch's hat with half of the streamers and stuff the plastic spiders and the remaining streamers inside. Glue an orange decorative tape to the small circle and use it to close the opening.
Halloween piñata: make candy corn
In North America, corn is part of the Thanksgiving meal. This tradition can be traced back to a festival that took place in the fall of 1621. Back then, the European colonists and the native population celebrated autumn together. Without the help of the American Indians, the Europeans would not have survived the cold season because they had no supplies. The local population gave the colonists lots of food and also organized a festival for them. Turkey, corn and pumpkin, among other things, were served during the festival. Corn has now established itself as a seasonal delicacy and has become an integral part of the autumn menu. So if you're looking for a non-scary Halloween piñata idea, you can make a candy corn figurine out of cardboard. It is finished quickly and you can easily complete the task together with the children. Here is an overview of the necessary materials:
- cardboard
- Crepe tape in yellow, orange and white
- a pair of scissors
- Glue for paper
Chewing gum, stickers, confetti, streamers and why not several figures made of cardboard are suitable as fillings. Just make sure all candy is individually wrapped. If you want to bake cookies or biscuits yourself, you should also package them individually.
This Halloween piñata is ready without much effort and in a short time. The craft instructions are super simple: Cut out two triangles of the same size and several 7 cm wide strips from cardboard. Cut an opening in one of the triangles so that you can fill the piñata later. Try to place the edges of the strips so that they line up exactly with the edges of the triangle figures. Then glue the two edges together with glue. Continue until the candy corn figure is complete. Let them dry and in the meantime cut out 3 strips from the yellow, three from the orange and three from the white crepe tape. Then cut it to within 3cm of the top edge to create fringes. Attach the stripes in the following order: First stick the three yellow stripes at the bottom, then position the three orange ones in the middle and then fix the three white ones at the top.
Make a Jack O'Lantern piñata
Below are instructions for a traditional round Jack O'Lantern Piñata. To make them, you first need to mix paper mache paste. Here are instructions and some tips on what you should pay attention to. These are the necessary materials at a glance:
For the paste:
- 150 g flour type 1050
- 500 ml water
For the paper mache:
- A handful of newspaper, torn into small pieces
For the Halloween piñata:
- a balloon, orange
- Cardboard in black and white
- orange acrylic paint
- Krepp-Band in Orange
- Paper muffin cups(6 cm diameter, i.e. standard size)
- a pair of scissors
- a needle
- Glue for paper
- Tesafilm, transparent
- Brush, flat
1. Mix 500 ml water and 150 g type 1050 flour in a saucepan and bring the flour mixture to the boil, stirring occasionally. Let the flour mixture cook very briefly, around 30 seconds, and then remove the pot from the heat. Allow the paste to cool, then stir it again and pour it into a sealable plastic container.
2. Then tear newspaper into pieces about 4 cm in size.
3. Blow up the balloon. To make it go faster, you can first stretch the balloon a little. Then attach it to the work surface with the adhesive tape.
4. Apply the paste with a flat brush, then carefully place the newspaper on the balloon and coat it with the paste. Apply newspaper and glue to the balloon two more times, alternating between them, leaving the bottom end uncovered. Allow the balloon to dry for a day.
5. Then pop the balloon with a needle and carefully remove it from the papier-mâché.
6. Paint the balloon with the orange acrylic paint and let it dry. Fill it with sweets and small gifts.
7. While the acrylic paint is drying, you can trim the orange crepe tape and trim fringe to about 1cm from the bottom edge. In the meantime, you can still cut out the eyes, nose and mouth from cardboard.
8. Once the paint has dried, you can cover the piñata with strips of masking tape and cover the opening with a muffin tin. Then all that remains is to attach the mouth, nose and eyes.
Make your own little Halloween piñatas out of toilet paper rolls
Are you organizing a children's party for Halloween? Then the piñatas in small format are ideal. You need the following materials:
- Toilet paper rolls
- Crepe paper
- Markers or other coloring pens
- Tonkarton
- White toilet paper
- Paint colors and brushes
How to make the mini piñatas:
Paint the toilet paper roll and let it dry. Place an A4 sheet of crepe paper on the worktop, place the sweets on top and twist in the ends. Place the “sugar bag” you have made in the toilet paper roll.
- For Frankenstein: Then draw a Frankenstein face on the paper roll.
- For the bat: Paint the face, cut out wings from black cardboard and glue them to the toilet paper roll.
- For the mummy: Draw two eyes and wrap the toilet paper roll with toilet paper.
- For the Jack O'Lantern: Paint the face.
