My daughter wanted a cupcake pinata on her birthday. I thought it was a great idea as it would go very well with the dessert table theme we were having. Being low on funds prevented us from buying one, but I could make one. When I looked online for how to make a cupcake pinata, they were put together from 2 pieces and used a trash can for the base, which I didn’t have. So I came up with my own idea of how to make a cupcake pinata.
I started with a large balloon, I think it was an 11-inch balloon. A took a box from one of those frozen pizzas you make at home, and I folded it like an accordion. I then cut some off the bottom to make it the size I wanted when wrapped around the base of the balloon. I then used small pieces of packaging tape to secure the pleated cardboard to the lower half of the balloon.
Then I made my paper mache mix. To use less flour and save money, I used the cooked version of paper mache. I whisked 1 cup flour into 5 cups water and boiled it until it was thickened, whisking the mixture frequently. I allowed the gluey mixture to cool a little bit. Then I poured the flour mixture into a bowl that had a lid so I could use it over the next few days without it drying out. I also stirred in a few tablespoons of salt, which is supposed to help keep the mache from molding.
First a mached the top and sides. Using strips torn from newspaper and sales fliers, I plastered across the top and slightly over and down the sides. I found the colored sales fliers to work the best as the paper on these was thicker. I only did two layers at a time since I overlapped the newspaper strips quite a bit. I finished each day with what I call a “dry layer”, that is, I placed strips of paper across the already gluey surface without dipping them in the flour mixture. As I rubbed these pieces gently, they picked up the glue on the surface and stuck to the balloon and box just fine. Then I let the cupcake pinata dry with the help of a small fan.
Once I could no longer press in with my thumb, I mached the bottom. I had to tape a piece of paper to the bottom for something to mache to. I cut the flap in the top at this point to be sure the pinata could dry thoroughly on the inside as well. I also added the string to tie the rope to the pinata. I punched a hole through a can lid, then inserted and knotted a small piece of rope to make a loop. I punched a small hole in the top of the pinata and pushed the rope loop through. The can lid will distribute the pressure more evenly.
Once the cupcake pinata was thoroughly dry, and looking more like a cupcake, I painted the entire pinata with a coat of white paint. I suppose I could have used plain white paper on the last layer of paper mache, but I had a lot of white paint so chose to go that route.
I then painted the cupcake “liner” a shade of purple to match the purple and white theme of my daughter’s party. I also used a glue and water mixture to stick little pieces of white tissue paper to the top of the cupcake to make it look more like fluffy white frosting. It actually looked a little like my daughter’s coconut-topped cupcakes.
There it was. A simple and cheap cupcake pinata. If you choose to make a cupcake pinata, you can decorate the “liner” or “frosting” any way you see fit. I chose a simple purple and white version to go with my daughter’s birthday party color theme.
