Community Corner

Valentine's Day Craft: Heart-Shaped Piñata

A cute craft for any Valentine's Day or heart-themed party.

Coming from a Hispanic family, I always had a piñata at my birthday parties.

My parents were always very creative and used cardboard boxes, along with my plates and tablecloths that coincided with my party's theme to create a homemade piñata.

For the past couple of years, my sister and I have been given the role of making the piñatas for our little cousin's birthday parties. This year, her theme was hearts—perfect for Valentine's Day.

This would work for any Valentine's Day themed party for kids.

Here's what we did to make this pull string piñata.

What you need:

Three flat cardboard boxes (one for edging)
Two packs of pink or red tissue paper
Red or pink string
Glue
Packing tape
Scissors
Box cutter
Wire hanger
A large needle

What to do:

1. Sketch a heart shape on one piece of the cardboard box and cut it out using the box cutter. Trace the heart onto the second piece of cardboard and cut.

2. Cut wide strips from the third cardboard box for the edging. We had some packing styrofoam that we used, but cardboard works just as well.

3. Glue/tape the hanger on one of the heart shapes. Make sure the hook is placed where the heart grooves.

4. Wrap the cardboard edging around one side of the heart and tape into place, but make sure to leave a hole at the bottom of the piñata to fill it. Then, tape the second heart shape to the structure.

5. Take two sheets of tissue paper and wrap the piñata, leaving the hole at the bottom open.

6. Take pieces of tissue paper and cut strips. Once the strips are cut, fringe the pieces.

7. Start gluing the strips, starting from the bottom.

9. Once both sides of the piñata are covered, fill it with candy/treats/activities, etc.

10. Take a separate stack of about six layers of tissue paper and cut it slightly larger than the size of the hole at the bottom.

11. Poke the desired number of holes in the tissue paper, then using a large needle, thread the string/ribbon through the tissue paper. Tie a knot at the top of each ribbon to keep it in place.

12. Once that is completed, secure that portion of the tissue paper/string to the bottom of the piñata with glue or tape.

13. Hang it up at the party using the hanger!


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