Cinco de Mayo Craft: Mini Piñata

Hello dear readers!

Welcome to another craft post here on Sonoma Christian Home. As I’m sure many of you are aware, Cinco de Mayo is just around the corner. With this in mind, I decided to do a little self-education on what is behind this particular holiday. I had always thought that it was Mexico’s Independence Day, but that is actually celebrated on September 16th. As a matter of fact, Cinco de Mayo is barely even celebrated in Mexico, and is primarily and American holiday celebrating Mexican-American heritage and traditions. It began in the state of Puebla in the 1800’s after the Mexican people had overthrown the French Army, and the victory was celebrated all over what is now Texas and California. (Thanks Wikipedia.org!)

I also found a beautiful quote on the religious symbolism of the piñata in Mexican Catholic culture, so I thought I would share that with you:

“The Mexican Catholic interpretation of the piñata rested on the struggle of man against temptation. The pot represents evil and the seasonal fruit and candy inside the temptations of evil. The person with the stick is blindfolded to represent faith. The turning and the singing and shouting represent the disorientation that temptation creates. In some traditions, the participant is turned thirty three times, one for each year of Christ’s life. As the participant beats the piñata, it is supposed to represent the struggle against temptation and evil. When the piñata breaks, the treats inside then represent the rewards of keeping the faith.” –Wikipedia.org

I hope you don’t mind the history lesson, but I found all that pretty interesting! To celebrate Cinco de Mayo, I have for you a simple craft that can liven up any and all festivities your family may be having this summer! Say hello to the easiest, most mess-free piñata-making method ever!

Materials:

• Brown paper lunch bag (feel free to use a grocery size bag for a larger piñata)
• Stuffing material (I used plastic grocery bags, but newspaper would work as well)
• Scissors
• Twine
• Marker/Pencil
• Ruler
• Hole punch
• Tissue Paper (Green, white and red highly recommended!)
• Tape
• Treats for inside the piñata! (Hello leftover Easter candy…)

Optional: Decorative material, such as glitter, sequins, stickers etc.

Method:

1. Measure the perimeter of your brown bag. Cut 6-8 strips of tissue paper x” long, x being the perimeter you just measured, with a width of 3”.

2. On the bottom of each strip, cut upwards about 1” to create a fringe effect.

3. Stuff the bag with your filler so it stands upright.

4. Starting at the bottom of the bag, carefully tape the fringed tissue paper around the perimeter.

5. Layer the strips over each other, so each strip covers the tape of the one below it. Continue, leaving 1-2” at the top of the bag free of decoration. For the topmost strip, I rolled the tape and placed it underneath the strip so that it would look cleaner.

6. Now that your bag is decorated, punch holes 1” from the top of the bag. Space the holes about 1 ½” apart.

7. Take your twine and “weave” it through the holes you just made.

8. Place the treats inside the piñata! Don’t forget this step!

9. Once the string is woven all the way around, pull the string tight to gather the top of the bag.

10. Tie a firm knot around the gathered top of the bag.

11. Hang the bag, and let the little ones go at it! (Or yourself, if it’s been a long day!)

Tip: Having a birthday party? These make excellent party favors, decorations, etc!

Happy Cinco de Mayo, and have fun with your mini-piñatas!