How to.. make a Paper Mâché Piñata Fish!
If you are planning a birthday party this summer or any party with games and want a little wow factor make the kids your very own paper mâché piñata! They are colourful and for the older children fun – an opportunity to let off a little steam. They are easier to make than you think.
So, paper craft continues.. but in the form of paper mâché! I decided to use the natural shape of a balloon to make a fish.
1) Materials: Flour & Water (for paste), newspaper, balloon, cardboard (to shape tail). Paint brushes. PVC glue and tissue paper. Sweets/ small gifts for filling, masking tape and string for closing up and hanging.
2) Mix roughly 1 part flour to 2-3 parts water. Mircowave on full heat stirring until you have a wallpaper consistency paste. This paste will keep in fridge 2-3 days. I recommend using a container that you could throw away afterwards (e.g. ice cream tub).
3) Tear newspaper into strips. One inch is fine. Though have some smaller ones to hand for fiddly bits (mouth & attaching of tail).
4) Cover balloon but leave a hole on top. Roughly two layers worth. Don’t make it too thick, as you want the piñata to be breakable!
5) Cover cardboard of tail with newspaper (to give even painting surface), attach by adding long strips of paper over the top of tail down the balloon and the diagonally across these. Make sure news paper is NOT too wet, else it will all break off. If it is too wet, add some dry strips to soak it up.
6) I pre shaped the mouth and then added small layes of newspaper to smooth it over. If this is too fiddly for you, just paint one on! I found once I done this, that my hole at the top wasn’t centrail, so I cut some of the mâché away and repositioned. Do it gently though and don’t burst the balloon!
7) Let dry.
8 ) Paint in desired colour scheme. I chose my colours based on the tissue paper I had – which was salvaged present wrapping! Thrifty me!
9) Cut one inch wide, maybe 2 inch long strips of tissue paper (I roughly use one large sheet).
10) Start glueing at base of tail and work your way round in a spiral. I marked where the face should be, so that I could have a nice even line there. Save some tissue paper for covering the hole.
11) Let dry.
12) Fill with goodies. Make holes for string to hang from. Cover big hole with masking tape and add some tissue paper or paint.
13) Have fun!
Red Ted LOVED the piñata. I have to confess, he loved it so much, that I didn’t have the heart to actually use it as a piñata ,I think he would have cried.
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The fish pinata is great! Lovely work!
Thank you
much appreciated!! Really pleased that I made it with “things I had at home”!
Great tutorial! This turned out great! Very fitting for a summer partY! Thanks so much for linking up!
This looks much better than any I have seen at the store!!! This is a great project….so adorable! Great Friday Finish.
This is awesome! My kids always loved pinatas at parties. Thanks so much for linking up to Finished for Friday.
I’m glad that you didn’t actually break this pinata. It’s so cute!
Hi, me again! Thanks for the tutorial. This will be great for my niece’s bday party!
That would be so cute for Rainbow Fish fans!
This is so fun! I love the festive colors you chose. I made a jellyfish pinata last year and I think I might be ready to try a more complicated shape like this for this year’s party. Thanks for the inspiration!
How fun! I am sure it is a hit at the parties. My kids have always loved a pinata.
you make it sound so simple!! come on over and link up to MMM!!!
Ooh, I love the idea of a Jelly Fish Pinata!!!
How CUTE! Thanks for joining us for Anything Related #12! ~Bridgette
Darling pinata!!! Such a fun summer party pleaser! Coming over to check out your blog!~!!
Fabulous! Glad you like it and glad you are checking out the blog! Have fun!
Your fish looks great!!! I love how it turned out, great job!
Thanks for linking up to the Mad Skills party!
madincrafts.blogspot.com
I adore paper mache!! The fish lips are great!!
You made that? It’s awesome… now to figure out what type of pinata to make for Laci’s birthday next year. I LOVE IT!!!!!!! Great job and thank you for linking!
Thank you! Oooh wouldnt it be great if you made one for Laci’s birthday!! You must must must! Am sure I can help you with some ideas?! They look “harder” than they are!! x
Thank you!! Someone said they looked like collagen lips – which then made me all uncertain!
Great idea!! Thanks for linking it up at Fine Craft Guild DIY Linky Party.
Do join again with an equally great tutorial next party, will ya? It opens Wednesday and you can reach it from our homepage.
:0-)
Rose
Http://www.FineCraftGuild.com
[...] So I decided to have a go myself. I used homemade mâché paste made from flour and water. Check out my recipe here. [...]
I need to figure out how to do piranha teeth on one, and then I’ll be in business. I need a pinata for 30/10 for my 6 year old’s party, and he doesn’t want the pinata to look too friendly.
Couldn’t you just paint teeth on?
This is amazing, how did you know that I needed a little inspiration to complete a half completed pinata project? And in fact I was thinking that a fish would really be the easiest way to go! So thanks so very much for sharing on Craft Schooling Sunday!
When I first saw this, I thought,”Oh, that’s too cute to use as a pinata.” So glad you didn’t! Thanks for the tutorial, very cute.
This is great and the colours are so bright! We will definitely be trying this one at home! Thanks for sharing!
Jeanette
http://jeanette-myownfourcorners.blogspot.com/
Visiting from the Creative Bloggers Party & Hop over at Create with Joy!
Awesome pinata tute! I love your fish; the colors and the details! I’m feeling inspired to try my hand at making one!
So pleased to “meet” you!
New follower,
Jenn/Rook No. 17
Fabulous pinata! I just made one for my daughter’s birthday and tried to have it open with a pull string. Not quite as exciting as smashing the animal to bits, but I wanted it to last a little longer after investing so much time making it!
To clarify, I didn’t make one like yours…yet. But I am certainly going to bookmark this fish and see if I can make it for a future celebration!
Yes, I know what you mean Julia!! We didn’t “kill ours” in the end either… liked it too much! Bit of a tricky one as not sure I want to encourage violence either!! And thanks for the clarification!
Thanks for linking up with the Play Academy Maggy – this is a great project.
Excellent work! I didn’t know you could use flour & water – thanks.
Nice! I made a shark pinata once for my son’s birthday because of the ballon shape. It worked out great!
Makes me fondly remember a science fair project I created in junior high from paper mache! Really is a fun media. Make some memories!
I love papier mache! That looks awesome- please, don’t beat it with a bat!
Thanks for linking up with us!
Aimee
Classified: Mom
Oh the shark pinata sounds fabulous!
And yes, love that these kind of thngs make child hood memories!
And Aimee – no fear – we made him a year ago and still have him
couldnt bear the distructions!
Thanks for all your lovely comments!
I think making a pinata is probably the best idea. We had a shop bought donkey one for my son’s 5th birthday party and after all the children had had 2 hits each and nothing came out, my husband had to attack it with a pen knife to get the goodies out. The kids didn’t seem to mind though!
Chloe
Your pinata looks so cute!
I’ve only ever been to a party with one once before. All the kids produced baseball bats to bash the living daylights out of it. But I guess that’s Luton for you!! LOL
Woooooo! That is awesome! I have made a pinata… but it didn’t look like that! What an inspiration!
Thanks for linking up to Handmade Thursday!
Hi there, many many thanks for this, you have no idea how long I’ve been searching for the perfect recipe! I tried this out and was pleasantly surprised! Now to attempt to make the boat! Too late my boys spotted it! Thanks x
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