Hacer Una Piñata Despide Uno (Mexico)

Each month after we make our flag the next step is always to create something. I asked a teacher from Eliana's school who is from Mexico, “Is there anything that that we should absolutely not skip while learning about Mexico? Any project we must do that is a necessity at a Mexican celebration?” Her response was, “You should make a Piñata.” My first thought, "Please tell me you are joking, Miss Celina". My second thought was “Uh-Oh, it's not a joke.” 


Now, I know that since this whole travel the world while staying home thing was my idea, I can choose to do or not to do anything I want with it, there aren't any rules. But I knew that Miss Celina was right. We were having a Mexican Celebration and we needed to have a Piñata for it.

After a bit of research, I decided that the best way to make a piñata was to start with a balloon then paper maché the balloon. I got the kids in aprons, I blew up a balloon and mixed the paste.

 "Crazy Excited"

Paste: 2 cups of flour and 3 cups of water.

I was clearly not prepared for this project. After the first few splatters of glue I started to panic about the kind of mess that we were creating. I found myself lecturing the kids on how they could be less messy. Yes, that’s right, I was asking my children to be less messy while using paper maché. If you take nothing more from this post, take this: ALWAYS prepare for a mess that is at least 4 times more than you expect, then you can be pleasantly surprised when it is only 3 times more.

Seriously, look at this kid, he's practically swimming in it.
Ok, maybe not, but it felt that way at the time. He had his hands IN it. All the way in it.

It didn’t take me long to realize that I was being absolutely unrealistic. The glue was only a paste made of flour and water, it would wash off of my dining chairs…. and walls. I have a vinyl table cloth that is used only for crafts, so I don’t care what kind of mess happens to that. I took a few deep breaths and came up with a new plan. A plan that would hopefully keep them happy and still keep the mess to a minimum.  I dipped the strips and then passed them to A & E to apply to the balloon. This way I didn’t have two kids elbow deep in goopy paste.

We did two layers, we got it as smooth as we could then left it to dry.

I can't say that I was surprised that it resembled an egg, but for some reason,
I felt a bit disappointed that it did, how is that Mexican? Huevos Piñata?!?!?!? Great. 

I had no idea, at this point, How long it would take to dry, but I figured we could get to painting and decorating it the next day. Stay tuned for the next post to see just how long it took. 


(Translation: Hacer una piñata despide uno- Making a piñata part one)