Pony Pinata

Wondering what to do with all that leftover Halloween candy? Here's a fun little project that will take care of that for you: a pony pinata. This technique can be adapted to make other shapes and animals too.

As I've said before, pinatas are great at birthday parties. Kids love them and adults get the enjoyment of watching the kids bash them and collect the goodies. My niece's birthday is coming up soon, so I'm making this pinata as part of her birthday gift from me. As long as you use candy that will last, pinatas can be made well ahead of time.

Pinatas are also a lot of fun at other events where kids will be present. They are both a fun activity and a great way to give candy and small toys/items. Add a real "bang" to your New Years Eve celebration, some genuine Mexican flair to a Cinqo de Mayo (May 5th) bash, or some extra "pop" to a family reunion.

MATERIALS
- cardboard
- tissue paper
- string
- marker or pencil
- scissors, exacto knife
- glue gun, sticks
- white glue
- candy, toys, hair accessories, other goodies for inside the pinata

1. Decide on the shape and draw it on a piece of cardboard. Keep the lines fairly straight and the design simple.

2. Cut out the shape. Flip it over and trace around it on another piece of cardboard. Cut out the second piece.

3. Cut a bunch of strips of cardboard. Mine were 3" wide.

4. Use the glue gun to glue the strips vertically along the edges of the pony shape. I didn't do the ear.

5. Fill the pinata with goodies.

6. Cut a bunch of tissue paper strips approximately 2" wide.

7. Snip along one side of the strips approximately 1" deep with approximately 1" spacing. This creates a "fringe".

8. Starting with the stomach and bottoms of the feet, white glue the non-fringed edge of the tissue paper strips to the pinata. 

9. Continue working from the bottom towards the top, overlapping the strips about 1".

10. Continue until you have the entire pinata covered.

11. I added some strips to the back end the look like a tail.

12. Carefully poke holes through both sides of the pinata centered along the back at approximately 1" down from the top edge.

13. Cut a 6' piece of string and feed it through the holes. I used a piece of wire to do this. Tie the ends of the string together. I also tied another knot about 6" up from the pinata.

DONE! Have fun watching the kids smash all your hard work. ;-)