I have read some of the Q and As on square pinatas. I want to make a rubiks cube pinata for my son’s surprise birthday party. I want to use paper mache and would prefer not to use cardboard. I was thinking of either using four balloons with paper mache or one big punch ball. From there I am not sure how to proceed. Your thoughts?
Answer from Piñata Boy
It’s hard to make a flat surface using balloons. When I’ve done that in the past, it always meant a lot of cutting and taping, and it was more effort than it was worth. I tried to make a large flat surface once by laying newspaper on a tabletop and applying papier mâché to that, but it warped and got wavy as it dried. The final result was usable, but wasn’t as nice as I had hoped. I also made a papier mâché box once by wrapping a rectangular plastic bin in newspaper and applying papier mâché to that. That actually worked really well, and gave me a good, solid rectangular shape. The only problem there was that I had to tear the papier mâché to get it off the plastic bin, but the tear was easily repaired.
Based on those experiences, I think if I had to make a cube piñata and I didn’t want to use cardboard, I would look for a plastic bin or a cardboard box that I could use as a mold. I’d wrap it in newspaper, papier mâché over that, and then remove the papier mâché and make any repairs. I don’t know if the wet papier mâché would soak through the newspaper and stick to a cardboard box or not — wrapping the box with two layers of dry newspaper first would probably ensure that it doesn’t stick, and any excess newspaper can be torn out from the inside once it’s removed from the box.
Depending on how large the Rubik’s cube piñata is, the sides and bottom might distort a little from the weight of the candy, so you might want to add an extra strip or two of papier mâché in an X shape on those faces to strengthen them without making the piñata too thick for the kids to break.
Good luck!