I usually add the candy to the piñata only after the decorating is complete; in fact, I don’t even make the door until then. The easiest way to make a candy door is to cut three sides of a rectangle into the piñata somewhere near the top. I do this with an ordinary steak knife or pocket knife. If you’re decorating your piñata with snipped crepe paper, you can close the door when you’re done and it will disappear in the crepe paper.
Here’s how we cut the candy door into the Jill-o’-lantern piñata.
Since this piñata has a decorative vine strung across the top, the choice of where to put the door is obvious. I’ll move the vine aside, cut the candy door, and then lay the vine back down to help hide the door when I’m finished.
I started by making a vertical cut in the piñata about two inches long. I use an ordinary steak knife or pocket knife for this, the sharper the better. I made sure the door was at least a couple inches away from the hanging hook for two reasons: 1) I don’t want to weaken the piñata close to the hanging point, and 2) the way I make hooks for large piñatas like this one, there’s a cardboard shield behind it that would be difficult to cut through.
With the first cut finished, I turned the knife and cut horizontally about an inch and a half or two inches long. After this I made another vertical cut for the third side of the rectangle.
With three sides cut, I used the knife to pry the door open. This is about as far as you want to go when opening the door — if you open it too far you can break it off. If that happens, don’t worry — you can usually just put Elmer’s glue around the edges of the opening and lay the door right back down where it belongs.
After adding the candy I folded the door back down to close it and then fluffed up the crepe paper with a comb. When closing the door you want to be careful not to push it into the piñata. If you push the door too far, you can use the knife blade to pry it back out again so it lays level with the surface.
Once the door is folded closed and the crepe paper is fluffed up, the door disappears. I laid the vines back down over it, and I’m done!
If you’re using a different technique to decorate your piñata, you may have to make the candy door differently. In some cases you might need to decorate over the door to hide it. And sometimes, like when you’re painting your piñata, you’ll either need to add the candy before painting, add some kind of decoration to cover the door, or simply allow the door to show.