I’m making a Baseball piñata for my sons first birthday, and I’m wondering what the best material would be to decorate with? I’ve used three layers of newspaper with a flour and water paste. Would you use a primer and paint it or crepe paper? I used a beach ball so it’s rather large – would the strip technique work with the crepe paper or would you suggest the flower technique? Thank you so much!
Answer from Piñata Boy
One reason I like using crepe paper is that it completely covers the rough surface left by the dried papier mâché. Painting doesn’t cover the rough surface, and for me that rough surface can be distracting. But not everyone feels the same way, and some people might prefer the painted look to a fluffy surface on a baseball.
But if you decorate with crepe paper, you’ll definitely want to use snipped strips and not the floral technique. The 12.5″ diameter porcupine pufferfish piñata I made used about 8000 individually cut, shaped, and glued pieces of crepe paper to cover the entire surface. Using that decorating technique a baseball piñata made from a beach ball will take many more than 8000 pieces, and you’ll be gluing those pieces on until he’s two year old.
Good luck!