Second piñata I have ever done. Doing a Dachshund Dog. I used quaker oats round cereal tube box for the body. For the head used plastic bags to form a ball and covered it with paper mache and the snout is a strofom cup. Card board for the tail and ears. Coming along nicely. My question is for how many layers do I need of paper mache? I am also concerned about putting in the hanger as you said so it doesn’t rip through. This will be for adult so I don’t want it to bust the first hit at it. Please advise. I love your site and just started doing this. It is fun!!!!!! Thanks!!!!!!!
Answer from Piñata Boy
The Quaker Oats oatmeal container might be tough enough already (or even too tough) that you might not need to layer it in papier mâché at all. I don’t have a Quaker Oats container here to compare to, but if you think the walls are sturdy enough to hold their round shape when the piñata is hanging and filled with candy, then you can decorate right over the oatmeal container. If you think it might be too tough even for adults to break, you can weaken it by putting in some stab holes with a sharp knife. Good luck!
We’re making an Owl out of 36inch beach ball base round with semi-deflated 12 inch beach ball wings for 10, 8 year olds to smash how many layers should we do to make it challenging and let them all get a good swing or 5 in?
There’s not just one simple answer to this. If I had to give you a number, I would say use five or six layers, but it’s best that you understand where that number comes from so you can decide for yourself if five layers really is best for your piñata.
With a piñata this big, the first thing you’ll have to do is make the walls thick enough that the piñata doesn’t collapse in on itself under its own weight. This will probably require at least four layers, possibly five. You can also put on a half-layer by laying the papier mâché strips in a checkerboard pattern with gaps in the middle instead of covering the surface completely. This helps add structural strength to the walls without making the piñata too hard to break.
Most likely, by the time the piñata is sturdy enough to support its own weight, it will be more than thick enough for the kids. If you feel the walls are too thick, weaken them a little by stabbing holes in the piñata with a knife before decorating. Or you can leave it tough to break because you’ve got a lot of kids playing and 8-year-olds hit HARD. At first it will feel like they’re hitting a brick wall, but eventually weaknesses will develop and when it finally starts coming apart it will have been a group effort.
In the end you’ll have to be the judge of when you have enough layers. Make sure the layers dry completely before you decide whether it’s ready — you can have seven layers of papier mâché on a piñata, and if they’re wet it’ll still feel too weak. But once those seven layers are fully dry, the piñata will feel like a rock. Most likely, though, five layers will put you in a pretty good place. If you’re in doubt, err on the side of too thick, not too thin, because with this many batters hitting this hard, too thin might not make it all the way through the group the first time. And there’s also a feeling of accomplishment for the kids that comes with going through the whole group without making a dent, and then finally starting to see the first signs of weakness.