Im actually making a boulder with a large punch balloon and already have about 2 layers of the 1/2 parts flour water mix on it. I was wondering if i let this layer dry all night could i wrap/tape on dry newspaper then paper mache on that to make it stronger? Im hoping the balloon doesnt pop before its sturdy enough to hold its own weight.
Answer from Piñata Boy
I’ve never tried this before so I can’t say for sure, but my main concern would be that the layer of dry newspaper in the middle might actually make for a weaker piñata compared with one that doesn’t have the dry layer in between. The reason I say this is that normally when you apply one layer of papier mâché on top of another, the wet paste soaks into the layer underneath, and kind of cements the two layers together. But when you have a dry layer of newspaper, the dry layer isn’t cemented to whatever is underneath it. So if you already had two layers of papier mâché on the piñata, then put down a layer of dry newspaper, and then two more layers of wet papier mâché, the layers would not all adhere to one another they way they would if you had just put down four layers of papier mâché.
I don’t know if this would be the case, but I think it would be, and the result would be that instead of having one four-layer thick wall, you would have two two-layer thick walls. I’m thinking the two-layer thick walls would be more flexible and more easily broken than one four-layer thick wall, but like I said I’ve never tried this before so I can’t say for sure. And even if it is weaker, it might still be strong enough — most of the time when I’m making larger piñatas out of punch balls I have to make the walls thick enough to support their weight, but then they’re too thick to be easily broken and I have to weaken the walls by stabbing holes in them.
So I guess my best answer is just try it and see! Every time I try something new when making a piñata it’s an experiment, but that’s how we learn.
Good luck!