DIY Golden Peep Piñata

One of the most fun things about DIY blogging is making an unnecessarily large deal out of every holiday. I mean, I usually completely forget about St. Patrick’s Day (and get ruthlessly pinched by my sister), but this year I made wallpapers AND mocktails. And now that St. Patrick’s Day is passed, we are on to a little bit of Easter celebration before next weekend rolls around! I probably should’ve been doing these things about a month ago, but whatever, I’ve never been one to purchase my Christmas decorations at Halloween anyway!

Now on to the DIY. I love seeing all the fun piñatas people make for various holiday parties, throwback adventures, and the like. Even though they're a little time consuming, these piñatas are super easy and add a pretty lovely dose of whimsical fun! (I also had to make it gold, because I kind of have a thing with shiny stuff!) And yes, I will be hanging these in the kitchen or living room. That’s holiday décor at its finest I think!

You will need:

Corrugated cardboard

Box cutter (or craft knife)

Masking tape

Scissors

Gold tissue paper

Mod Podge (or a mixture of white glue and water if you prefer)

Pompoms

Step 1

Cut out 2 bunny shapes from cardboard. I did this by printing an online clip art image, tracing one bunny, then cutting it out and using it to trace the other so that they end up the same, simply because some curves are easier than others for a box cutter to handle. Make sure to use a lot of pressure when cutting, and if it doesn’t go all the way through, you can always cut a little from the back.

Also, for a size reference, the small bunny was as large as I could print on one piece of paper, and the larger bunny was as large as I could split the design on 3 pages. This was my source for the image! Thank you search engines. Seriously, what would we crafty people do without them?

Step 2

Cut strips of cardboard perpendicular to the corrugation, so that it will be able to bend and fold around curves. I used a 1 1/4" wide strip for the tiny bunny, and a 2” wide strip for the larger.

Step 3

Use masking tape to attach the strip around the edge of one of the bunny cut-outs. Make sure to use a lot of it at any corners to really tack those folds in the cardboard strip in place.

Step 4

Now secure the second bunny shape on top of the cardboard border. It may not be exactly the same size as the first bunny and border itself, so use multiple strips of masking tape next to one another to make the edge smooth.

Step 5

Cover the edges of the piñata with strips of gold tissue paper, using the Mod Podge to stick it down. I did this by pasting the tissue paper to the upright edge of the piñata with half of it hanging over, cutting slits in the unattached portion, then folding that down and pasting it in place on the front of the pinata. Repeat with a second strip, folding this one over to the "back" of the piñata, and add a strip down the center so that everything is covered.

Step 6

Now cut fringed strips to decorate the piñata with. Mine were typically about 1 1/2" wide, and I layered several strips and folded them so that cutting the fringe would be faster. (If I get serious about making holiday piñatas though, I would probably invest in fringe scissors!)

Step 7

Begin by gluing a wide, solid strip of gold paper to the front of the piñata, using Mod Podge. Then, work your way up, attaching fringed pieces of tissue paper in rows. You will want to make the strips slightly longer than the width of the piñata so that they can better fit its shape later. Also, don’t be afraid to finish one strip and start another in the same row. The tops of each strip will be covered so you can’t see the transition.

Step 8

Finish with narrow, solid strips of tissue paper at the tops of the ears to make it look clean and finished.

Step 9

Trim the excess tissues paper hanging off the edges of the piñata, and fold any extraneous paper over the edges if necessary. You can tack it down with Mod Podge to make everything a little cleaner.

If areas with steep curves, such as between the ears, you can glue the fringe in place before trimming, in case the top of the strip is cut off during trimming.

Step 10

Repeat steps 6-9 on the other side of the piñata.

Step 11
Add mini pompoms to make the eyes and nose on the Peep! I tried both brown and black, and ended up liking the dark brown better. You can also add a large white pompom to the "back" side of the piñata to make a fluffy bunny tail (which I regrettably forgot to snap a picture of)!

To hang the piñata:
Use awl or sharp object to punch two holes between the ears of the Peep piñata. Then, cut a piece of thick string or thin rope to the appropriate length (I eyeballed this), and wrap a piece of Scotch tape around each end of it. Insert a dot of hot gule into one of the holes, and push end taped end of the string through until you cannot see the tape. Between the hot glue and the snug fit of the string, this should hold your piñata hanger in place. Repeat with the other end of the string.

And if you would like to add candy, you can cut a hole at the top of the bunny, probably atop one of the ears, fill the piñata, and tissue paper the gap closed.

I am actually really happy that I made a small Peep first, then decided to go bigger,so that I have a little Peep family. If they don’t end up hanging in that living room, a centerpiece or spot on the fireplace mantle might be an amazing way to display these cuties-they actually stand on their own believe it or not! (Flatten out the bottom of your template if you are unsure your template will make that happen!)

Now while this is by far the easiest piñata-making method (papier-mâché is always such a huge mess for me), I have seen a lot of other techniques that may be fun for otter piñata shapes!

What’s your opinion on novelty, holiday piñatas? Want me to make more? (All gold, of course :P)

Stay lovely,