I don't really like human-shaped pinatas. But a pinata shaped like a creeper (one of the monsters you kill in Minecraft)? That seems appropriately thematic to beat to smithereens at a Minecraft birthday party.
I love making my own pinatas. I have fond memories of my parents making pinatas for my parties when I was a kid, and when I was a little bit older, getting to help make them. But this was only my second foray into making my own pinata entirely from scratch that wasn't based on the shape of a balloon (strawberry, pomander ball, disco ball, etc.).
Materials for Making a Minecraft Creeper Pinata:
- assorted sizes and shapes of cardboard boxes (used is totally fine--I just picked my boxes out of the my recycling)
- masking tape
- clear packing tape
- hot glue gun
- dark green crepe paper (2 rolls)
- light green crepe paper (1 roll)
- piece of black scrapbook paper or construction paper
Maybe you'll get lucky and find boxes that are exactly the right shape and size for your project. But you probably won't, so you can do what I did: cut the boxes down to size. Don't be afraid to slice and dice those boxes, and patch them back together in just the size and shape you need with masking tape. Be generous with the tape (you don't want the pinata to fall apart too easily), but it's actually perfect to create those extra points of structural weakness in the construct. Use the clear packing tape to attach the boxes to each other, so the pinata won't break by dropping the candy-laden body from the empty head at the first swing. I also used the clear packing tape to reinforce the top of the pinata where the rope for hanging was strung through the cardboard. It's also no fun if you can't keep your pinata aloft.
Once you've created your basic shape, cut the crepe paper into fringe, and start hot-gluing the paper to the pinata shape, layer by layer. I didn't have any light green crepe paper, but I did have some tissue paper, and that worked perfectly, too.
Cut out creeper eyes and mouth from black paper, and glue to the face. I used the same template I used for my creeper paper plates, so I just traced around my template and cut the piece out for the pinata, too.
I cut a slit in the back of the pinata and inserted the candy in the body of the creeper. It would have worked just as well in the head, too, I suppose. But there was more room in the body! It made a great decorative party prop, too. Pretty easy and this particular design didn't involve any papier mache (which meant I wasn't in trouble even though I totally left the making of the pinata to the night before the party). I'm a fan!