Piñatas — at least 24 hours. Cover with colored paper or paint
mbols or figures and decorate with glitter, ribbons and crepe paper
overed in paper streamers.
3 Use as is, or attach cones or other odd-h surprises hidden shaped cardboard pieces to form a rudimentary star,
—may have bunny ears or simple hands and feet.
n China. The Hang the piñata by the strings outside and let
to break them everyone have a turn at being blindfolded and trying
he 14th century. to hit the piñata with a stick or bat. When the piñata
anish missionaries to breaks, the treats are up for grabs. (Note: If small
hat the Aztecs had children are playing, they can easily be pushed aside
uries, piñatas were and end up with nothing, so always have a few extra
part of religious occasions such as Lent or Christmas, goodie bags on hand.)
but today they also are used for birthdays and other Mexican crepe-paper flowers come in all shapes
parties. They come in all shapes and sizes and are and sizes. While the traditional approach is to fold
traditionally filled with candies and fruit. Coins, toys squares of tissue paper or crepe paper into even
and party-themed mementos are modern additions. accordion pleats and then tie and fan them, there
To make a piñata,
1 blow up a balloon and cover is another method that provides an added touch
it with three layers of newspaper mâché, making sure to of pizzazz.
leave a small gap at the knotted end so that the balloon Stack six to eight full sheets of brightly colored
can be removed later. Prop it on top of an empty tuna tissue or crepe paper on top of one another. On the
can and then drape a long, sturdy piece of string over top sheet only, create a template by drawing flat
the top and down the sides. Both ends should extend four- or six-petal flowers of different shapes and
at least 2 feet beyond the balloon. Cut another equal- sizes (similar to the look of a flower cookie-cutter).
sized length of string and drape it over the first piece Cover the entire sheet of paper. Using these patterns,
at right angles and down the sides. carefully cut through all layers of paper at once.
Cover with another three or four layers of news- Each stack represents one flower.
paper mâché. (Note: The more papier-mâché layers, the Gather up a stack and poke a hole through the
harder it will be to break, so take this into consideration. center of the flower. Run two pipe cleaners halfway
A piñata for a small child should have only two to three through the hole and then slightly rotate each sheet
layers of mâché or it will never break.)
2 Let it dry of the flower. Pinch the paper to the pipe cleaners
for up to four days before popping the balloon and at the hole. Secure by twirling green florist tape
gently pulling it out through the hole. Put in candies, around the flower and pipe cleaners. Frill the
gum, small fruits, coins and even small toys. Close flower’s edges and bend the inner pipe cleaners
the hole with more newspaper mâché and let dry for to resemble stamens.
sy
c
wit
inside
originated i
custom of using a stick
open reached Europe in t
In the early 16th century, Sp
North America discovered t
a similar tradition. For many cent
1
2
3
Topps candy
is the perfect
piñata treat
The Topps Company
was founded in 1938 as a
gum manufacturer. After
World War II, the company
redirected its efforts to the
bubble gum business and
introduced Bazooka, the
“Atom Bubble Gum,” a
reflection of the mind-set
in the postwar era.
Representing the gum
was The Atom Bubble Boy,
and he appeared in the
original print ads. But he
didn’t really catch on, and
within a couple of years,
Bazooka Joe was created.
Today, major league
ballplayers get free
Bazooka in the dugouts,
and recently a piece of
discarded Bazooka from
Luis Gonzalez of the
Arizona Diamondbacks
was auctioned on eBay.
We can’t guarantee that
your Bazooka gum will turn
into a collector’s item, but
we can bet its appearance
at cinco de mayo will
have jaws moving. Besides
Bazooka, The Topps
Company offers a wide
variety of specialty candy.
