How to make a papier-mâché heart-shaped Piñata

A couple of people asked me how I made the papier-mâché human heart piñata for our club night, so I thought I'd write up some instructions.

You will need:

* Old newspapers
* Wallpaper paste (from Poundstore!)
* Bright and colourful poster paints
* Glitter
* Small gifts, sweets and treats to fill the piñata with!

Instructions:

Tear several newspaper pages into strips. You will want them 1-inch wide and about 6 - 8 inches long. Set them aside.

Use a large bowl to prepare your papier-mâché paste according to the packet.

Blow up the balloons and tie closed. To make our human-heart shaped piñata we used two balloons and put them in a plastic bag. The plastic bag was stuffed with newspapers to give it texture and form.

Dip the newspaper strips into the glue you made. Remove any extra glue on the newspaper piece by running it through your fingers. Spread the newspaper onto the balloon heart shape. Completely cover the balloon, leaving a small hole on the end where the balloon is tied so you can remove the balloon and fill the pinata. Let the first layer dry.

Add two more layers of paper mache to your balloon. Allow each layer to dry completely before putting on the next layer. Once it is dry, pop the balloons and remove this as well as the plastic bag through the opening you left.

You can now decorate your pinata. The fastest way is to paint it with bright designs. After the paint is dry, you can hang some crepe paper streamers from the bottom. You can also wrap strips of crepe paper around your pinata, cutting fringe along the edge.

You can also decorate your pinata using 3 inch squares of tissue paper. Spread some glue on your pinata. Hold the 4 corners of your tissue paper square together and then stick the center of the tissue paper square onto the glue. The 4 corners should not touch the glue, they should remain sticking up.

To hang your pinata, poke 4 small holes evenly spaced around the larger hole in the top. Thread a piece of string, yarn, or even fishing line through each hole and tie the together at the top. Cover the holes and secure the string further using pieces of masking tape. Tie a longer piece of string onto the these.