Set Up

1. Gather your materials: box, clear tape, glue gun, gray paper, brown paper, colored paper for turret roof and flags, white paper for banners (not included on my castle, but you may want them), transparency paper, aluminum foil, scissors, black paint, sponge, wrapping paper tube, toothipicks or wooden skewer.
2. Print out window pages on transparency paper and on gray paper. I printed out three copies of each for my castle pinata. Here's the PDF file for the windows.

3. Print out page for drawbridge on brown paper. Here's the PDF file for the drawbridge.
4. Print out page for turret roof and flags on colored paper the coordinates with your party color scheme. Here's the PDF file for the roof and flags.
5. Print out page for castle banners on white paper and color in with markers to coordinate with your party color scheme. (I didn't have room for any of these on my pinata.) Here's the PDF file for the banners.

Tips

• Use a cake box or maybe two cereal boxes together for a whack and bash pinata or use a sturdier cardboard box for a pull and yank pinata.
• You can find individual sheets of colored paper from some office supply stores, or in the scrapbook section of your craft store.
• Most ink jet printers will print fine on transparency paper. But, make sure the ink dries completely before setting the transparency on another paper, or the ink will spread.

The Process for making a castle pinata

1. Cut out the windows from the gray paper. Windows may be shortened by cutting out only the top one or two panes. The printed side of the gray paper will be placed down so it won't show. You do not need to cut out every window on every side. Just cut out the ones you want to use. 
2. Cut out the drawbridge, turret roof and flags, and the banners. 
3. Crumple one piece of aluminum foil for each window sheet and carefully straighten out and flatten. 
4. Tape a sheet of aluminum foil to box where the windows will be. Place the transparency over the foil and tape in place. Then put the gray paper, printed side down, over the transparency, lining up the cut out window holes with the windows of the transparency. Tape in place.
5. Cover the rest of the box with grey paper. 
6. Tape or glue the cut out drawbridge in place.
7. Cut the sponge so one side is about the size of a stone for your castle. Dampen it, dip it in black paint and then add some stones around the windows, drawbridge and maybe a few other spots as needed. Also do some random stones on 2 pieces of gray paper to be wrapped around the turret.
8. Cut the wrapping paper tube to the size you need for the turret. Cut straight down the center of the tube. Use white glue or tape to wrap and secure the gray paper around the turret, folding the paper in over the cut edges. Use hot glue to attach turret to the corner of castle. I found I only needed to glue one side of the turret to the castle, but it would not be difficult to do both sides. The cut down the center allows you to place the turret around the corner instead of precariously attached to a side of the castle. 

9. Use clear tape to attach the flags to the top of a wooden skewer or a couple of toothpicks taped together. Wrap the turret roof around the toothpick and secure with tape. Use hot glue to attach the roof to the turret. Add banners as desired, under windows or from the top of the castle.
10. Poke holes in the side of the pinata and run string through it, about an inch from the top. If using a cake box first put masking tape on the box where the holes will be so the string won’t rip through the box while it is hanging.
11. Fill the pinata with candy and toys, close, and secure top of pinata and cover with gray paper. 
12. Hang up your castle pinata and wait for the fun to begin!

Tips

• If you want stained glass windows use markers to color in the windows on the transparencies. 
• Put a few wads of tape or even a few dabs of hot glue on the underside of the turret roof to keep the flag pole standing up straight.
• Crease the paper by running your fingers along all the corners of the castle pinata for a crisp look.
• Use string or ribbon or even bias tape for the pinata hangar. Avoid using yarn or elastic. If using a thin string like kite string you will want to double each string.

Tips

• Use curling ribbon or craft ribbon that coordinate with the colors of the party. I used blue and white ribbons for my castle pinata.
• The ribbon to open the trap door needs to be placed opposite the hinge so it can pull it open.
• If the ribbon attached to the trap door is not at the edge of the pinata, use small bits of scotch tape to hold it to the edge of the pinata. The false bottom will cover it up.