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Make a Taco
Pinata
How
to make a Taco Pinata
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My 6 year old had to have a taco pinata for her birthday party.
She
said she wanted to eat a taco as big as her pinata.
However, I don't
think she would find the purple meat very tasty.
It does look nice in
the pinata, however. |
Pinata Filler
Solid Punch Balloons
Mini Gummy Pizza
Giggle Tubes
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Set
Up
- Gather your materials: 2 pieces of white
posterboard,
scissors, white
glue, masking tape, duct tape, stapler, foam paint brush, hole punch,
ribbon and red, green, orange,
yellow and purple tissue paper.
- Print out this
template for the corners of the taco shell and for
the sides of the taco.
- Place the taco shell corner template at
the
corner of a piece of
posterboard and cut. Lay the template horizontally while the
posterboard is vertical. Then, move the template to each corner and
trace and cut. Remember, the template is horizontal and the posterboard
is vertical.
- Cut the other posterboard using the other
template
- basically a "U" shape. A very TALL "U". Cut two "U"s and extend the
lines for them for the entire length of the posterboard.
- Cut the yellow tissue paper into squares,
about
1 or 2 inches in size. Also cut a few orange and purple tissue paper
squares.
- Cut the purple, green and red tissue
paper into
a large fringe. Fold and cut the tissue paper in strips about 4 inches
wide, when folded.
Then snip fringes about 1 inch wide from the open side, up toward the
folded edge of the strip of tissue paper.
Tips
- Use lightweight posterboard.
- To make the fringe, fold several pieces
of
tissue paper together, then cut
into 4 inch strips. Separate the strips and stack on top of each other,
with the folded edges aligned. Then cut the fringe for several layers
at the same time.
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The
Process
- Decorate the taco shell. Thin some white
glue
with 1 part water to
1 part glue. Use the foam paint brush to apply some glue mixture to the
posterboard that will become the taco shell. Add a few pieces of cut
tissue paper, mostly yellow with a few orange and purple. Put
more
glue mixture on top of the tissue paper if needed. Continue
until
the entire side of the taco shell is covered. Overlap tissue paper
squares to give the shell more texture.
2. When the shell has dried, gently fold it in
half with the
decorated side to the outside. Then staple the "U" shaped
posterboard
to the edges of the shell. There will be small
gaps, it's
okay.
3. Staple each side up along the taco,
about 1-1 1/2 inches
between staples. When it becomes
difficult to bend the
center posterboard to the shell of the taco, snip
the posterboard to help it bend. A 1 inch
snip between
staples will
help
the posterboard bend.
4. Staple the posterboard toward the center of the
taco, but
leave a 6 or 8 inch opening at the top.
5. Put a strip of duct tape inside the taco shell
at the top.
Punch two holes on each side (a total of four holes), about
4 inches apart from
each other. |
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6. Run the ribbon for hanging the pinata
through the punched holes, forming a criss
cross. It's
actually very similar to lacing tennis shoes.
7. Apply purple fringe. Put some white glue on the
bottom of one of the sides of the taco
pinata and apply the purple
fringe. Begin at the bottom. Put a new layer of fringe 1 or
2
inches above the bottom layer. Glue about 6 layers of purple fringe to
each side of
the pinata. The fringe should be
hanging downwards from
the pinata.
8. Use white glue to apply two layers of green
fringe to each side of the pinata,
perpendicular to how the purple
fringe is hanging. This picture is showing only the first
layer of green tissue paper.
9. Then use white glue to attach a few strips of
red fringe, inside the green fringe.
10. After the glue has dried, fill your
taco pinata and hang it up.
Tips
- The purple tissue paper on the taco shell will
be a more subtle
color if a layer of yellow tissue paper is placed over it.
- Use string or ribbon or even bias tape
for the
pinata
hanger. Avoid using yarn or elastic. If using a thin string like kite
string
you will want to double each string.
- Take some pictures of the guests pretending to eat the pinata before it's emptied!
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Pull
and Yank
Adjustments
- Insert these steps before step #1 above.
- Cut 2 snips, 4 inches long and 3
inches apart, in the side of the
shell. The snips should be at the bottom of the taco shell when it is
folded. Place a small piece of masking tape over each snip.
- Put a piece of tape near the edge of the
pinata, between the two snips and punch a hole in it. Tie a
ribbon in the hole.
- Decorate the taco shell, covering the snips and
holes.
- After decorating the taco shell, but before
adding the sides, attach several more ribbons to the inside, bottom of
the taco shell. Use small pieces of
scotch or
masking tape so the ribbons will easily pull away from the
pinata. Be sure the ribbons will be dangling out of the
taco.
- Now staple the center posterboard into the taco
pinata and continue with the decorations.
Tips
- Use curling ribbon or craft ribbon that
coordinate with the
colors of the pinata.
- I
placed two ribbons on each side of the taco pinata that could open it
up. Then I had the guests grab a ribbon and pull all at the same time.
This provided multiple tears in the taco to open it up quite well.
Now your Taco Pinata
is ready for your party.
Click
here to learn how to play the pinata game.
Return
to Make a Pinata from Taco Pinata
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