Paw Patrol Pinata

Another Paw Patrol birthday post! I searched and searched for a reasonably priced Paw Patrol piñata for the party. They were all so expensive, and I am not willing to spend that much money on something that will be destroyed in minutes! So, yet again, I put on my DIY hat and dove into making our own Paw Patrol piñata.

After some discussion, we decided to make the piñata look like his favorite character’s badge, Marshall’s. Honestly, it also looked easier and cooler than the other badges.

I have made a few piñatas in my day, so I knew what I needed. The most important item I had to find was the correct size cardboard box. After finding a good box, I set to work, and my son was all about helping!!

Materials Needed for the Piñata:

✔️cardboard box
✔️scissors
✔️exacto-knife
✔️pencil
✔️printer/paper
✔️red, orange, silver, and yellow acrylic paint
✔️flour and water for paper mache
✔️newspaper torn into strips

Making the Piñata:

Making a piñata is not for the faint of heart- it is very messy and time-consuming, but totally worth it in the end. Wait until you see what we ended up with!

STEP ONE: Draw the badge shape on the box. I just free-handed this by cutting the corners of the box as shown in the picture below.

STEP TWO: I then trimmed away the excess parts using an exacto-knife. The trick was trimming off the same shape and amount from the back and front without separating the pieces. It reminded me of trimming and shaping a cake.

STEP THREE: Grab some newspaper and tear or cut it into strips. The strips do not need to be perfect! I also suggest not making them too long.

STEP FOUR: Make the papier-mache paste. I followed the directions shared on The Spruce Crafts: A Recipe for No-Cook Paper-Mache Paste.

STEP FIVE: Dip each strip into the paste, remove the excess, then place it on the box. Repeat this until the whole box is covered with newspaper. If it is too wet, remove some paste. If it feels too dry, just wipe some paste over the dry parts. We allowed it to dry and then added a second layer. Be aware that it may take a day or two to dry, so plan ahead!

NOTE: The trickiest part was where the box curved (see arrows). When adding the newspaper strips, you have to let them “fall” a bit to create a curve. It wasn’t difficult, but it took a bit more time and patience. It also made the final product look so good!.

STEP SIX: Now is the fun part! Painting! My son did most of the painting. I helped a bit with the bits he missed.

STEP SEVEN: Once the red paint was dry, I used silver paint to create the edge of the badge.

STEP EIGHT: Now for the flame. Some of you can freehand draw the flame, but I am a bit more particular than that! I found the badge image on the web, enlarged it to the size of an 8.5 by 11 sheet, and printed it twice. I cut the first page around the orange flames and the second around the yellow flames.

STEP NINE: I traced the flames with a pencil on the piñata, then went over the pencil line with paint. Finally, I filled in the lines with the orange and yellow to complete the image.

STEP TEN: I cut a hole in the back, added candy, then closed it back up with hot glue. You can easily tape the hole closed as well. I also added a hook we had lying around the house so it could be hung up on the day of the party.