A few years ago my boys were crazy for star wars. All their costumes were star wars, they loved the light sabers and they watched as many of the movies as they could. It was no surprise that when my oldest turned five he would want a Star Wars themed party and being the loving mother that I am I obliged.
I was living in the city so space is not easy to come by, but I am lucky that his birthday falls in the Summer and I get to host a large party outside. There happened to be a small playground across the street from us and so I kept the party simple. The kids could play in the playground and then we would order pizza and have cake. Then I thought about a piñata. We could hang it from the jungle gym and the kids could use a light saber to hit it, so I decided I had to make our own. I got my five year old involved and we made a paper mache piñata of Darth Vader.
Be aware, it can be messy, but it is also fun. This is what I did. I blew up a balloon and put it in a bowl. I layered the paper mache over the balloon. Just to be safe I made two of these, it takes a few days to dry so you have to give yourself time. When they both worked I realized they were a bit small so I combined them by filling them with the candy and toys (including Jibbitz, tattoos and stickers and only a little candy) and the used more of the paper mache to seal them together.
Then since I am not the most artistic person I used the Star Wars Crepe Paper I ordered online for the party decorations. I wrapped it around the body and then gave it face that I covered with a Darth Vader mask. It was very home made, but perfect. The kids had a blast hitting it with the light saber. Once it finally opened up I gave the kids their goodie bags to fill up themselves.
For the cake I just put some cupcakes in a circle and put the star wars cupcake ring toppers on and it was a huge success, the only problem was what was I going to do for Akiva’s birthday to top this (He was only 3 so he got a small party, but a cool Yoda Cupcake Cake).
For more info on making your own paper mache pinata click here.
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