DIY Minnie Mouse Pinata & Free Party Activty Sign Printables

Disclosure: I was sent the black jumbo streamers to review free of charge from Oriental Trading. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review.

Hazel has been wanting a pinata that we can break with a stick. She has seen several on television. I promised her if we had a birthday party outside, she could have one. Now I have watched and tried to break several store bought pinatas. They are not easy to break and take some of the fun out of it, so I wanted to make one that would be easier for the kids to actually break. After all that is what she is really wanting. We made a simple Minnie Mouse one with balloons, newspaper, glue, water and black streamers and a piece of pink tissue paper for the bow. Oriental Trading was kind enough to send me their jumbo black streamers to review. This is how we used them.

To make the pinata, I blew up a large balloon (12") and two small balloons (water balloons). I taped the water balloons to the big balloon and decided I could make the ears bigger in the paper mâché stage. Other ideas would be using small paper plates or old CDs.  Next Hazel and I mixed white glue with some water and then we used newspaper strips and paper mached the entire surface. Make sure you overlap the strips. Many tutorials suggest doing three layers, but they also line theirs with cardboard. Like I said I was trying to make this easy to open. Once we had covered the surface (I did the ears and Hazel worked on the rest), we left it to dry overnight. The next day I popped the balloons and removed the large balloon. I had sealed in the small ones and figured it did not matter. Once it is empty, you can poke two holes between the ears for the hanger. I used yarn covered wire I had bought on clearance. I looped it and wound it together in the interior of the pinata. Next fill the pinata. The nice part of making it is you will not have to worry about the hole to fill it.

Once it is filled you can seal the hole with a piece of newspaper and tape. Now it is time to for the streamers. However, if you want you can paint the paper mache first. I chose not to bother with paint. I used a jar cover for the glue and lots of small pieces of streamers. I first covered the bottom with larger pieces of streamers and then did the small pieces. I was trying to make it look like the store-bought ones. I realized as I glued all the pieces on that it hides all the mistakes of the paper mâché. I guess this is why they make them this way. Once it was finished with streamers, it was a Mickey Mouse head. Of course, Hazel asked me to add a bow. 

I got the idea to use tissue paper for the bow from The Lovebugs Blog: DIY Tissue Paper Bows. I did not follow her tutorial, however. I cut a piece off to be the tie part of the bow. Then taking the larger piece I folded the ends in and then folded the other ends in. Next, I bunched it to be a bow. I took the piece I cut off and wrapped it around the bow and tied and glued it. Then I glued it on the pinata, and it was now Minnie Mouse, and Hazel loves it!! Though she does want to paint some white dots on the bow.

Hazel and I worked out what the activities will be at the party. I think we have more than enough. We will have some crafts and fun stations set up for when the guests arrive. This includes Minnie's Rainbow Coloring Station, Minnie's Bow-tique Decorate a Bow Station, Minnie's Bow-tique Make a Bracelet or Two Station, Mickey's Bubble Fun Station (I found Mickey Mouse Bubbles at Dollar Tree the other day) and Minnie's Boutique Tattoos. Then for games we are going to have Minnie's Bow-tique Bow Hunt, Mickey's BINGO (I found some games at the Christmas Tree Shop for $1), Pin-the-bow on Minnie (tutorial coming soon), Hot Diggety Dog Dance Freeze, and the pinata. I made some signs for the stations and an overall list of the activities.

I decided to add ribbon bows to the two ribbon signs, however I included ones with pink bows printed on it as well. I also used Minnie's Bow-tique on the printables I am providing. Here it is with the bows included and here it is without them so you can add ribbons. I have two types of bracelets for the kids to make. I found some kits on clearance over the summer that looked Minnie-ish and I also have ones that you can spell names on that are plastic. For the coloring station I have a large coloring book and found Minnie Mouse crayons at the Dollar Tree. For decorating a bow I found some felt bows on clearance at Michaels a while ago.

The final find to share with you is Method soap. They have Mickey and Minnie shaped liquid soap. This will be in the bathroom for the party. I added a ribbon bow to make sure people knew it represents Minnie. I bought mine at Target but have seen it many places.  Well, that is our latest installment of Minnie Mouse supplies. I should add that Oriental Trading sent us some great Minnie and Mickey Mouse decorations, but I will review those and the other things they sent us at other times (once we use them)!

For more Minnie Mouse crafts check out:

• Mickey and Minnie Mouse Tote Bags for Favors
• DIY Mickey and Minnie Mouse Ears and Party Printables
• Minnie Mouse Napkin Rings for Party
• DIY Party Decorations Product Review
• Minnie Mouse Outfit
• Minnie Mouse Dress
• Minnie Mouse Purse
• My Minnie/Mickey Mouse Party Idea Pinterest Board