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How to Make a Pinata Bat

How to Make a Pinata, Inexpensive Pinatas

We’ve all seen those images of kids swinging a huge ball bat around in an attempt to break open a party pinata. The ordinary ball bat seems out of place for the colorful pinata that dangles above their heads. It’s heavy, it’s awkward; it’s not all that appropriate for a child. It’s a must that you need a bat-type object for breaking open a pinata but, in keeping with the party scene, shouldn’t you have a much different bat? One that’s colorful, easier to hold and less heavy than a ball bat? You can make such a bat and even make it to match the pinata. It’s really easy to do so let’s get started!

There are a couple of different things you can use to make the new pinata bat. An ordinary stick from a tree is one option. The stick you choose should have no protruding twigs or branches and should be cleaned of loose bark. The stick should measure approximately thirty inches from one end to the other. Although the diameter of the stick can vary a good size is two inches in diameter. Try to choose a stick that’s basically the same diameter all the way down. Thump the stick against a tree or the ground a couple of times to make sure it’s strong and not rotten. The last thing you want at the birthday party is to break the stick and not the pinata. It’s okay if one end of the stick is a little larger than the other but it will be a little more challenging to decorate if you choose a stick that has large bumps and lumps.

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A second choice for the stick is a wooden dowel. One that’s a couple of inches or so in diameter is ideal. You’ll find dowel rods at craft stores and also at home improvement retailers. A home improvement store will often cut the dowel to the desired size, free of charge. Some craft stores, though, sell dowels which feature shorter lengths whereas home improvement retailers will often sell longer lengths that have to be cut down to size. A different choice you can make while you’re at a home improvement store is a piece of PVC pipe. It’s hard and strong but cheap and lightweight. This, too, can be cut down to size right there at the home improvement store.

It’s fun to decorate the pinata bat to match the colors of the pinata. Crepe paper, paper mache and even colored tape are all choices you have when it comes to creating the color scheme and/or theme of the bat. A simplistic design is created when you use plastic, colored tape. You’ll find the tape at dollar theme stores, home improvement retailers and even craft stores. Wrap it around and around the stick to create the design you want. Cover the entire stick with one color or alternate two or more colors to make stripes and other patterns.

You can do something different by using crepe paper. Wrap a piece of one color at the end and glue or tape it in place. Go above it and wrap another piece. Continue doing this until the bat is covered with different colors of crepe paper. If you want, you can make small slits at the edge of each piece, and then when you wrap them around, they’ll create a feathered or fringed look all the way down the bat.

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A long strip of cloth – torn from an old sheet, perhaps – provides another way to cover the bat. Simply twist the sheet as you wrap it around and around the stick. Do something similar with roping. Glue it firmly to one end then wrap the entire bat with it and glue to secure. Yarn can also be used but you might need to wrap the bat more than once to get good coverage of the stick. Or, if you have zillions of small, colored rubber bands you can slide them onto the bat to color it and give it a no-slip grip at the same time.

Many pinatas are made from crepe paper, colored tissue paper or paper mache. It’s easy to match those vivid colors to create a pinata bat that looks like it is part of the set. The new bat is a much more appropriate bat for kids to hold and maneuver, and in addition, it doesn’t have the ordinary look of a regular ball bat. Of course, at the end of the party the pinata will be destroyed but the child – or adult – can always keep the pinata bat as a souvenir.

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