How to Make an Ice Cream Cone Pinata

When my daughter asked if she could have a pinata this year, I thought "sure, why not". Then she informed me that she "had" to have an ice cream cone shaped one or it just would not fit her ice cream theme party. Again, I thought "sure, why not". It took a full week to make this baby, but it was well worth it and it looked amazing when it was done! It was a lot of work, but we made it together so it was a great mother-daughter activity and daddy even joined in the fun of making it at the end!

Step 1: Gather your materials for the top of the ice cream cone

You will need: 
1 balloon, inflated (no helium)
newspaper
flour
water

Additionally, you will later need:
1/2 sheet poster board
rope
glue
tape
colored tissue paper

Step 2:  To make the actual pinata, you will be using a paper mache technique. To make the glue, ix 1 cup of flour with 1 &1/3 cup water.  Stir until it is well blended and there are few, if any, bumps.

Step 3: Rip pieces of newspaper into 2-3 inch wide strips. Dip both sides of the strip into the mixture and then slide two fingers over the wet newspaper strip to remove the excess glue. Place the strip on the balloon. Continue to place the strips over the balloon until it is entirely covered. You will want to position the balloon on a bowl of some kind and may need to let the majority of it dry overnight before you can flip it to do the underside. You will need to put 4-6 layers (drying overnight in between each layer) so that it is very sturdy and can handle being whacked by the party guests.

Step 4:  Once the pinata has dried completely and is very hard, cut a small hole into the top (keep the piece removed from the hole) for the candy. Cutting into it will pop the balloon, but you should remove the balloon nonetheless. If it falls to the bottom, use a metal hanger to fish it out.   Cut two more small holes (smaller than the candy hole) for a rope. For extra reinforcement, you can attach a small piece of cardboard to the ends of the rope. You will want to place the cardboard on the inside portion of the hole buy working through the larger candy hole (see picture below).

Step 5: Fill with candy and then replace the removed piece of the pinata and tape to close it. Masking tape worked best for this job.

Step 6: Make a cone out of poster board, trimming the upper portion as necessary to make a more perfect cone shape. Tape the cone together and then use masking tape to adhere the cone to the paper mache ice cream top.

Step 7: Cut gold or tan colored tissue paper into 2 inch strips and begin wrapping the paper around the cone, gluing as you go. 

Step 8: Cut strips of the ice cream colored tissue paper (about 3 inches wide), cutting small slits 3/4 of the way through the paper all the way down the length of the strip. Begin at the base of the ice cream, closest to the cone, and begin glueing down one layer after the other of the colored paper, wrapping around the ice cream as you go. Make sure the entire top is covered by the layers.

Step 9: Tie additional rope to the rope on the pinata and hang it up. Be prepared to cry as little kids bash away at your masterpiece! Since the kids will probably assume that the cone holds candy too, you will get a laugh when the code flies off and they stare at the empty floor beneath them with the most adorable, confused looks on their faces. Hey, that's what they get for batting away at my artwork!