Being the "I can do anything myself" type, I decided to do it myself! (big surprise there). So, I started another search, this time on youtube looking for a diamond template. I quickly found an adorable girl with a great tutorial, an awesome link and saved this links picture to a camera memory card and went to my local Staples to get it printed (but bigger). I explained to them what I wanted and they flat out told me I couldn't do it. Didn't make other suggestions, didn't really even listen to what other options I may be okay with- the girl just said no and that was that.
Soo, not easily deterred, I went to Kopi Ko- a locally owned (possibly a chain? I'm not positive) store that told me that while, no, they couldn't print it on the poster board I already had but that yes, they could enlarge it and I could just glue the paper they'd print it on to my poster board. So a few trial and errors later, I had my blown up version of the original diamond template.
I took this paper home and used just cheap white glue from the dollar store and a foam brush to paint a thin layer of glue onto the poster board. Then, stick the white paper to the poster board, smoothing out any bumps with the edge of a plastic ruler on a 45 degree angle (be careful while doing this because I didn't wait for the glue to dry long enough and ended up creating a minor tear in my paper.
Then I let this dry for about 10 minutes.
Next up, I tried to think of how to score my lines. Seeing as how we were on a tight schedule and budget and I didn't have a scorer, I made up my own way with a pen and a plastic ruler, simply lining my ruler up to the left side of any given line (I'm right handed- if you're left handed, line the ruler up to the right side of any given line), and running my pen back and forth, pressing quite hard, on the line. (Note, do Not do this with your favorite pen- I just used a cheap black pen that was almost out of ink- ink is not necessary for this to work, you just need a pointy but not sharp point [you don't want to cut through the board]. I "scored" all my lines then repeatedly folded them up and re-bent the lines with my thumbnail so they were extra bent.
Next, I followed the directions from the video and folded up each side and glued it to its corresponding partner. This worked great, as I pinched the glued bits and let them dry a bit before moving onto the next side, until the last side. But first, and I forgot this bit (and it was rather annoying to correct after the fact), find the center of your top or the flat part of the pinata and poke a hole there. I like using a pin or sewing needle to poke the initial hole then using a screw or pen/cil to make the hole bigger- this way there is less of a risk of tearing. Take a piece of medium weight rope and knot it at one end. Thread the unknotted end through the hole (inside of the pinata to outside).
Now for the fun part- fill up your pinata!! Since I was making mine for a 21st birthday party, the contents were a little more 18A (I'm from Alberta, Canada so the legal drinking age is 18, but 21 is still a big party.)- condoms, items from the sex store and alcohol filled the pinata but you could use whatever you want to fit your theme from glitter and confetti, to toys and games to makeup to treat bags- whatever your little heart desires! Remember to leave enough room to fit the knotted end of the rope in.
Also, if you don't want to break the pinata and just want to leave it as decor, don't fill it! This is your party and you can choose to fill your pinata only if you want to.
Next, take a needle and thread from the inside (also knotted at one end), and poke it from inside to out through the last joint in the pinata form so you're able to tighten the last joint together (since the shape is now closed, you wont be able to pinch it closed like the others so instead just pull the thread to tighten it and push the seam close. Let this dry overnight and then clip the thread on the last seam.
Now the fun part! Decorating the diamond. I decided not to use a glue/ paper mixture to create layers of a shell on the outside like a traditional pinata because I didn't want to ruin the sharp lines and great shape that I had created with close to a half an hour of scoring so instead, I just did layers of glitter mod podge and silver sparkles built up (for a total of about 3 layers- with the final layer being mod podge to seal all the glitter in.) to create a disco ball effect.
But remember, you can decorate this according to your tastes and your party! For a pink birthday party, make a pink diamond using a coat or two of your daughter, sons or best friends favorite pink paint then covering that with a few layers of glitter mod podge- black, yellow, pink, green, blue- whatever color you use, I'm sure it will look fabulous! If you decide to try this out, please send me your pins or tag me @morganlencucha in your pin.
Soo, the basic steps are:
1. Buy poster board from the dollar store (I chose to use white but any color would work)
2. Follow this link and then the link in the video and save the image to a memory stick/ card.
3. Get template printed out then blown up- to the largest size that you can while still being able to fit the image on a single piece of cardstock.
4. Score all the lines then bend them up in whatever way you deem appropriate.
5. Re-bend all the lines in (you'll start to see the shape appear.) and cut out on the outermost lines (see picture)
6. (I forgot this step, but it's pretty important!) Find the center of the flat part of your diamond, and make a hole. Feed a rope (knotted at one end) through this hole.
If, like me, you forget this step, do what I did- wait for everything to dry at least overnight in a cold place (I used my garage) then take a ruler and mark the center of the diamond. Next take a drill and carefully drill two holes about an inch or 2.5cm apart- bend a piece of medium gauge wire and hook it through these holes. Twist the wire at the top and tada!
6 1/2 (optional)- fill the pinata with goodies or leave it empty to use as decor.
7. Follow the directions from the video, folding up the shape, and attaching the "points" but instead of tape, use glue. Hold each section closed while it dries.
8, "Stitch" last section closed with needle/thread and glue.
9. Let dry overnight.
10. Now the fun part!- paint and decorate! I used a cheap silver paint from Walmart and did one coat of that. Then I let that dry and covered it in one coat of glitter mod podge. I decided not to make an actual pinata with layers of paper but just the idea of one with goodies inside
And basic (estimate) costs/ supply list:
-white card stock (0.50c at my local dollar store)
-getting the template printed large ($2.40)
-memory card or stick (hopefully you have one of these laying around or else they'll be about $10 from Walmart)
-white glue ($1.50 at my dollar store)
-silver paint ($2.25 at Walmart)
-silver glitter ($10 for a giant tub at Micheal's)
-glitter mod podge ($10 for a medium tub at Walmart)
-a length of rope (I actually used metal wire that was laying around the house) (less than $2)
-plastic ruler for scoring (3 for $1 at the dollar store)
-an almost out of ink pen (we all have these laying around so free)
-stuffing materials- this depends on what you want and how much of it you need.
Sooo overall, I'm super happy with how this turned out; the total project cost me under $30 since I had some of the supplies at home which is way cheaper than what I found online and only took me about an hour and half to complete total (not including drying time).
Also, I made it so now I have bragging rights and I saved over $110 opposed to buying it and got to personalize the outside and contents as much as I wanted.
The scoring of the lines was a nuisance but time would be saved with a scoring tool.
Overall I completely recommend this project- if I can do it, so can you! Make sure to send me a link to where you posted you trying this out.
Diamond pinata? Success!! Don't forget to like and share if you enjoyed this post.
That's all for today,
Mo
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