Faux Valentine Piñata

This Faux Valentine Piñata is such a fun piece of handmade Valentine's Day decor!

Whenever I see a piñata, I immediately think "party time"! But it always makes me a little sad when the party is over and all you have left is a mangled piece of cardboard with some tissue paper stuck to it. I wanted to add a little fun to our Valentine's Day decor, so I created a piñata that will not meet death with a baseball bat. This piñata is a faux piñata - meaning no broken hearts here! (ba-dum-dum)

To make a Faux Valentine Piñata, you'll need these supplies:

• FloraCraft Make It: Fun Cake Form (I used a 4"x10" form, but any size will work)
• StyroCutter Plus or other foam cutting tools
• Tissue Paper - pink
• Glue Gun/Glue Sticks
• Glitter Cardstock
• Adhesive
• Spray Glitter

Draw or trace a heart onto the cake form with a marker. I printed out a heart, cut it out, and traced the edges. Try to use the edges as much as possible to use as much as the cake form as you can. Learn from my experience, and draw with the same color as your tissue paper if possible...the marker can sometimes show through.

Using the StyroCutter Plus, cut the heart shape out. Make sure to go super slow, otherwise you could break the cutter. I personally prefer this tool because it makes the cutting virtually mess free, and it heats up in less than 30 seconds. If you don't have one, there are lots of other knives you can use that will cut through the foam. It's okay if it isn't cut perfectly (just take a look at mine!). Once it's covered, no one will be able to tell.

With the tissue paper folded in half, cut a one inch strip along the entire bottom edge. Starting at one end, cut small strips into the tissue paper, being careful not to cut all the way through. When you get to the other end, you'll now have a couple long strips of tissue paper fringe. I cut one to start with, then cut more as I needed. I ended up using about 3 1/2 one inch strips total for the entire piñata.

Heat up the glue gun, then measure a length of tissue paper fringe to the bottom of the heart. Add a little extra, then rip it away from the rest of the strip of paper. Add some hot glue to the foam where the fringe will go, and carefully stick the tissue paper strip on. Work from the bottom up, and layer the fringe pieces on top of each other (see image above).

**Keep in mind that you will probably doubt yourself a few times throughout the process, but just keep going!! It will look great in the end!

Keep going until the entire front of the piñata completely covered. It's okay to have extra paper hanging along the edges of the piñata. This is a little time consuming, but turn on some Netflix or Hulu and you'll be good to go!

Turn the piñata on it's side, and trim the excess tissue paper off with some scissors. This will really clean it up and get you ready to start the sides. You're almost done!!

Starting on the bottom of one side, glue on strips of fringed tissue paper up all the way to the center. You can leave extra on the ends if you want, or you can cut them to fit. Either way will work fine. Then turn the heart over, and repeat on the other side. Trim the extra tissue paper around the edges if needed.

**I didn't worry about the back since no one would see it, but you're more than welcome to cover it if you want. If you do choose to cover it, I would do it before you add the sides.

Next, I cut out "Be Mine" out of some glitter cardstock with my Cricut Explore. This is the same glitter paper that I used in my DIY Valentine's Day Banner.

I laid out the letters, then attached them with some adhesive. This glue really does make things stick quickly, so it's perfect for projects like these when you don't want things shifting or making you wait forever before moving on to the next step.

If you know anything about me, you know I always love adding a little (or a lot) more sparkle whenever possible... So, of course, I couldn't resist adding a couple layers of silver spray glitter to add some extra shine!!

Spray the spray glitter 12-15 inches away from the piñata (just like you would a spray paint), and let it dry for a couple of minutes. Then, add another coat or two as necessary. Let dry completely before touching it to prevent any of the fringe from sticking to you and coming off.

Once the spray glitter is dry, your piñata is technically done! You can put it on a shelf or mantel for display with other Valentine's Day decor.

Or, to really get in the piñata spirit, you can attach a string to the top center or the top in the back and hang the piñata!! Just warn the kids (and fun-loving adults) that this piñata is candy-free!!! I am absolutely smitten with this project!!