Today was my son’s 7th birthday party, a Lego-themed event I feel like we’ve been preparing for the past month. Anders came up with theme, and the ideas for the items I had to work on this past week – a Lego head piñata and birthday cake.
I have to admit, I was particularly proud of the piñata, which took me three days to create. This was only the second piñata I’ve ever created ( my first was for our son’s pirate party last year ), and I wasn’t quite sure how i would create the distinctive shape of a Lego minifig head. Then I found the solution during a visit to A.C. Moore – pre-shaped foam discs and a sheet of poster board.
Using staples, glue and a roll of blue painter’s tape, I was able to create the basic shape. My goal was to come as close to the correct proportions, while still having enough room for the candy.
Using a copy of the Boston Globe and a basic paper maiche recipe (1 part flour to 2 parts water), I covered the shape with two coats of paper. I made sure to include a hole at the top to allow us to fill the piñata, as well as a string for hanging.
Finally, I applied two coats of yellow paint, and using a black Sharpie marker, drew on the face (Anders chose the expression).
There is no question I was a little sad that it was going to be beaten by a baseball bat – on the other hand, what am I going to do with a piñata hanging around the house?
Oh, and I did get to the cake too – four layers of cake plus a ton of yellow frosting!
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34 Responses to Notes from a Lego Party
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WOW, that pinata is impressive!!!! How did you do the facial expression so perfectly????
I love the pinata. we got a timer from the lego store that looks like it, and we use it for timeouts
oh fun! it was Jax’s birthday today too except we did Backyardigans!
I’ll have to remember the Lego idea for next year!
Totally awesome pinata! The cake rocks, too! you really did “do it all and then some” for this party!! Way to go, Kristin!
That is wonderful! I love that idea – I just might have to ‘borrow’ it someday!
Happy Birthday Anders!
Very impressive!
Kristin, you have been hiding your crafty skills! I am so impressed at your creativity, and also the final results. Great job!
Should we do a seminar on pinata construction at the Escape? Looks fantastic, and is that sun shining in Boston?
I used chalk to sketch out the face before using the sharpie. A google search for Lego head allowed to look at many options form him to choose from.
I did tell the other parents at the party that pinatas and cake are my only truly domestic skills.
Nice job Kristin! If we had a GD tree in our yard I’d make one for my son’s birthday in September.
That pinata is the coolest! I know how you feel about smashing it. I used to do the neatest birthday cakes for my kids’ birthday parties and it was a little wrenching to cut them up and eat them.
DS Kyle, 5, said “I want to go there!” when he saw the pics from Anders’ party. You get the prize for that pinata, and the cake looks great too. You rock!
Wow, that pinata and cake are amazing! I wish I had your creative ability. I may have to attempt that for our next party. Well, since it is in 2 weeks and we are in the process of moving back to the US, I will wait until December, the next bday.
THanks for sharing!
-Erin
You are crafty, Kristin!! You really are!! You can’t fool us now!!
That is awesome!
Extremely cool! I love making stuff for my kids’ parties and having the other parent oh and ah! There must have been a lot of that going around! Awesome!!
Great job Kristen! Just keep Erin shnocked on box wine, and the mother of the year award is all yours!
Love it! My C would definitely love that kind of pinata and party. May steal the idea!
I LOVE the cake and pinata so much that I’m stealing it for my son’s birthday next week.
Question for ya…when the kids hit the pinata, did they break through the poster board?
The pinata eventually broke when the impact of the bat detached the poster board from the top part of the pinata.
Love the pinata! Incredibly impressive Kristen!!! I would love pix and directions for the pirate pinata please! I have a pirate party coming up in August.
Thank you, I have been searching the internet and every store I could find for lego themed birthday party items for my sons birthday and this is exactly what I needed. I can only hope that mine comes out as good as yours did… Thank you again for posting this!!!!
Wow! Awesome pinata! I’m going to try to attempt to make the same one for my son’s 9th birthday party. So i’m assuming you had to carve on the inside of the discs to get the candy in.
I’ve been meaning to create a diagram. I had to carve through the top two discs to get the candy in. First I attached the foam rings to the top, so I could see where I needed the hole. Then I poked through the top discs with a pair of scissors.
While looking for Lego themed items for my son’s 7th bday party, I came across your pinata. LOVE it!!! I was wondering if you could tell me what size foam disks you used. Did you use 2 disks on each end? Thanks SO much for your help!! ~ Jen
This pinata is amazing! It’s just what I’ve been looking all over the internet for! I’m trying to copy it for my son’s party next week. One question, how did you round the edges of the discs? Or did you purchase them like that? I can’t tell from the picture.
Hi Jen! I used a serrated knife (like the kind you use to slice bread) to shave off the sharp edge of the hard foam disks. You don’t have to take off much to create the curve. Good luck! I can’t wait to see it!!
Wow, I wish I would have seen this last year when I did a Lego party for my son. This year he wants a Ninja party, based on the Lego Ninjago so I think we will attempt this but with some sort of ninja scarf on the minifig head:)
Great Job!!!
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this may seem like a silly questions but once you wrapped the foam in the cardboard and newspaper how did you get it out?
This is so funny because I was talking to my husband today about my sons party next weekend and I told him I wanted to make a head pinata and a head cake and he acted like I was crazy! Thanks for the instructions because I will be following them this week
Hello, LOVE the pinata idea and will be trying to make it for my sons birthday this April. I have all the supplies you showed, I was curious about the top and the whole. Did you leave it open after adding the candy? And what are the 2 smaller discs for? Are they used both on the bottom?
I always put the hole in the piñata as I’m building it – meaning, I paper macho “around” the hole. In the case of the Lego, the hole is pre-built as I used foam discs to create the top and the bottom.
Good luck!
I LOVE your pinata! I’ve been brainstorming ideas for a Lego pinata and realized I don’t need to reinvent the wheel- I guessed there’d be some awesome Lego pinata tutorials out there and I was right. Thank you!