How To Make A Pirate "Skull" Pinata

This year for Zayden’s 5th Birthday he had a “pirate” themed party at Port of Lost Wonder in Sentosa. As you may recall, last year for Zayden’s “monster” themed birthday I made a monster piñata. Although the piñata took many hours to make, I decided to do it again this year for his pirate themed party in the shape of a “skull” pirate.

Making a custom piñata at home is easy to make, however it does take a few days. If you have the time and the energy to make your own DIY piñata, I totally recommend it because (1) you can make a massive piñata, (2) your kid(s) will love it, and (3) your party guests & friends will all be in awe of your accomplishment. 🙂

Here are the easy step-by-step directions on how you too can make this pirate piñata for your kid’s birthday or Halloween party. First you will need to make the piñata using a big balloon and a basic paper-mache technique. Click here to see the step-by-step on how to make the piñata. You will also need the recipe for the special paper-mache glue.

After you make the paper-mache piñata you will need to stuff it with goodies. Since this was a pirate party – I decided to do individual packets of “pirate loot”. If you want to do the same just click here for a free pirate loot printable.

Next you will need to decorate the piñata in your choice of pirate theme. I decided to make a “skull” pirate since this was the overall theme of the invitations and banners for the party.

Things you need:

White, Red & Black crepe paper
Black Paper (for the face)
White paper (for the teeth)
Newspaper (for the bandana ties)
Scissors
Glue
Masking Tape

Time to Decorate: approx 2 hours (depends on the size of your piñata)

Note: I did this piñata in a rush so I didn’t have time to take too many step by step pictures – but you can check out the monster piñata step-by-step if you need more details.

Step 1: The Face

Cut the white crepe paper into small squares and cut the edges of the crepe paper to make tassels. Apply glue to the back of the crepe paper and then attach it to the piñata. Keep doing this until the majority of the piñata is covered. About 1/3 of the piñata should remain uncovered – this will be “red” for the bandana.

Step 2: The Red Bandana

Repeat “Step 1” from above, using the red crepe paper to create the pirate’s bandana.

Step 3: The Skull Features

Make cut-outs of the skull face on the black paper. Make tissue paper flowers out of the black crepe paper and attach to the black crepe paper with glue. Using masking tape, attach each of the skull facial features to the piñata. Then cut out rectangles from white pieces of paper to make the teeth.

Step 4: The Bandana Ties

Roll up a big piece of newspaper and twist it to make ties. Attach this to the piñata on the masking tape. Then cover the rolled up newspaper with red crepe paper to make the bandana ties.

Now your piñata is done and it’s time to PARTY!!!

Party Time

At the party the piñata looked great. It made an awesome party decoration and it was super big and tough so it was easy for the little kids to hit and take multiple turns.