2021
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My aunt sent us the image below and asked us to make a piñata. (She didn't like the party her DIL threw for her first grandson & was planning to throw a 2nd party. 😬)

This piñata would have to be shipped out of state, so I had to keep it relatively small.

First step was getting the shape just right.

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I didn't have plastic cups on hand, so I cut cardboard boxes to be the same width & fit nicely within the space.

I wanted the paws of the sloth to hold onto a branch, so I had to wrap them separately.

Make sure to poke holes (& support them).

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The candy hole is between the upper arms (the chest).

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To get the fur looking right, I made the shoulders & thighs separately. I also took time to plan the direction I laid the fur.

Don't be afraid to mark the piñata. I suggest using pencil so it is less likely to show through tissue & it's easier to erase.

For the fur, I used paper bags. My brother orders a lot of groceries & thankfully asks for paper & not plastic bags.

Just cut seams of the bags, cut them in stips, lay the strips in groups, & cut those groups as fringe. Probably like 3 strips at a time, otherwise you might have too much trouble cutting through.

Remember you can always go back and trim up the edges to give your piñata shape. You can also squeeze in little pieces to fill in empty spots.

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To make a branch,, I got a cardboard roll and began taping rolled up newspaper to it. As I went along I taped wireds to it. In this case, I had pipe cleaners and wire wrapped in brown rope.

I then spray painted the branch brown and used a black marker to make lines (grain) on it. Make sure it's dry before you mark it up. Or maybe use acrylic paint to make the wood grain.

You can use colored paper or pre-made leaves, but we happened to have these green sheets of foam.

We attached them with a glue gun.
You could probably stable them onto the wire or even sew them on.

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I always suggest using a stencil to avoid mistakes, & to make sure multiples match up, or to make things more symmetrical.

I didn't have black paper, so I colored paper with a black sharpie.

It was so hard to make & cut those eye brows and mouth.

If you can afford it, get hole pushers or a cricut.
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I used sharpies to add detail.

I traced the shoulders to make them stand out from the rest of the body.

I also make "vines" from rolling green paper crepe. That was a pain in the butt. It's really easy to make it look bad.

The tiny leaves are left over from a project my mom did in which she only needed the flowers. So, if possible, try keeping leftovers for future projects.

I made small blue tissue flowers to add some color.

This was the first time not using zipties. I used this rope with wire inside & tied the paws to the branch. I tried using zipties, but 1) it was so had to do, & 2) when I did... they broke! I almost set the whole thing on fire.

I don't know why they kept breaking. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Btw, I had to make this sloth face twice... because the baby ripped its face off the first time, lol.