I have finally taken "pics" of my pictures from piñatas past. (I used CamScanner just to be quick.) There are more pictures of piñatas somewhere (like the first one I ever made for Morgan - a red hot comet with fiery plumes behind . . . ) but I wanted a place to "hold" these. The photos of photos are not great, but I still have the originals.
It was weird to make one for Joshua this year. Most of these were made between 1998 - 2005 (roughly). I typically started with a balloon, added papier-mâché layers (with strips of newspaper in a flour / water mixture), then painted and added any pieces to make it look more like the target item. After almost twenty years, I had practically forgotten how to do this! Louie was in charge of hanging them. He worked out a rope and pulley system that worked well and allowed him to raise and lower the piñatas for a greater challenge.
I believe these are in chronological order.
Nick had a cat / mouse / cheese phase.
Since this is at Borden Lake, I'm pretty sure it was Charlie's birthday party. Luke was so little that we didn't make him wear a blindfold and the dinosaur was down low.
Mike Wazowski from Monsters, Inc. was fun. But this is also at Borden. I may have mixed up a few birthdays! Here, Lindsay is trying to take him down.
I don't remember who Thomas the Tank Engine was for . . .
I honestly don't remember the identity of the turtle, but this one was for Lindsay. I vividly remember that I hadn't started early enough and I was trying to quick dry the piñata in the oven! The balloon was still intact and the hot air made it inflate. I laughed so hard I was crying.

This tiger for Charlie was fun!
I'm not sure why we let Nick wail on it without a mask . . . this may be one that was seeming to be unbreakable. The quality control on these things was nonexistent! The Pikachu for Luke was one of my favorites.
The eagle was for Lindsay (No idea why my pic is of Nick holding it). This birthday party felt bittersweet for me. Mike said he hated to see kids bashing away at a model of an eagle, one of his favorite birds. The cardboard wings definitely protected the trove of candies!
Kirby for . . . ? I don't remember.
I'm pretty sure "SuperPup" was Lindsay's own creation.
Luke wanted a Pac-Man one year.
Tails from Sonic the Hedgehog was for Charlie, I believe. (So I should have switched this around with Luke's Pac-Man.)
This hat . . . was maybe for an event at my kids' school? Honestly, I don't even remember making it! I love that Louie let me take a picture with him holding it.
This dragon was possibly for Charlie. The photos were developed in November of 2005. Louie said that this is Borden Lake.
I've tried fixing the formatting several times, but am just going to leave it alone! This is another pic of the tie fighter I made for Joshua this year (after Titus ate the rough draft, I tried a different tactic that didn't involve papier-mâché.