Consider the Piñata [UPDATED]
You could have a smashingly good time with local artisan Sara Ewalt’s Pinyadayada.
Posted by: Laura Cassidy on Jan 11, 2012 at 09:30AM
8 Comments
SLIDESHOW: Sara Ewalt’s custom-made ‘pinyadas.’ Wouldn’t a few of these look good over the dance floor at say, the Pan Pacific, or in the barn at Fire Seed Catering?
View Slideshow » Illustration:Ewalt made her first ‘pinyada’ on the very weekend the idea came to her. “I had a friend’s birthday to go to,” she says. “She was in the right place at the right time so she got my first pinyada, ‘Winnie.’”
View Slideshow » Illustration:Of course, pinyadas aren’t just for weddings. Ewalt likes them for “Birthdays; especially those big milestones (30 eek! 40 double eek!), showers (bachelorette, baby), divorces (gets out aggression), and new jobs (I can’t wait to fill one with office supplies!),” she says. We’re sure she, and you, could go on and on …
View Slideshow »This late-breaking pinata is by Penny Candy Pinata. [Updated January 23, 2012]
Quick. Now, while you’re easing out of holiday party mode and heading into full-on wedding planning mode, please meet Sara Ewalt, a Seattle-based maker of piñatas. Only she calls them pinyadas. Why pinyadas? “I was emailing about the idea with a friend, and our email chain was called ‘Pinyada-yada-yada.’ I love puns,” she admits.
Okay but why piñatas, and why at your wedding? Read our interview with Ewalt, and check out the quick slideshow, to find out.
WWW: How did you discover your piñata talents?
Ewalt: I have a background in installation design (I used to work as a display coordinator at Anthropologie) and am currently part of an artist collective called Hens & Chicks Collective here in Seattle. Needless to say, I’m constantly making things. Pinyadayada started with a trip to the Georgetown Trailer Park Mall. I saw an Airstream all dressed up as a piñata and (surprise) they sold piñatas inside. The designs there were pretty generic—you know, Sponge Bob, a donkey… I said to my friend, ‘I could make awesome custom piñatas.’ The more I thought about it, what occasion wouldn’t be better with a piñata?
What materials are used in your piñatas? How long do they take to construct?
They’re either made out of paper mâché forms or cardboard. I’m able to make the base out of recycled materials, then I cover them with either tissue or crepe paper, but I’m interested in using other more unexpected materials, too. I’d say they range from four to fifteen hours depending on size.
Could your clients fill them with candy and treats specially selected for their colors and themes of their wedding? Or do they come already filled?
So far I’ve been filling them, because I’ve made them for people I know, but I want to sell them both ways.
UPDATE: January 23, 2012
A reader wrote in to tell me about yet another Seattle-based pinata expert, Tara at Penny Candy Pinata. The last slide in the show gives you a peak at her work. Seattle, you almost can’t have a pinata at your next bash.
Love to know more about what she fills them with.
Great idea, not just for weddings!
Hi Victoria,
as mentioned here, Sara—or you—can fill them with jsut about anything. And in the last slide of the three-slide slideshow she gives some other ideas about occasions that might be right for pinatas, and fun ideas for filler for those other occasions. thanks!
Sara’s last name is spelled EWALT…Her pinata’s are an absolute treat for any celebration!
Renee ! thanks so much for letting me know! tired eyes read i instead of l … so glad you let me know!
Love this… perfectly creative and unique… now, just put a bird on it:)
Ah, slideshow, yes!
Great idea!!!
I was walking by the Guesthouse in Madrona the other day and saw one of pennycandypinata’s masterful creations in the front window. It was spectacular. They have some pictures on their Facebook page here: http://on.fb.me/xu4giS. So cool. People are so incredibly talented!