Benny Westcott
A local middle schooler is looking to raise money for a week-long educational trip to Washington D.C. with her mom next June, and she figured out a creative way to do it – selling homemade piñatas.
Homeschooled seventh grader Gabby Breshears of Waterloo saw her little sister’s piñata one year and decided to make one herself instead of buying one the next year.
“The piñata was so good and durable,” Gabby’s mom, Stephanie, said. “We had a lot of kids at that birthday and it made it through the line almost twice. And I mean, they beat on it. There were even some 17-year-olds that were wailing on it and it still didn’t break. So they’re really sturdy.” After that, Gabby’s older sister suggested she make piñatas for other people as well.
So Gabby did, realizing that she could combine her crafting hobby with her effort to raise money for the trip.
“It was just an idea that we put out there, and it seemed really fun to do and easy compared to a lot of other ideas that we had,” she said. “We decided to try it, and it’s been going really well.”
Now she has orders up through December, and has raised about $1,700 of her $3,500 funding goal.
Notable piñatas Gabby has made include a 1-Up mushroom from Mario, Sonic the Hedgehog, a normal mushroom, a pizza, a dragon, and various numbers for birthdays. She said her favorite is the Sonic one.
Gabby learned to do papier mache at a summer camp at Oregon State University.
Gabby says she gives herself about a week to make each piñata. To make one, she takes cardboard and cuts it out into the shape she wants. Then she tapes it all up and does papier mache all over it. After waiting for that to dry, Gabby spray paints the piñata, paints it, and adds details. After streamers are placed on it, it’s ready for a party. The papier mache part gets really messy, but “mom lets her make messes,” Stephanie said.
“She’s very crafty and artsy,” Gabby’s mom said of her. “She loves drawing and art and painting and she’s learned ceramics and stuff like that. So this is kind of right up her alley. She liked doing it. I think that’s the main thing – when you’re fundraising, it’s nice to fundraise with something that you actually enjoy doing.”
Gabby has been selling her piñatas to local people who know her mom or heard about the effort on Facebook.
“One lady ordered like four of them, one for each month,” Stephanie said. “She ordered one in September, October, November, and December for a birthday party for each one of her grandkids.”
Gabby will also be raising money by raffling off Nightmare Before Christmas themed gift baskets.