Birthday Bear Piñata

This bear piñata is the large one, 23 inches of layered crepe paper with a round face and stitched-looking ears. Scaled up like this it works as the room's main decoration rather than a table accent, which is why it tends to end up in the first-birthday photos. It is a handmade piñata rather than a printed one, layered by hand over a corrugated cardboard frame in paper mache and crepe paper, which is what gives the surface its depth.

Perfect for: first birthdays, bear and woodland themes, baby showers, teddy bear picnics, kids birthdays, and gender-neutral parties.

It arrives empty. Because it is a bigger shape it takes more filling than you would expect, so plan on enough to fill it two thirds rather than rattling around at the bottom. Soft favors suit the age group best.

Hang it centered above the cake table and keep the palette warm around it. The rest of our piñatas includes a smaller teddy for tabletops.