Guilt ridden by the senseless destruction of these beautiful creatures, I’ve created this lamp as a memorial for all of the candy crazed destruction of my youth.

Made mainly out of soda bottles and hot glue, this provides a festive alternative to the normal luminary selection.

Step 1: Stuff You'll Need

SUPPLIES:
• 3 – 1 liter soda bottles (empty & rinsed)
• 2 – 20 ounce soda bottles (empty & rinsed)
• 1 – short strand of white Christmas lights
• Hot glue gun & about 60 hot glue sticks
• 4 rolls clear tape
• Transparent glass paint in varying colors & paintbrush
• Cutting instruments (Scissors, Xacto blade, hack saw with thin blade, or whatever works for you)

Step 2: Cutting & Attaching the Soda Bottles

Take the soda bottles and slice them up according to the diagram. An Xacto blade works well for most parts of the soda bottle, but you may want a hack saw or a heavy kitchen knife to cut through the thicker bottle base and cap areas.

Use clear tape to tack the bottles together according to the picture (start with the legs, then move onto the head). After you have everything taped in place and you are sure that everything is symmetrical, use hot glue to reinforce to connections.

Cut a slice in the main body bottle wherever you’d ultimately like the electric cable to come out. I had mine come out of the piñata’s bum, but you may prefer it coming out of the back.

If you plan on hanging the piñata, attach a hanging loop to the back of the piñata’s neck (notice how I had to adjust the loop placement from the beginning to end to allow for balanced hanging).

Step 3: Taping, Gridding & Inserting the Lights

Use scotch tape to cover the hollow sides of the inner legs, nose, ears, and neck.. Be sure to leave the front chest cavity open for now.

Then use hot glue on the taped areas to create a thin 1/2” grid (this adds structure to the hollow areas while maintaining its light weight). You may want to use low heat hot glue for the taped areas, to ensure that the glue doesn’t melt/distort the tape.

Attach the front chest cavity door and use tape as a hinge on one side. Using an Xacto blade, cut an entry from the main body bottle upward into the head area. Take your Christmas lights and shove them inside of the piñata head/body, with the cord coming out of the appropriate hole.

Step 4: Layering Hot Glue & Painting

Next, get comfortable and prepare to go through a lot of hot glue sticks.
Cover the entire piñata in 1.5-2” rows of vertical hot glue stripes. If the glue is too hot and the stripes are melting into each other, space the stripes out and wait for them to cool before going back to fill-in with more stripes. Make sure that the door on the front chest cavity can still open and use hot glue around the door to fill in any gaps. After completely covering the pinata in hot glue stripes, use scotch tape the secure the front cavity door shut.

For the eyes, you can either hot glue directly onto the pinata or make round hot glue buttons separately and then attach them to the face.

Use your choice of transparent stained glass paint to paint the glue rows in alternating colors. I used Gallery Glass paints from Michaels & a bargain bin stained glass paint kit. Be careful combining different brands of paint, because mine curdled when mixed - so I had to paint in alternating layers and drying in between in order to achieve the shades I desired.You may need to do multiple coats of paint to get the desired level of color intensity (i used MANY layers). After drying completely, plug in your lamp and enjoy your festive light. Fiesta time!