This Halloween, I wanted a costume that was 1.) cheap and 2.) unique.

Because
1.) I need my money for ramen and
2.) I've seen enough of the same "themed tube dress" to know it wasn't worth my ramen money for 1 yard of fabric that everyone else was wearing. 1 night of hotness < 2 months of food.

In the end I decided to make a pinata costumer! Keep reading to learn how to make your own quick and easy pinata costume.

Step 1: Materials

You will need:

-1 button-down shirt, preferably one you don't care about
-1 skirt, again one you don't care about
-Different colors of streamers
-Tape 1 1/2 " wide
-Scissors
-Halloween Animal Ears

The shirt was mine, the skirt was goodwill, streamers were from a dollar store, and everything else I found. Total cost: $5.00

Step 2: Pinata-fying Your Tape.

Generally, the costume is a skirt and a shirt covered with strips of streamers attached by tape.
Rather than tape every single layer of streamers, I made strips with several layers of streamers attached, then taped those "pinata strips" clothes.

Step 3: How NOT to Adhere It to the Clothing...

I made the mistake of laying the skirt out flat and putting on the tape that way. This caused me grief, because unlike the surface of my table, I am not flat. I have a bum, and masking tape does not stretch.

Step 4: How to Adhere Pinata Tape to Clothing (the Right Way)

Put SOME of the tape on while the garment is on a flat surface, then put the garment on and readjust so it fits. This makes sure that the tape is in the right shape for your body. Remember, even though the fabric of your skirt is stretchy now, it won't matter once it's covered in tape. :3
Same goes for the top.

You may need a friend to help you get those hard to reach areas covered.

In case you didn't do it the right way, fix it by pulling back most of tape, then re-adhering it while wearing the skirt. Make more pinata tape to make up for the gap.

Step 5: Ears!

Unlike the skirt, I pre-fringed the streamers for the ears because it's so small.

You'll want your tape to stay on the inside of the headband. Nobody will see it there.

Also, covering the ears was a bit tricky. Wrap, tape, twist, curse, repeat until they look good.

For the middle (not shown), I fringed both ends of another color streamer, then wrapped it around.

Step 6: Tail!

The tail is very fun to dance with, and it helps camouflage any wrinkles or rips that happen on the backside of the skirt from sitting down.

Step 7: Other Notes

There are several different variations you can make of this costume:

Pinata animal (what I did)
Pinata person (Pinata business suit)
Injured Pinata (Complete with crutches, arm sling, eye patch)
Offensive Pinata (Complete with injured accoutrement and armed with women / mexican jokes)

Reminders for your night as a pinata:
-Do not check your watch while holding a drink.
-Stay away from open flames (flaming shots, candles, torches, etc.)
-Stay away from liquids. Bring an umbrella. You are essentially walking paper mache.
-People will PROBABLY hit you. Don't take it personally, it's the natural thing to do when you see a pinata. They want candy. Give out candy as a preventative measure. Everyone will love you.
-Even if your pinata suit does get a little messed up, just think of it as making your costume "more accurate".

Pros:
+Cheap
+Unique
+Cute

Cons:
-Not entirely practical (but hey, what great costume ever is?)
-Somewhat delicate (but you will leave confetti)
-Sweat can be a complicating factor.
-Running out of candy

NOTE: This tape method probably isn't the best way to make an actual pinata. Unless you hate kids. Try paper mache for that.
Also, my apologies for not using the proper tilde n.

If you need any clarifications, comment! <3