Piñatas With a Personal Touch

1: Angela Valdez Escobedo, an MCJ Major with a minor in cognitive science at Fresno State, [Photograph taken by Donovan Dean]

Angela Valdez-Escobedo, a transfer student at Fresno State, launched a small business making handmade piñatas incorporating traditional Mexican designs, modern trends, and pop culture references. Valdez-Escobedo’s determination to get involved in the community and help families led to managing her newly launched piñata business from her dorm room and car, transitioning from a full-time student to a traditional piñata maker whenever her schedule allows.

A piñata is a special container decorated with colorful paper or cloth on the outside. It is filled with candies, toys, or other objects and hung on a rope during a celebration. Bystanders sing songs to accompany participants as they take turns hitting the piñata with a stick. When the piñata breaks, everyone grabs the goodies.

Adan Avalos, a professor in the Media, Communication and Journalism Department, along with Art Design and Art History at Fresno State, said piñatas are used “in festive moments and times where you want to celebrate an occasion, [like] a birthday party, a wedding or a baptism.”

“They’re normally there to mark a moment, to celebrate a festive event,” Avalos said regarding piñatas' significance in Latino communities. Its impact today is similar and admirable to its origins.

Avalos studied the origin of piñatas in native communities across Latin America during pre-Columbian times, which involved ceremonies that celebrated the equinox and summer solstice.

The native peoples of Latin America made piñatas from clay and filled it with fruits and nuts. They would “have a ceremony, and it would culminate with the breaking [which] was given as an offering to the gods,” symbolizing abundance and gratitude, Avalos shared.

The tradition of piñatas is a cherished part of many Mexican families, and Valdez-Escobedo grew up experiencing their importance at family celebrations.

Not having family in Fresno after moving from Seaside, Valdez-Escobedo has been inspired to carry her family’s tradition of hitting piñatas at gatherings and bringing her culture to kids’ birthdays and special events.

“[My family and I] like to bring happiness into our lives, especially our kids’ lives,” said Valdez-Escobedo.

She highlighted the importance of providing affordable piñatas, setting herself apart from other competitors by offering custom orders and a wide range of sizes, starting at just $15. In Fresno, California, the typical prices for piñatas are around $38 for extra-large traditional styles, $35 for medium sizes, and beginning at $16.99 for the smallest options.

“I don’t want to give expensive prices, so more parents can afford them for their kids,” Valdez-Escobedo said. “It would be nice to give them something that they like.”

Valdez-Escobedo taught herself to make piñatas from watching online videos, building on her previous experience with papier-mâché and other crafts. She believes that making piñatas is a perfect fit for her. “I've always just liked doing crafty stuff… and I'm Mexican, so it just seems my alley, and like a fun, artistic way to maybe make some extra money, and I like making people happy too,” she said.

She said she made her first piñata for her nephew but had this idea before that.

The influence that piñatas had in her life, along with close family members, was beginning to spark the idea of a potential business. She had been considering making piñatas for a while before turning those ideas into reality.

“Me and my cousins have always liked hitting the piñatas at family parties, and it was always a tradition,” Valdez-Escobedo shared. For her cousin’s birthday last year, everyone, including the adults, joined in the fun and took turns hitting the piñatas. Her desire to be more integrated into the tradition came from that great experience.

She designs the shapes, colors, and styles of the piñatas, coordinating them with her client’s theme as closely as possible.

“I try to involve colors that either go with the theme of the birthday or the event or something that they really enjoy,” she shared.

She has designed piñatas based on her tastes, including shapes like hearts, moons, and even a horse.

This initiative shows her skills in making piñatas, helps her build her portfolio, and promotes her work on social media.

She has been working on piñatas for her mom's boss and another client’s birthday party.

It has been challenging for her to work in a small space and manage the need to be flexible and efficient with their time as a student at Fresno State.

Due to her busy schedule as a full-time student, Valdez-Escobedo stated that she would prefer to “have a one-week ordering period” to make use of any gaps in her day.

“I try to make it fun for me. So if I have other things to do in the day, which I do most of the time, at least, I will just try to, like, get ready in the morning and clean up my area, you know, get some water, do the daily duties, and then I'll work and sit down and do, like, the pinatas for a little bit, like, play my music, drink a little coffee,” she explained while describing her routine.

Valdez-Escobedo has been managing her work from various locations, including their dorm room, car and campus and plans to get an apartment next year for more space. The way she likes to manage her day is by writing down reminders and lists, but she remains forgiving of herself because, as she described, “We’re not robots.”

Her main goal is to create aesthetically pleasing products for her clients that are also of high quality. "I want them to enjoy the experience, whether that means displaying it, breaking it, or gifting it to someone," Valdez-Escobedo stated.

The Instagram handle for her business is @fresnopartypinatas.

2: Valdez-Escobedo's first piñata that was made  for her nephew's 1st birthday party [Photograph taken by Angela Valdez-Escobedo]

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