(gentle music) - They didn't ask me to continue the tradition as a third generation pinata-maker.

They didn't ask me to do it.

I just took it on my own.

Making pinatas is not so much of a calling, but more of like a family duty For me.

I enjoy it because I'm kind of like paying my respect to the people who came before me on my mom's side of the family.

My name is Edy Aguilar.

I started making pinatas when I was a young girl.

I would make them with my mom.

As a girl I remember her making pinatas for the community and just anybody who would order a pinata in the area she would make for.

And when I was at home, I wasn't in school yet, you know, I would help her.

I just kind of inherited that kind of craft.

(gentle music) How it started is that my grandfather on my mom's side, and my mom entered a contest in their hometown, Ríoverde San Luis Potosí in Mexico.

They just put their name in and made a Santa Claus pinata, and it was the very first pinata they made together, and they ended up winning.

So after that, my grandfather, who was an entrepreneur, started making them full time.

Once he got started making the pinatas, he would sell them at his stands, and my mom kind of inherited that talent from him.

And then she brought it over whenever she came to the US with my dad.

the pinata traditionally has seven cones, which represent the seven deadly sins.

So the symbolism behind it is that you're breaking it and you're breaking out of your sins or just, you know, starting off the new year on a clean slate.

So that's kind of what it's based off of.

But back in the day in Mexico, they were using clay pots.

Essentially, they had to stop that because they were causing injuries to the children breaking them.

So then it just evolved to paper mache and kind of basically taking a creative side and making whatever it is you want to make.

Right now, the most popular pinatas are made out of cardboard, which is basically two shapes, cut exactly the same on a piece of cardboard taped together.

So what I like to do is sometimes I'll ask my clients if they want a very strong or stiff pinata, just because I do know that the adults also like to take a swing every now and then.

So if it's just a kid's party, I'll just, I'll just do the cardboard with the tape and then start decorating the pinata.

But if it's gonna be a pinata that needs to last for several people to swing at, I'll do the cardboard, do the tape, and then I'll make some engrudo, which is the the paste we used for the paper mache.

You would start by mixing up two cups of water with two cups of flour, putting it on your stove and mixing it up really well.

And with the stars, if I want it to be a stronger pinata, I will do the paper mache balloon.

So essentially, you would start out with blowing up a balloon.

It could be any type of balloon and tying a string or a rope at the end.

You'll take newspaper strips and you start wrapping the balloon.

You want to wrap at least two to three layers of newspaper.

After that, you want to make your candy hole to insert your candy into.

And that hole will assist you in giving the shape.

The string, it needs to be hung up.

And if you wanna make a star, you grab some poster boards, you're gonna start bending it until you create a cone shape.

After it's dried, you can start adding your crepe paper.

For glue, I use Elmer's glue just to give it that really traditional pinata style.

You just snip with scissors and you start gluing that around the pinata.

The the most pinatas I've made are the cardboard ones, but I do enjoy the traditional paper mache ones a little more.

(gentle music) Through Instagram, I share my Reels into my Facebook account.

I have about 1,600 friends on Facebook, and then I have five sisters who will share my posts whenever I post them on my Instagram.

Just through that I've gotten orders consistently over the past year, and it's just people back home in DeKalb County or here in the Huntsville, Athens area who have asked for pinatas.

So it's kind of like you're not only selling your product, but you're also making this connection, kind of like a friendship and this trust where you'll have these parents continue to ask you to make pinatas for their kids.

So I'm very thankful for everybody.

There's always room to improve with pinata-making, it is a learning process, more so of managing your time better and working faster.

Like not necessarily looking for a shortcut, but also figuring out how to speed up the process with the resources that you have.

I don't necessarily develop a close relationship with my pinata, so it doesn't hurt my feelings when I do know I'm dropping them off to get destroyed.