Greenville woman makes custom piñatas
Apr. 1—Many people have happy childhood memories of attending birthday parties where swinging a stick at a candy-filled piñata while blindfolded was one of the most anticipated activities. Let's face it, there's just something about dodging a stick while diving for falling candy that makes for a fun time.
In that spirit, Greenville is home to Aurora Badillo and her business, Happy Time Piñatas, in which she creates custom piñatas of all shapes and sizes.
"With every order, I'm making something new and improving. That's what I like about it," Badillo said.
Badillo's experience with piñata making began during childhood while growing up in Mexico.
"I had an older sister who was already making them, so I started, too. Where I grew up, we mostly used piñatas at Christmastime," Badillo explained. "There, it was a religious thing, because the piñatas were shaped like seven-pointed stars, with each of the points representing one of the seven deadly sins (pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath and sloth) — so when you were beating the piñata, you were fighting the sins, and when the candy fell out, that was the reward."
After growing up in Mexico, Badillo moved with her husband, who was in the military, to Germany, where she got heavily involved with a Catholic Church and its festivities.
"When I left Mexico and moved to Germany, there was a priest who wanted to celebrate Cinco de Mayo at the church, and he asked me to make a piñata shaped like a donkey," Badillo said. "That was the first time I made one that was shaped like a (living) thing.
"After that, I started making piñatas for friends and didn't start making them to sell until I moved to Texas," she added.
Now, Badillo makes about two or three custom piñatas each week, and her orders span the Hunt County/Rockwall County area.
"Some people like my piñatas so much now, that sometimes they don't want to break them," Badillo said with a laugh.
Since many of Badillo's orders are for children's birthday parties, a large portion of her piñatas depict popular cartoon, comic book and video game characters, like Mario from "Super Mario Bros.," Spider-Man, and "My Little Pony" characters.
Last month, when Badillo had a booth at the W. Walworth Harrison Public Library's LitCon, she decided to surprise one of the event's other guests, voice actress Amanda Gish, with a piñata depicting one of the characters she voices, Kinoko Komori from "My Hero Academia."
"When the library invited me to make piñatas for LitCon and I heard that voice actress Amanda Gish was going to be there, I had to make Mushroom Girl (Badillo's nickname for Kinoko Komori, because of the character's mushroom cap-shaped hat)," Badillo said. "She screamed happily when she saw the piñata, and I gave it to her as a gift."
Although a lot of her creations are made with kids in mind, Badillo also makes piñatas that better suit adult interests, depicting things that range from sports cars to strippers dancing on poles. She also uses her skills at paper mache to make other decorative items.
"I had to make two 5 foot-by-5 foot camels as decorations for an adult birthday party. Also, for a party for a pianist, I made a 3-foot-by-5 foot baby grand piano that opens and closes out of paper mache," Badillo said. "Those kinds of orders really push me to my limits, but I'm always ready to make something new.
Those interested in ordering a custom piñata from Happy Time Piñatas can contact Badillo through Facebook (under the name Aurora Badillo Bora), or call 903-513-1143.
