La Gringa Piñatas is a smashing success for Vancouver entrepreneur

Vancouver entrepreneur Sandra Thompson can still remember the life-changing moment she first saw a piñata.

“My mom made a traditional star piñata for my fifth birthday,” Thompson told Daily Hive. “I saw how she had blown up a balloon, cut newspaper [into] strips, then mixed boiling water and flour together for the paste. Once she made the base, it would sit to dry, then she would decorate it with blue and yellow gift tissue paper.”

“She filled it with candy and we took it to my aunt’s backyard to hang. My cousins and neighbourhood kids then took turns breaking it open with a stick. It was so fun waiting for that candy to fall out.”

That momentous occasion inspired Thompson to start making her own piñatas, which led her down the path to launching her own company, La Gringa Piñatas.

 

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La Gringa Piñatas creates custom, hand-sculpted piñatas using primarily repurposed, recycled and found materials. They offer piñatas of all sizes for all occasions, including birthdays, weddings, graduations, and even revenge ceremonies.

“The name La Gringa Piñatas is a play on words since my mother was Mexican, but my father was Hungarian,” explained Thompson, who was born Sandra Barna Garcia. “I was obviously a biracial child, and when visiting family and friends in Mexico, my nickname was La Gringa (which means foreigner) due to my being born in Canada.

“I wanted to bring something from my Mexican past but Canadian roots to be part of the name.”

La Gringa Piñatas/Submitted

The mother of two was inspired to start her own business in 2021 as she was coming off maternity leave with her second daughter and grieving the sudden loss of a family member.

“I was returning to a job that required me to do shift work, taking me away from family life. Unfortunately, my mother also passed away suddenly while visiting Mexico in late 2021 and I had to pause for several months to allow the grieving process. This pushed me even more to start La Gringa Piñatas because she was the one who showed me how to make piñatas in the first place.”

Thompson began by making piñatas for her daughters’ birthdays, which soon caught the eyes of her friends, who asked if she could make some for their children. Her friend Cheryl also asked the former flight attendant and transit worker to create some piñatas for her curated boutique, The Storehouse on Main Street.

“The Storehouse is a dedicated space for local vendors and artists to display their talent. Cheryl encouraged me to make some piñatas for the store and it went well, to say the least. I met some great people along the way, orders started coming in, and to this day, my piñatas are still at The Storehouse for purchase,” Thompson said.

La Gringa Piñatas/Submitted

It takes Thompson anywhere from three to 10 hours to craft a piñata, depending on the size and complexity of the image. Each layer has to dry before she can work on the next one so the entire process can take up to four or five days.

La Gringa Piñatas specializes in 3D piñatas, which means that Thompson works on tricky surfaces that are not smooth or flat. All pieces are cut and assembled by hand, from the framework to the finishing touches.

The East Vancouver resident usually requests a two-week minimum pre-order to ensure turnaround time. “Sometimes I’m working on multiple pinatas at once, so it can get a little hectic and time-consuming.”

“It’s so nice hearing from clients how everyone loved the piñata and it was so much fun breaking them, and that they’ll be ordering from me again. However, sometimes clients will tell me that they couldn’t bring themselves to break it and that it’s now being used as decor in their children’s room. It’s so funny.”

La Gringa Piñatas/Submitted

Thompson added that she is ready to help her clients commemorate any occasion, even taboo ones.

“People celebrate all sorts of unconventional crazy things these days. A client once ordered a custom piñata that was to be used in what we’ll just call, ‘breakup therapy,'” Thompson said. “Occasions that were once taboo are now celebrated, so I can make a bobblehead piñata of an ex that did you wrong.”

“I also make custom adult-themed peeñatas, which are perfect for bachelorette parties.”

And yes, the piñatas are available in whatever size you need.

For more information about La Gringa Piñatas, visit its website.