Art Adventure: Decorating a Piñata

Last week we made our piñatas, so now it is time to decorate them.

There really are as many options as your imagination can dream up. You can paint it, or add anything type of material. But I am going to focus on a more traditional way of decorating.

Supplies:

• tissue paper
• cardstock
• school glue
• tape (optional)

You've seen the piñatas decorated with their festive fringe. You can simply cut a strip of tissue paper and then cut fringe and add that to your piñata. 

But, I'm going to show you how to make puffier fringe. (My seventh grade Spanish teacher taught me this.)

I like to just keep the tissue paper folded and cut off my strip. You want it to be a couple inches wide. Feel free to unfold the paper to cut if that makes you more comfortable.

Take a strip and lay it out. Near the edge, down the length of the strip, add a thin bead of glue.

Fold the long edges together and press to seal, BUT do NOT crease.

Gabe and Chi helped a little bit with this, but it's not the most exciting part and a little tricky, so I wound up doing most of this part.

Once we had many glued, we cut it into fringe.

Now, options for add-ons. We use cardstock for these. Ours is going to be a fish, so we needed a tail and fins.

We drew those on cardstock and cut them out. We used glue to adhere them, but added some tape to hold them in place while they dried.

We used the tail to hide the hole, so we made two pieces and glued one to each side of the hole. We then left that alone so it could later be filled.

We started at the tail and put a bead of glue on the piñata, and then glued the fringe around.

Tear it off if it's too long.

Add the next fringe, changing colors if you chose.

When you reach obstacles, like the fins, you simply glue the fringe between them, tearing off the excess.

We threaded the fringe right through the paperclip.

So, let's have a little aside about a more traditional kind of piñata, a star.

Source

To make the points of a star, you will need to make cones out of cardstock by rolling them into a cone shape.

Before, gluing or tape the cone, cut thin strips of tissue paper and glue or tape about five strips to the inside of the point of the cone.

Then role and secure. around the base of the cone, cut fringe and bend the fringe. Tape this fringe to the piñata before you start with the decorative colored fringe.

Okay, back to the fish. So you once our piñata was covered, we added googly eyes.

Now, we decided not to fill and break ours. Our fish, now dubbed Clarke, will be staying. If we were filling him, I would gently open the tail pieces, carefully fill the piñata. Place a piece of tape over the opening.

Then we glue the tail pieces together.

And that's it. We have Clarke our fish now.

(Just ignore all the mess. We didn't have time to clean; we were making a piñata.)       

This post may be linked at the following parties (for their Blog Buttons see my Link Love page): (M) C.R.A.F.T., Amaze Me Monday, Sumo's Sweet Stuff,  (T) A Little Birdie Told Me  Stories of A to Z, The Blackberry Vine, How To's Day , Type A, Amaze Me August, , Show Me What Ya Got,  (W) Wow Me,  Blue Cricket Design, What I Whipped Up, Wicked Awesome Wednesday, Sweet Peas & Bumblebees (TH) The ArtsyGirl Connection,  Creative Juice, Thrifty 101 , Smilemonsters , Everything But the Kitchen Sink, Shabby Chic Cottage, Thrifty Thursdays, House of Hepworth's,  (F) Fingerprints on the Fridge, Furniture Feature Friday,  Lovely Crafty Weekend , Remodelaholic, For the Kids Fridays, , Craft Goodies, (Sat) Tatertots and Jello , Anything Goes , Funky Junk Interiors (Sun) Creative Blog & Hop, Sundae Scoop, Under the Table and Dreaming

 

Art Adventure: Piñata

I promised you something messy and fun. So let's make a Piñata.

Due to the many steps and the drying times, this project will be divided into two parts.

Piñata

Supplies:

• a balloon
• strips of newspaper
• flour
• water
• containers
• paper clip (optional)

Piñatas are made with Papier-mâché (sometimes just spelled paper mache). There are tons of recipes out there, and you can even buy the glue pre-made, but that's silly because it's cheap and easy to do it yourself. Now, some will tell you to use glue or starch, but simple is best for two three reasons: 1. this recipe won't make your skin itch, 2. it dries hard,but you can still break it with a stick and that's an important quality in a piñata, 3. it's for sure, non-toxic. Nothing more disappointing than a piñata that won't break.

Take a handful of flour and place it in a container. Just eyeball it. Then add about an equal amount of water. Again, don't worry about measuring. Mix it up. It should be the consistency of thin potato soup.

Blow up your balloon, and tie it off.

Dip a strip of newspaper into the flour glue,

carefully pull the excess off with fingers,

then lay the strip on the balloon and smooth down.

Keep going until the balloon is covered.

But, leave a little uncovered near where the balloon is tied. This is where you will stuff the Piñata if you want to, so leave this as big as your items, but as small as possible.

Now, let this layer dry.

And, then you will go back and do it again. On the second layer, take a paper clip and open it into a triangle.

Hold it in place on the piñata, and use strips of the papier-mâché to adhere it. Note: make sure your placement allows the hole you left to be up, so the candy won't fall out. Ours is on the side, but the opening is still tilted up. You could place yours right near the opening.

On each layer, be sure to place strips through the triangle to make it very secure.

After each layer dries, you can test if it's hard enough by pushing on it, or even just knocking on it. Remember, if you want to use it and have kids break it open, don't do too many layers or it will be too hard to break.

When it is completely dry, we will pop the balloon and pull it out. And this is the basic building block for all piñatas, or really even all papier-mâché.

Next week, we will explore different decorating techniques, including add-ons.

This post may be linked at the following parties (for their Blog Buttons see my Link Love page): (M) C.R.A.F.T., Amaze Me Monday, Sumo's Sweet Stuff,  (T) A Little Birdie Told Me  Stories of A to Z, The Blackberry Vine, How To's Day , Type A, Amaze Me August, , Show Me What Ya Got,  (W) Wow Me,  Blue Cricket Design, What I Whipped Up, Wicked Awesome Wednesday, Sweet Peas & Bumblebees (TH) The ArtsyGirl Connection,  Creative Juice, Thrifty 101 , Smilemonsters , Everything But the Kitchen Sink, Shabby Chic Cottage, Thrifty Thursdays, House of Hepworth's,  (F) Fingerprints on the Fridge, Furniture Feature Friday,  Lovely Crafty Weekend , Remodelaholic, For the Kids Fridays, , Craft Goodies, (Sat) Tatertots and Jello , Anything Goes , Funky Junk Interiors (Sun) Creative Blog & Hop, Sundae Scoop, Under the Table and Dreaming

 

 

On Cats in Ceilings

Mateo and I debated what we could tackle this weekend, but then the cat decided for us. Yup. The cat.

Remember the stairs?

Well, the basement's drop ceiling actually hangs lower than the opening for the stairs. (We looked at raising it, but there isn't enough room due to duct work, in case you are curious.)

We knew we would close this in, but we were more concerned about finishing the stairs themselves. After trying the brown kraft paper technique from Lovely Crafty Home, I had to admit that for whatever reason, it will not work on these stairs.

It just keeps peeling off.

Then, one day I couldn't find the cat, but we'd had some tv repairmen in the house, and she always hides when strangers are around. But after they left, I still couldn't find her.

Later, she sauntered around -- sneezing.

 Weird noises at night that night.

Next day, the cat disappears again. (And I knew she wasn't getting out; she's a scaredy cat who won't go out.) She's Mateo's cat really. So he goes down the stairs calling her, and suddenly she's at the top of the stairs, but she didn't run up them and a ceiling tile crashes down.

The darn beast was playing IN the ceiling!

That did it. New plan. Seal the ceiling.

This was a Matt project. He used some leftover lumber to make a box that would match the little bit that already existed.

Then he took some scrap paneling and filled in the front so it would have the same matching panel lines.

Next up will be priming and painting it all. But Matt had to hammer some nails at weird angles, so he was ready to be done.

At least Tesla can't climb into the ceiling anymore.

And, yes, she's a bit miffed about the whole thing right now. :)

This post may be linked at the following parties (for their Blog Buttons see my Link Love page): (M) C.R.A.F.T., Amaze Me Monday, Sumo's Sweet Stuff,  (T) A Little Birdie Told Me  Stories of A to Z, The Blackberry Vine, How To's Day , Type A, Amaze Me August, , Show Me What Ya Got,  (W) Wow Me,  Blue Cricket Design, What I Whipped Up, Wicked Awesome Wednesday, Sweet Peas & Bumblebees (TH) The ArtsyGirl Connection,  Creative Juice, Thrifty 101 , Smilemonsters , Everything But the Kitchen Sink, Shabby Chic Cottage, Thrifty Thursdays, House of Hepworth's,  (F) Fingerprints on the Fridge, Furniture Feature Friday,  Lovely Crafty Weekend , Remodelaholic, For the Kids Fridays, , Craft Goodies, (Sat) Tatertots and Jello , Anything Goes , Funky Junk Interiors (Sun) Creative Blog & Hop, Sundae Scoop, Under the Table and Dreaming

Pinteresting Valentines

A big shout out to Pinterest for great Valentines ideas.

This is what Malachi took in:

Will you o 'fish' ally be my Valentine?

He's four and the preschool doesn't want them labeled with "To: whoever" because they are easier to pass out this way. So I whipped it all up on the computer.

The label just folds over the top of the snack size zip top bag and is taped down.

This is what Gabe took in:

He's too cool for fish, so he got Pop Rocks, which were amazing difficult to find around here! We came down to the wire. Again, made the labels on the computer, but then he filled out the "to" and "from." And we taped them on. Easy peasy.

Actually, easier than the cheap store ones (with their stickers that never stick).

Happy Valentine's Day!

or as my dad says,

Happy Hallmark Day. :)

This post may be linked at the following parties (for their Blog Buttons see my Link Love page): (M) C.R.A.F.T., Amaze Me Monday, Sumo's Sweet Stuff,  (T) A Little Birdie Told Me  Stories of A to Z, The Blackberry Vine, How To's Day , Type A, Amaze Me August, , Show Me What Ya Got,  (W) Wow Me,  Blue Cricket Design, What I Whipped Up, Wicked Awesome Wednesday, Sweet Peas & Bumblebees (TH) The ArtsyGirl Connection,  Creative Juice, Thrifty 101 , Smilemonsters , Everything But the Kitchen Sink, Shabby Chic Cottage, Thrifty Thursdays, House of Hepworth's,  (F) Fingerprints on the Fridge, Furniture Feature Friday,  Lovely Crafty Weekend , Remodelaholic, For the Kids Fridays, , Craft Goodies, (Sat) Tatertots and Jello , Anything Goes , Funky Junk Interiors (Sun) Creative Blog & Hop, Sundae Scoop, Under the Table and Dreaming

Art Adventure: Postponed :(

Hi, people.

Mateo needed the camera at work right when I needed it to take pictures of our latest art project, so...

I'm going to have to put off this week's adventure. It's a fun, huge, messy project that I just couldn't squeeze in to our schedule any other time. (Well, I could have dragged the kids out of bed late last night, but that seemed like a bad idea.)

Please, join me next week, and in the meantime explore the Art Adventure Archive.

The Deal-io

Have you noticed lots of blogs recently talking about blog etiquette?

Even Emily Post talks tech etiquette.

It's weird, it's everywhere I turn right now. And I've been thinking. "A dangerous pastime." "I know." (Little Beauty and the Beast reference for you there.) Sometimes I want to get stuff off my chest, but I usually don't, after all you are here to see pretty stuff, get crafty ideas or laugh at my incompetence. (I know it happens. I'm cool with that.) :) But, I decided I had a couple points to make. So, I'm going in...

 First I'm going to say the opposite of what most bloggers are saying: 

If you don't like something I've done and have a suggestion for how to improve it, by all means, let me know.

Seriously. I don't know everything. I started blogging to be part of a creative community. If you love a project, it warms my heart to hear it, but it's okay if you don't. We all have different tastes. I don't need yes-men. I have more self-confidence than that. 

Now, if you are just being snarky and mean, keep it to yourself. But if you are trying to be constructive, I think we should all welcome that.

Unfortunately, as with so many other types of endeavors, there are those that just want to rip you off and take credit for it. You know all those bleach shirts? Never saw one out there (and I looked) before I started advertising mine in my online store.

I made a damn fine looking button for my shop too. Ah, well, c'est la vie.

My designs were hand-painted and not splotchy bleach pen things you see everywhere now. I realize it is completely possible that someone independently thought of using bleach to make designs, but the timing is suspect.

This was for Mateo, a nod to Jon Stewart and the Rally to Restore Sanity.

Best seller, Boston subway.

I've seen other bloggers get features and all sorts of attention, and not one of them has ever sent a little love back to my blog. In fact, I pulled my shop because my sales dipped that much. (Well, and I went back to school so I just decided putting up a fight wasn't worth it.) It's not the only thing that has been grabbed without credit and I know even the "big" bloggers have had these complaints as well. 

I love modern windfarms. I think they are graceful.

Essentially, it's stealing and it's sad that we have to remind adults that stealing is a no-no. :/ I used to get really upset about it. I'm past that now. Sure, it's still irksome, but being mad about it isn't doing any good.

So, the point of sharing my little drama is to say, play nice. Of course we inspire each other. Isn't that the point? If you play off of someone's post, link back.

My commitment to all my fellow bloggers is to always link back. I want to be known as a nice blogger who is all about the blogging love.

This post may be linked at the following parties (for their Blog Buttons see my Link Love page): (M) C.R.A.F.T., Amaze Me Monday, Sumo's Sweet Stuff,  (T) A Little Birdie Told Me  Stories of A to Z, The Blackberry Vine, How To's Day , Type A, Amaze Me August, , Show Me What Ya Got,  (W) Wow Me,  Blue Cricket Design, What I Whipped Up, Wicked Awesome Wednesday, Sweet Peas & Bumblebees (TH) The ArtsyGirl Connection,  Creative Juice, Thrifty 101 , Smilemonsters , Everything But the Kitchen Sink, Shabby Chic Cottage, Thrifty Thursdays, House of Hepworth's,  (F) Fingerprints on the Fridge, Furniture Feature Friday,  Lovely Crafty Weekend , Remodelaholic, For the Kids Fridays, , Craft Goodies, (Sat) Tatertots and Jello , Anything Goes , Funky Junk Interiors (Sun) Creative Blog & Hop, Sundae Scoop, Under the Table and Dreaming

 

Art Adventure: Smush Painting

Ever see those Rorschach tests? This is kind of like that. We'll have the kids smush paint into blots and then they can add details to make it look like what they see in their imagination.

Smush Painting

Supplies:

• paint, preferrably washable, we used fingerpaints
• paper, large or small, your choice
• markers

Start by folding the paper in half.

On one side squirt blobs of paint. You can either have your child do this themselves or if they can't, just have them tell you where they want each color.

Have your child fold the paper over and smush and rub as much as they want.

Open the paper back up and talk about what it looks like to them.

For the next part, you can barrel ahead, but it helps to let it dry. If your child is like mine, he or she may realize that this is really close to fingerpainting.

So, that's what we did while we waited. (And, I grabbed my hairdryer to help the drying process.)

Then get out some markers and have your child add the details as many or few as they want. Chi was a minimalist today, I guess.

That's okay. Remember we are all about enjoying the process more than we are worried about the final outcome.

This post may be linked at the following parties (for their Blog Buttons see my Link Love page): (M) C.R.A.F.T., Amaze Me Monday, Sumo's Sweet Stuff,  (T) A Little Birdie Told Me  Stories of A to Z, The Blackberry Vine, How To's Day , Type A, Amaze Me August, , Show Me What Ya Got,  (W) Wow Me,  Blue Cricket Design, What I Whipped Up, Wicked Awesome Wednesday, Sweet Peas & Bumblebees (TH) The ArtsyGirl Connection,  Creative Juice, Thrifty 101 , Smilemonsters , Everything But the Kitchen Sink, Shabby Chic Cottage, Thrifty Thursdays, House of Hepworth's,  (F) Fingerprints on the Fridge, Furniture Feature Friday,  Lovely Crafty Weekend , Remodelaholic, For the Kids Fridays, , Craft Goodies, (Sat) Tatertots and Jello , Anything Goes , Funky Junk Interiors (Sun) Creative Blog & Hop, Sundae Scoop, Under the Table and Dreaming

Let there be light

Chi needed a lamp. I happened to still have pieces to make a new lamp. You see the light bulbs coming on here. Ah, easy peasy. Right?

Actually, for once, it was easy. Gabe's lamp was too wobbly. And none of us loved it, so I started by dismantling Gabe's lamp. There were two problems with his, the stacked bottles weren't stable enough and the light socket wasn't seated deeply enough. Chi's room needed a small lamp anyway, so I just used one bottle.

The cord threaded through the already drilled hole. I widened the hole in the cap where the socket was seated to make it sit more firmly.

I wanted to stuff the bottle with something interesting. At first I was going to use marbles, but I couldn't scrounge up enough. The boys and the cat are masters at losing those. 

We had peppermint candies on hand and I thought that might be kind of fun, so I just kept stuffing them in, being sure to readjust the cord on occasion so that it is hidden in the middle.

I wrapped the wires around the screws and tighten them. 

(By the way, make sure to read your directions and put the correct wire on the correct side, or you'll short circuit. Yes, I did that the first time I made a lamp. Sigh.)

I screwed the now socket-ed lid back on the bottle, added a bulb and a shade, and there you have it.

A cute little candy lamp.

I know this same shade is still a little big, but somehow it adds to the cuteness in my mind. :)

This post may be linked at the following parties (for their Blog Buttons see my Link Love page): (M) C.R.A.F.T., Amaze Me Monday, Sumo's Sweet Stuff,  (T) A Little Birdie Told Me  Stories of A to Z, The Blackberry Vine, How To's Day , Type A, Amaze Me August, , Show Me What Ya Got,  (W) Wow Me,  Blue Cricket Design, What I Whipped Up, Wicked Awesome Wednesday, Sweet Peas & Bumblebees (TH) The ArtsyGirl Connection,  Creative Juice, Thrifty 101 , Smilemonsters , Everything But the Kitchen Sink, Shabby Chic Cottage, Thrifty Thursdays, House of Hepworth's,  (F) Fingerprints on the Fridge, Furniture Feature Friday,  Lovely Crafty Weekend , Remodelaholic, For the Kids Fridays, , Craft Goodies, (Sat) Tatertots and Jello , Anything Goes , Funky Junk Interiors (Sun) Creative Blog & Hop, Sundae Scoop, Under the Table and Dreaming