This weekend marked a first for me – attending a baby shower. I tend to meet friends after they’ve finished spawning, and my younger friends tend to be happily childfree. The opportunity to attend such a shindig just hasn’t come around.

Not that I really minded, btw. From what I’ve heard (Games involving melting chocolate bars into diapers and “identifying the poopie”, for instance)… they sound sort of horrible. I’m not a huge fan of anklebiters in general (though I’m sure yours are awesome, dear readers!), and I’m not the type whose uterus shudders with delight at the idea of teeny tiny socks.

Yep, sometimes I just fail at being a girl! Haha!

Jenni, however, is awesome. Awesome person (I mean, she’s a librarian… I’ve yet to meet a less-than-awesome one of THOSE), total geek… one of the very first friends I met through Convergence. Love her!

Still, I was super stressed out about attending. After looking up her registry, the idea of shopping at “Babies R Us” terrified me. I don’t know what ANY of that stuff was for, but it mostly looked… tremendously unsettling. LOL. Yep, I was gonna have to wing it, and make something. Besides, making something meant no risk of duplication of gifts, right?

In honor of the geeked-out beginning of our friendship (and the guest list for the shower!), I decided that I would crochet some baby hats based on “random fandom” – 4 hats in total. This one – for a Super Mario Brothers inspired baby beret – was my favorite of the lot. I’d like to show you how I made it! Now, a bit of a caveat: I learned to crochet when I was a little kid, and I crochet like I cook. I decide what I want to make, pick up a needle, and just… do it. I’m not a recipe/pattern kind of person. I don’t know what “guage” I used, I just did it.

Not only do I not USE crochet patterns/instructions, I’ve never written them out for anyone else, in my LIFE. First time, babay! SO… I hope this set of instructions is ok. I’m sure it doesn’t really follow proper formating or whatever, but hopefully it’s easy enough to understand for those who already crochet! It’s about the right size for a newborn, but feel free to play with needle size / number of stitches or rows to make it bigger or smaller as needed.

Also, if you DO make one of these… be sure to send me a picture! Either email or post to the Celebration Generation Facebook page – I’d love to see it!

By the way – True to form, Jenni’s shower was nothing like the nightmare events I’d heard of, and everyone had a good time. It was really touching to be there as the gender of her baby was revealed, by cutting into a specially made cake. When she found out – along with the rest of us – that she was having a girl, Jenni cried tears of happiness!

“1 Up” Mushroom Baby Beret – Free crochet pattern

Emerald green colored yarn
Light tan colored yarn
White colored yarn
Black yarn

Size G crochet hook

Hat

This works its way down from the top of the hat

Using green yarn, chain 2.

Round 1: 15 Double Crochet (dc) into the second chain from the hook. Join final dc with a slip stitch (sl st) into the top of the first dc.

Round 2: Chain (ch) 2, 2 dc in the next stitch, 1 dc in the following. Work around the entire round that way – 2 dc in one stitch, 1 dc in the next. Join final stitch to top of beginning chain with a sl st.

Round 3:. Ch 2, 2 dc in next stitch, 1 dc in each of the next 2 stitches. Work around the entire round that way – 2 dc in one stitch, 1 dc in each of the next two. Join final stitch to top of beginning chain with a sl st.

Round 4: Ch 2, 2 dc in next stitch, 1 dc in each of the next 3 stitches. Work around the entire round that way – 2 dc in one stitch, 1 dc in each of the next three. Join final stitch to top of beginning chain with a sl st.

Round 5 and 6: Repeat Round 4

Round 7: Ch 2, 1 dc in each of the next two stitches. Use a decrease dc stitch for the next two stitches (to make one stitch of the two). Work around the entire round that way – 1 dc in each of three stitches, then join the next two stitches into a single, decreased dc. Join final stitch to top of beginning chain with a sl st.

Round 8: Repeat Round 7

Round 9: Ch 2, 1 dc in each stitch the whole way around. Join final stitch to top of beginning chain with a sl st.

Round 10: Switch to light tan colored yarn. Ch 2, 1 dc in each stitch the whole way around. Join final stitch to top of beginning chain with a sl st.

Rounds 11 and 12: Repeat round 10, continuing to use the tan colored yarn.

Round 13: 1 Single crochet (sc) in each stitle the whole way around. Join final stitch to top of beginning chain with a sl st, tie off.

Use a yarn needle to finish off all hanging ends of yarn.

Eyes (Make 2):

Using black yarn, ch 6. Work 1 sc into each chain. Tie off.

Large dots (Make 3):

Using white yarn, chain 2.

Round 1: 15 Double Crochet (dc) into the second chain from the hook. Join final dc with a slip stitch (sl st) into the top of the first dc.

Round 2: Chain (ch) 2, 2 dc in the next stitch, 1 dc in the following. Work around the entire round that way – 2 dc in one stitch, 1 dc in the next. Join final stitch to top of beginning chain with a sl st.

Small Dots (Make 3)

Using white yarn, chain 2.

Round 1: 15 Double Crochet (dc) into the second chain from the hook. Join final dc with a slip stitch (sl st) into the top of the first dc.

Use a yarn needle and matching yarn to sew each dot and “eye” into place.

How did I do for writing down a crochet “pattern”?

In other words, Halloween seems like an awesome excuse for a guest post or two! Remember Alex, “The Pumpkin Geek“? I’ve fangirled out about featured his amazing talents on this blog before. Check it out: Far-Flung Awesomeness of the Pumpkin Variety It’s been a super productive ROCK STAR year and a half for Alex. He counts Jeri Ryan, LeVar Burton, Gene Simmons, Joe Mantegna, Brad Paisley, and Taylor Swift among his fans – they’re all proud owners of his work.

He’s been written up in international news, online newspapers, blogs… and has shipped his work to 9 different countries and counting.

He’ll be appearing on CBS’ “The Doctors” on Friday, Oct 28th for a segment on safe carving – so be sure to set your DVRs for that! Having only known him online, I can’t wait to see him actually working!

In the spirit of Halloween, check out some of his horror movie carves:

Anyway, without further Ado… here’s Alex!

When Marie asked The Pumpkin Geek to write a blog, I thought, “The Pumpkin Geek can do that!” …Then I thought, “Why the HELL am I referring to myself in the 3rd person!?” So…let’s start again.

Ok, my name is Alex Wer & I am a geek – albeit, of the sexy nature! – but still, a geek! Why do I think this? Because I can drone on endlessly about pumpkin carving. I can stare at my creations at any hour of the day & determine where I could’ve improved on my latest effort.

Some of you may understand this obsession, most will not! However, once you cross over to the Dark Side*, there is no turning back! While I would LOVE to teach each one of you how to carve as I do (OK, that’s a complete lie…then no one would have any need for me!), you’ll have to settle for some basic tips on how it’s possible to carve something better than your friends! After all, that IS the goal!

Oh, and if you manage to get through this blog, you WILL have an idea that you can do to impress the neighbors!

First thing you should do is get one of those $5 carving kits. They work great, are completely safe, and a lot of them have cool stencils you can take a crack at and they come with pretty much all the tools you need. (Marie’s note: As suggested by a reader, a more “permanent” set of carving tools is a great asset to have. She recommends: These, which are currently on sale!)

Next, if you DO choose to use a stencil, make 3-4 inch slits extending inward from the outer areas of the paper, this will help “mold” it to the ‘kin. You can secure it by taping it onto the surface.

Now, depending on how complicated the carve is, there are a few ways to go next…OK, somehow this blog went from “pithy fun” to everyone reading so intently!

You need to “trace” the pattern onto the kin, either pressing firmly with a pen, poking holes with the “pokey thingy”, or even an exacto knife (be CAREFUL!) to pre-cut the areas. Once you have your outline, you’re ready to carve!

“But my friends have those stencils, too”, you say!? What I suggest is going on-line & finding something you want to carve under “coloring pages”. Here’s an R2D2 as an example:

Want something REALLY different? Well, another option is trying your hand at shaving the pumpkin! I know, ladies, you shave enough, can you get at least ONE night off!?

What you need is about $5-$10 of sculpting clay tools:

You can use these to “shave” the areas that are white in you image. Same concept as before, but instead of cutting through the pumpkin, carve ½” – 1″ deep & scoop away the pumpkin flesh as evenly as you can! You can still gut the ‘kin & use a few candles to shine thru (you’ll need to shave/carve deep enough so the image is visible), or, don’t gut the pumpkin at all, simply leaving it as is! In that case, you only need to peel the orange skin off – your carve will last MUCH longer. No light, but you get to keep your creation for a month or so!

Last tip…when you’re done carving, relax & take a bath!

No, not YOU, your PUMPKIN!!! Yes, believe it or not, it will last much longer if you soak it in the tub. Think of an apple…cut it open, leave it out, dries out quickly. Same concept with the pumpkin. When I used to carve on real kins, I had a bathtub full of pumpkins floating around! Come to think of it … Mrs. Pumpkin Geek was in there a LONG time when I carved Aragorn!

So, I hope this little session has been helpful. It’s my first blog entry, so please don’t hate Marie for having me do this! Hope everyone has a wonderful Halloween! If you’re ever on Twitter, would love for you to follow me – @ThePumpkinGeek! I tweet a lot, so consider yourselves warned!

Alex Wer
The Pumpkin Geek

* I’m sorry, while we’re on “The Dark Side” subject, did Luke Skywalker look over at the end of the Lucas Re-Issue “Return of the Jedi” episode and wonder, “Who the heck is the young, blonde dude next to Yoda & Ben?”?

Expert pumpkin carving advice FTW!

Want to meet Alex? He’ll be appearing in LA at the Comikaze Expo, Nov 5-6!

Chocolate. Zombie. Bunnies!

Seriously. click here to check them out.

They were out of stock, and I was still enjoying the memories of the fun evening I’d spend with my husband recently, creating easy Pysanky Easter eggs, and had an idea – we were going to make our own Chocolate Zombie Easter Bunnies, at home!

Seriously, this cost us under $20 for candy melts, molds, and everything. It’s something I enjoyed doing as a kid, and even made a great date night thing. Have fun with it!

Here’s how we did it:

What you need

Wilton Candy Melts*, variety of colors.
Candy melting plate (like this), optional
Small paint brushes
Bunny shaped candy molds*
Cups to hold melted candy

- Divide colored candy melts among cups – and/or melting plate, if using – following directions on the package.

- Use brush to paint colored details directly onto cavity of candy molds. If doing multiple layers, remember that the first color you put down will be the outermost color visible. Ie: paint the pupil first, THEN the rest of the eye:

- Allow each color of candy to harden before painting a different color on top of it:

- Once all of your detail work is finished and hardened, carefully pour your main color into the mold, filling to the edge. Place in the fridge or freezer until completely set. - Once candy is set, remove from fridge and gently flex the mold to release your creation. If using a 2 piece (3D) mold: - Paint all details as noted above. - For a hollow candy, fill one half of the mold. Attach the second half, secure with clips/clamps/elastic bands, and flip. Turn the mold several times, ensuring that the entire cavity is covered. Chill, release as described above. - For a solid candy, fill both halves of the mold, carefully attach. Secure with clips (etc), chill thoroughly before releasing.

—-

Yep, those are the basics for making any sort of candy mold creations. We’re not talking about “any sort” of candy creations though, we’re talking about Zombie Bunnies! Here are a few zombie-specific tips:

1. Red pupils. Yellow eyes. Oh yes!

2. We drew “stitches” with brown chocolate, let that dry, and then painted red candy “blood” around/dripping from them.

3. For a “Shaun of the Dead” style bunny, paint on a red tie. Allow that to dry before painting on a white “shirt” over that.

4. If doing a brown or green colored zombie bunny, draw on white fangs with red blood. Same goes for claws on the feet!

5. Take photos, and share them on our Facebook page!

*Available at Joann’s, Michaels, cake decorating supply shops, and probably a lot of other places.

Though I’m actually Irish Canadian, my best childhood memories of Easter are decidedly Ukrainian flavored.

Manitoba is known for a huge population of Ukrainians. Huge! Excellent homemade perogies could be found anywhere… but I digress. My grandmother’s neighbor was Ukrainian, Easter meant that she’d bake up these wonderful citrussy breads – Paska – and share with us. Oh, they were amazing. My favorite part of Easter, I still remember those delicious breads.

Another favorite part of Easter back then was seeing the Ukrainian Easter eggs, which would show up in advertising, or on display, or whatever. I’d marvel at the intricate designs, the bright colors. Tons of beauty and talent, right there.

One year – I’m sure I was probably in grade 4 or 5 – my class went to the Ukrainian Cultural Center to learn how to make the eggs. We were given little tools to draw wax designs on our eggs – a little stick with a cone shaped well. We’d scoop some wax into the little well, use a candle to melt it, and draw our initial outlines on. We’d dye it, dry it, draw more wax on… lather, rinse, release. When we were done, we’d carefully hold our eggs up near the candle flame, to melt all of the wax we’d drawn on, to reveal all of the colors that we’d protected from subsequent dye baths.

Although none of our eggs looked anything like the gorgeous egg art displayed in the Center, it was a lot of fun. I’ve always loved learning new skills, and I’ve always loved learning about other cultures.

The other day, I was thinking about how much fun I’d had back then, and decided that I would try it again, with my husband. As we’re both sort of anti social, doing at at home was the most attractive option. As I didn’t own any Pysanky tools, I needed to either buy some, or some up with an alternate way to get the wax on the eggs. I briefly considered painting melted wax on with art brushes… but then thought of another way – CRAYONS!

So, last night we bought some crayons and eggs, and went to it. We had a BALL! It was so much fun, and definitely an interesting, fun alternative to our usual Tuesday night “date night”. Though our results were far from professional, they were definitely more interesting than your average “egg dyeing kit” results… and really easy! This is a fun craft for kids AND adults or all skill levels. Let me show you how we did it:

What you need

Newspaper
Napkins or paper towels. LOTS.
Egg Dyes and/or food coloring
Vinegar
Cups or bowls for dye
Spoons
Hard boiled eggs
Crayons
Candles, optional

How to make Pysanky, the easy way

- Cover your entire work surface with newspaper – preferably a few layers. Put a good stack of napkins at each seat – you will go through a ton of them!

- Mix up your egg dyes according to instructions. We actually used Americolor food coloring, guessing at the amount.

- If your dye instructions don’t include the addition of vinegar, I highly recommend adding some – about 1-2 Tbsp per dye cup. This results in much more vibrant colors on the finished eggs. If you’d prefer to do pastel colored Pysanky, then skip the vinegar!

- Add 1 spoon to each dye cup, and line them up on your work surface, progressing from light to dark. Our dyes were ordered: Yellow, Red, Green, Blue, Black.

If you have food coloring bottles, dye jars, or anything else, it can be helpful to place them in front of their respective dye cups – for identification.

- Decide on what you’re looking to design, and what colors you’re using.

- If you are using any white in your design, draw that part of it onto the egg with a crayon. Make sure that any lines or spaces that you want white are completely covered – you are using the wax to protect that part of the egg from subsequent dye baths! Once you are satisfied that all of your white is drawn on, dye your egg in the lightest color you’ll be using.

- If you are not using white in your design, dye your egg in the lightest color you are using.

- Allow your egg to sit in the dye for about 2 minutes, until the egg is the desired vibrancy. Use spoon to remove egg from dye, pat COMPLETELY dry with paper towels.

- When egg is completely dry, use your crayon to draw on the design for the color you just dyed. For instance, if your egg is now yellow, draw the yellow part of your design on with the crayon.

- Dye egg in the next lightest color you’re using. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Here are a few progressions:

Once all of your eggs are fully designed and have gone through their final dye bath, dry them all off completely (this is very important). We placed ours in a mini muffin tin to rest:

Now here is where we diverge from tradition, and kind of live to regret it!

Traditionally, you use a candle to melt the wax off. However, in googling to see if I was COMPLETELY off the wall in wanting to use crayons, I came across a post from Martha Stewart that recommended using an oven to remove the wax. I was intrigued by the idea, and my husband definitely preferred that to using a candle, so we tried it.

The idea is to put your eggs in a 250F oven for 10 minutes, and then use a paper towel to gently rub off the wax, revealing your final design.

I don’t know if it was our dye (doubt it!) or the technique, but we found that the oven caused moisture droplets to appear, and ruin the dye job. Our darkest eggs were left with neon pink dots on it, almost looking like someone had splattered bleach on it.

The solution we figured out after our first batch turned out weird:

Use a mini muffin tin. Lay paper towels out over the impressions, and gently rest your eggs on top. Bake at 250F for only about 5 minutes. Remove from the oven, carefully blot away any moisture. If any wax is melted, gently rub it off AFTER removing the moisture droplets. Return to oven, bake another 3 minutes, repeat. Do this until all of the wax is removed.

Some of our finished eggs:

Here are the eggs pictured in the progressions above:

Also – of COURSE – we *had* to make a Klingon Easter Egg:

(@jenusellis had the cutest comment on our tweeted picture: “LOL Is that a Klingon egg amidst the other pretty ones? Easter FtlhW” Hahaha! ‘FthlW’!!! Love it! I have the *best* Twitter followers!)

Tips:

- You WILL break crayons. Have a lot on hand, and consider them disposable. The Dollar Store is your friend!

- Try to use a different color after each dye bath, so you can tell what you drew last time around, and which is new. Depending on the design, it CAN get confusing after a couple colors.

- You don’t NEED white, and you don’t NEED to end with your darkest color. Some of the prettiest designs don’t have one of those – or either of them. It can be very tempting to use every color, so try to break out of the habit!

- If you don’t *completely* cover a spot with wax, the next color of dye can/will seep in. If this happens, shrug if off and claim you meant to. It’s like… Easter Egg Patina finish. Yes. That’s what it is. You read it here first, I pioneered crayon Easter Egg Patina. Royalties, baby!

- Next time, I think we’ll be doing the traditional method of removing the wax. It’s slightly more labor intensive – and not as kid-friendly as the oven method – but I am sure it’ll produce a better final result. To do so, hold your finished-design, DRY egg up near your flame. Don’t let it touch the flame, or hold it OVER the flame – you don’t want it to smoke, as it may ruin your egg. Allow a small section of wax to melt, and gently rub it off with a paper towel. Repeat, until your whole egg is revealed!

- If you don’t have ankle biters around, this is a GREAT date night activity. Especially with booze. I tried to get #DrunkenPysankyMaking to trend on Twitter last night, to no avail. Regardless, it was fun, and highly recommended!

Sure, you can buy some guest books with a pretty or otherwise interesting front cover.. but usually, the insides are all the same. Just lines for information. Although my now-husband and I picked up a guest book with the intent of personalizing the cover… we were thoroughly uninspired by the interior. There had to be a better idea.

Well, when we first got engaged, we started a scrapbook for all of the photos, knick knacks, cards, and whatnot that were associated with our upcoming wedding. Wouldn’t it be great, we thought, if we could incorporate our guest’s signatures into this scrapbook?

So, here is what we did:

We bought several nice 12″ x 12″ pages of heavy white scrapbook paper (the size of our main wedding scrapbook), along with more scrapbook paper in colors to match our wedding color scheme. We cut up the colored pages to add accent color & design to the white pages. We cut out stargazer lilies from some of our leftover invitations, and added those to the mix.

Additionally, we bought metallic silver letter stickers, with which we wrote “Love”, “Devotion”, etc etc.. one on each page.

At the wedding guest book table, we left out the stack of pages, along with gel pens in colors to compliment the color scheme. We had our wedding party each sign a page, “yearbook style”, with whatever they wanted, to get it all started.

Before the wedding, decorating the pages was a fun thing for the two of us to do together.. but AFTER the wedding, it was fun to read the passages, jokes, and well wishes that our guests had left, uninhibited by restrictive lines

It’s also nice to have those included with the rest of our wedding memories, rather than in a boring book, relegated to the back of a book shelf and ignored… as we know would have been the fate of our original, purchased guest book!

Even with my experience… if I had my time back, I definitely would have hired out, just to minimize that bit of extra stress the day of/day before. Would have liked to be enjoying time with the girls the morning of, not running a hot shower in the hotel room to coax some stubborn lilies open! I always recommend to hire a professional floral designer for your wedding.

Sometimes though, it’s just not in the budget, or not what the bride wants to do, for whatever reason. That’s fine.. but definitely requires some planning ahead! Try to design arrangements that will last several days, and pick sturdy flowers that don’t require a lot of special care.

Here is a cute, cost efficient floral arrangement that can be made several days ahead of your wedding! You can use these on each table (and the individual arrangements can double as guest favors!), or just on “special” tables.. the guest book table, etc. The instructions are for the arrangement as pictured – you can use less containers, and do a smaller heart if you’d like!

Per table, you will need:

- About 15 mini Mint Julep cups (plastic looks fine, and is cheap!)
- Ribbon to match your wedding/floral colors
- Floral foam (Oasis) for FRESH flowers (wet)
- Fresh cut flower food/nutrient, prepared in water per product directions
- Clear plastic floral tape (not the paper wire tape)
- 4 or 5 roses per cup
- Tiny filler flowers (we used wax flower)
- Greens of your choice

Before getting started with the actual floral design, you’ll want to prepare your cups. Tape or glue lengths of ribbon around the bottom of each cup. If it suits your wedding, they can be further decorated with rhinestones, etc.. and you can do this well in advance of the wedding.

Several days before the wedding, cut up your Oasis foam into chunks small enough to fit into the julep cups, but big enough to be snug. Soak them in your prepared water/floral food solution, then insert into the cups.

Use the floral tape in an “X” shape across the top of the foam to secure the foam in the cup. The greens will hide the edges of the tape on the cup rims.

Cut your greens into small pieces. Create a small “wreath” of greens around the edge of the cup by sticking the stems into the foam. Allow the greens to hang slightly over the edge of the cup.

Cut your filler flowers into small pieces. Stick them into the foam, creating another small wreath.

Trim your roses to about 3-4″ long stems, cutting the stems on an angle. Carefully stick your roses into the foam. Be careful where you place them – you shouldn’t remove them and reposition after you’ve stuck them in the foam once.

If there are any gaps in the arrangement, fill them with greens, and/or filler flowers.

Arrange the cups in a heart shape, scatter some flower petals on the table, and add some glass votive holders/candles for drama!

With Pi Day (March 14) coming up, my husband and I decided to just go crazy with it. We’ll blog about the festivities later, but for now… I want to blog about the piece de resistance.. our PInata! Neither of us had ever been involved with making a pinata before, and it sounded like a fun – and wholly appropriate – challenge!

This would be a fun project for any couple or family to do together. Or, hey, any pi-obsessed individual… but I will say that two sets of hands REALLY helped it go faster, and there were many times where the extra set of hands helped with handling.

Of course, the principles of design that we utilized in the creation of our PInata could be applied to many different themes and shapes of pinatas, so go nuts with it. If it’s not in the cards for you to make one for this year’s Pi day, consider other occasions that would/could call for a Pinata.

Traditionally, it seems that you’re supposed to paper mache a balloon, and use that as your base. We couldn’t think of any possible way that would fit with our ideas, so we had to Macguyver a solution. Here is what we came up with. (Warning, this will be a fairly photo-heavy blog entry!)

You Will Need:
Styrofoam slab(s)
Large piece of bristol board or cardboard, or multiple pieces taped together
Newspaper
Duct Tape
Flour
Water
Tissue Paper
Ribbon, string, whatever
Stuff to fill it with

My husband had a large slab of 2″ thick styrofoam in his workshop. He cut two 2′ x 2′ squares, and glued them together to make one 4″ thick square. I drew an outline of a Pi symbol, being sure to not only keep the whole thing proportionate, but also make the leg sections wide enough to “hold a lot of stuff”.

He then used both a table saw (to cut the rough shape) and a hand saw (to trim it close to the shape) to cut the shape out of the styro block, then fine tuned the edges with a sanding block.

I then covered the entire thing with plastic wrap, loosely. This was to make it easier to remove our pinata from the mould later on.

A little “do as I say, not as I do”, here: Before you start paper macheing (is that a word?), you should trace your styro shape out onto bristol board or cardboard. We didn’t, and had to deal with some hassle as a result – more on that later.

Then, we made our paper machee “glue” from about 2 parts flour to 3 parts water for our glue, then added a couple tsp of cinnamon because I hate the smell of flour water. It really helped! We cut out newspapers into 1-2″ strips, and laid out some garbage bags as a drop cloth.

For our initial round of paper machee, we did a total of about 2 layers over 1 face and the whole way around our styrofoam shape, then let it dry completely.

We got impatient with it at this point and removed the shell from the styrofoam before adding another 2 layers of paper mache, but in hindsight.. I wouldn’t suggest doing that. Just add another couple layers over the ones you already did, and let it dry completely again.

Flip it over and carefully extract the styrofoam. You may or may not need to let the inside dry some more. Or extract a kitten from it, as we found ourselves doing repeatedly!

Concurrently to all this, you should also be doing a total of 4 or so layers of paper mache to the shape you traced on the cardboard. (We didn’t! We traced our final, extracted shell onto newspaper and layered THAT.. but then it shrank and we had to Macguyver it some more!). This will be the piece that seals off the other face of your pinata.

Another thing we didn’t do was reinforce the holes that would hang the pinata. I’d suggest doing that by figuring out approximately where you are going to cut the holes in the top, and run a bunch of duct tape across it, either from the inside of the top, the outside of the top, or both, then cut your holes. Also, now is a good time to run a length of ribbon or string through those holes and tie off on the outside – it will help you run your string, rope, or whatever through the holes later, as doing so to a finished pinata would be really difficult.

While all of that is drying, you’re probably looking forward to stuffing it and getting this show on the road. We took the time to go to the local Dollar Tree, which was an excellent source of all KINDS of weird stuff to pack into our PInata!

I wasn’t much into the idea of using poufs of tissue paper to space out goodies, so I bought a pack of leis instead – double duty stuffing! In addition to that, we included a kite (because it seemed hilarious to put a kite in a PInata!), candy, etc etc.

Also, we cut 3 or 4 rough 4″ blocks from the scraps of foam that we had cut away from the main Pi shape earlier on, to use as structural support pillars inside the pinata.

When everything is dry, position your foam pillars inside your pinata cavity, then evenly stuff it with your.. stuff. Place the flat Pi shape on top, and weigh it down with something – we used cans of salmon and roasted red peppers, lol. Go ahead and paper mache your way around that whole edge a couple of times, and let that sucker dry completely.

At this point, we were so excited to see the finished product that we forgot to continue taking photos, so I’ll have to just describe how we went about decorating our pinata.

First of all, as it was a combined Pi & St Patty’s Day party, we decided that it should be bright green, and be wearing a black belt with a yellow buckle. We cut up a ton of tissue paper into roughly 2″ wide strips, and then into 2″ x 2″ squares. Then, we drew the lines for the belt and buckle

Using a wide paintbrush and some regular white Elmer’s Glue, we painted the entire back and sides of the pinata with glue, and covered it with a layer of tissue squares. Green squares over most of it, black squares within the lines of the belt. This helped prevent any show-through of the paper mache between the poufs.

IF we were truly smart, we would have either left it like this, or at least done the traditional fringe thing.. but NO. We decided to get fancy, and harken back to our kindergarten days with some .. I have no idea what you call it. Tissue paper pouf. Basically, we took a square of tissue paper, centered it around the end of a pencil, dipped it in glue, and stuck it to the PInata. Repeat with another pouf pretty close to it.. ad nauseum.

Once you’ve got the back and sides covered and they’ve dried, flip it over and repeat with the front, starting with completely covering it with a layer of squares.

NB: We soon gave up on the pencil and just poked out fingers into roughly the center, and then dipped the resulting peak in the glue. While that helped it go faster, it was still a serious undertaking. The back side and sides took a couple evenings, and then the front took another evening..but in the end, it was totally worth it.

Run your rope/string/whatever through the holes, using the earlier ribbon to pull it through, hang it up, and beat the crap out of it. OR, be like us, and refuse to take part in the destruction of your labor of love, and just videotape your friends looking like goofballs

As a closing note, put more thought into what kinds of things will survive the bashing than we did. For the record, pixy stix may result in sugar everywhere. Toys and kazoos may break. Small and compact is best!

Enjoy!