Ink and Dirt Designs Blog

Cinco de Mayo Birthday Fiesta!

5/15/2016

My little one is not so little anymore...M is officially 8 years old! For her party this year she requested a Mexican fiesta and what could be better since her birthday is actually on May the 5th! Here is the run down of her Cinco de Mayo themed party.

I tried my hand at a few handmade decor items that I've never tried before...paper flowers, paper bag stars, cascarones, face painting and entertaining a record number of school friends and family!

I have always wanted to try making giant paper flower and this was the perfect reason to finally to do them. I started with a practise attempt using scrap printer paper and when that worked out well, I bought a pack of coloured paper from Walmart to make the final ones.

Another fun thing I have always wanted to try is making Cascarones. If you are not familiar with these, Cascarones are confetti filled eggshell that you essentially smash open on each others heads. We started collecting empty eggshells in April, then dyed them, stuff them with confetti and it was a big hit with the kids. Note: Brown eggs do not dye and they do not break like white eggs do! It was like those birthday candles that don't blow out...brown eggs had to get smashed HARD to break...my husband and I volunteered to be the target for those ones.

We also made stars out of coloured paper bags (I saw this tutorial on Facebook). I never knew you could do this and it was so incredibly simple! Of course we had traditional banners through out the house, floral head bands for all the girls and a classic piñata!

It was an amazing day, an absolutely crazy fiesta...and she loved it all!

Happy Birthday to our sweet girl, you are smart, fierce and we love you so much!!!

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Dino Piñata

9/1/2015

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We celebrated my son's birthday a little while ago and threw him a Jurassic Park inspired party. As per tradition, I made his piñata which this year was a T-rex. I'll be posting highlights from the party in the next few days but right now here are the basics on how I created this cute but slightly scary T-rex piñata.

What You Need

Paper Mache paste (I mix water and flour until it feels like runny porridge)

Newspaper cut into strips
Rope
Paint

Scissors and a box cutter
White foam board
Hot glue, white glue and tape

The Foundation

Inflate three ballons, 2 small and 1 large one. Secure 1 small and 1 large together as seen above using strips of paper and tape.

The Foundation Wrapped

Wrap the balloons in newspaper strips soaked in paper mache paste and set it aside to dry. I placed the form into bowls to dry overnight and flipped it the next day to continue drying.

Head and Tail

Using scrunched up paper and tape, shape arms, legs and a tail. Tape them onto the foundation and wrap those pieces in newspaper strips soaked in paper mache paste. Take the 3rd ballon and wrap it in paper mache paste.

Head and Jaws

Take the 3rd ballon and cut it in half. Take 1 half and trim it so it will fit as the lower jaw. Once you got the right fit, hot glue and/or tape it into place.

Take the 2nd half and trim it just a bit so it will fit on the head forming the rest of the upper face/jaw. Roll up newspaper and tape 2 lengths down the head from snout to neck to form the ridge above the eyes.

Once that is done, cover it all once again with newspaper strips soaked in paper mache paste and let it dry.

Finishing Touches

Instead of streamers I went with simple acrylic paint. Once all was dry, I punched a hole through his mouth to allow me to fill it with candy.

I cut teeth shapes out of some white foam board scraps I had lying around the studio and hot glued them in place.

Lastly, I tied a rope around his neck to be able to hang and yank around for the fun part of smashing him open.

That is it...it only took a few days to create it and the birthday boy absolutely loved it. If you have any questions on the process, please post them in the comments and I will answer them as best I can. If you try it, let me know how it goes.

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Creating a Strawberry Piñata

5/13/2015

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Piñatas have become one of my favourite things to create, like this Joker Piñata and Olaf Piñata. This year my daughter asked for a Strawberry Shortcake party and naturally I decided to make her a giant strawberry for her piñata.

Many people are interested in knowing the process of making a piñata therefore I am sharing my process. It isn't difficult to make a piñata but it does take patience for the drying (this is not afternoon project) and patience to fringe all the streamers but it is not difficult and kinda fun!

What you need:

Paper Mache paste (I mix water and flour until it feels like runny porridge)

Newspaper cut into strips
Rope
Paint

Party streamers
Scissors and box cutter
Hot glue, white glue and tape

Step 1

Inflate three balloons. Wrap dry newspaper strips around them and secure with tape. This keeps the balloons together and makes the next step easier.

Step 2

Step 3

Wrap the balloons in newspaper strips soaked in paper mache paste and set it aside to dry. I placed the form into a bowl to dry overnight and flipped it the next day to continue drying.

Cut an empty paper towel holder in half and cover in paper mache. Cut some newspaper into leaf shapes and cover in paper mache. Leave loose and once dry, paint all the leaves and stem with Green paint.

Step 4

Cut a hole on the side of the piñata to fill with candy and to install rope.
Cut a small hole, big enough to pass a rope through, in the very top.
Cut a rope aprox 2' long, fold in half, knot cut ends together, cover top of knot in hot glue and going through the inside, feed the rope through the top hole leaving the knot securely glued to the inside top of piñata.

Step 5

Take Red party streamers in 1 or 2 foot lengths and fray on one side using scissors. Using white glue, attach the non-frayed side of the streamers to the piñata in layers starting from the bottom and working your way up.
Once red is complete, take Yellow party streamers and cut into aprox 1"x2" pieces. Insert randomly throughout the Red of the piñata and secure it with white glue.

Step 6

Glue the leaves and stem together using hot glue. Place on the top of the Piñata feeding the hanging rope through the middle of the stem (no need to glue it to the piñata).
Fill the piñata with candy and you are ready to bust this strawberry open!

I hope that gives you an idea on how to make this strawberry piñata and how the concept can apply to any shape or character. Let me know if you use these tips to make your own, I would love to see them. Also, I'll be sharing the rest of her Strawberry Shortcake party later this month.

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