Unicorn Birthday Party Pinata!
Hey readers!
We have had a bunch of posts about long term bigger projects. I wanted to do something that I could summarize in a single post. This project was something I saw on Pinterest a while ago for a friend's unicorn themed birthday party. I was invited to another unicorn party and decided to break this one out again. I guess unicorns are in right now. I wish puppets would become in. I would be WAY cooler if that happened. Well, I can dream.
I went out and got myself a pinata and a few packs of tissue paper. The messiest part is ripping off all of the existing paper - don't forget to save the eyes if you plan to reuse them like I did! The first time I did this, the pinata had glue on nearly every inch of the tissue paper. This time, it seemed to only be glued on the edges. I also found that this pinata was covered in clear packing tape. The last one I did had no packing tape on it anywhere and was held together completely by glue. I guess I bought a different brand, but they looked exactly the same to me - until I ripped them apart of course. It is a good thing pinatas don't have feelings, I would be some kind of Hanibal for pinatas. I can just see the pinata campfires, whispering huddled against the plastic fire (they aren't going to hang out near a real fire for obvious reasons) sharing scary stories of the man who skins them alive.
We have taken a weird left turn on this post about someone's birthday. Let's get back to talking about crafting. My skinned donkey, who I have named Goliath for some reason, is great and all, but I am about to cover him in white tissue paper. Since I don't want to be covering him for ten years, I will need to lighten his base color so that the cardboard and bits of stubborn paper don't show through.
A quick coat of paint and little Goliath is ready for the next step in his journey to becoming a beautiful unicorn. Painting over tape isn't the best thing that I have ever done, but since this is going to be covered in hot glue and then later beaten with sticks, certain shortcuts can be taken. Don't tell Goliath about the sticks thing, he is really sensitive about being defeated by people with rudimentary weapons - go figure.
I took my tissue paper and set about 20 sheets on top of each other. Then I cut about 4 inches the whole length. Now I had a big stack of rectangles and cut about 3/4 of the way up my rectangles creating little hairs for Goliath on long strips. Using one strip at a time and starting at the feet, I put a dab of hot glue on the start and slowly wrap Goliath and cover him in white fluffy fur. I used plain uncut tissue paper for his underside, because in my last experience, the hairs sagged and made the unicorn look a little less svelte. Within about half an hour he was mostly covered.
This is a pretty forgiving process. You can cover mistakes easily. Keep in mind that you want the hair to run down the legs, but across the back. That can take a little maneuvering to change directions and make it look normal. I am not sure how successful I was this time, but the mane is going to hide most of the back anyway so Goliath can deal with it.
I created a horn with a paper plate. I cut a line up the middle and rolled it on itself to form a horn. I wrapped that in uncut tissue to make it look a little different. If I was feeling a little fancier, I would have wrapped a small ribbon in a twist along the horn to make it clearer, but I didn't have any appropriate ribbon in my supplies, so the mane and white fur will have to sell it as unicorn for me.
The mane was a big of a struggle for me. I honestly forgot how I did it last time, and my reference pictures were of little help. I think I did it differently last time, but this worked out too. First, I took two sheets of tissue paper in purple and pink. I glued them to each other as I folded them up into a 2 inch long strip. Then I cut all the folds and cut long strips up the back. I glued that right to Goliath's ass (just below the opening for candy), and let it hang down. The strips wanted to stay laying on top of each other and really needed a good fluffing up to make them look more like a horse tail.
For the mane itself, I cut a purple and pink sheet at twice the width of my strips. Then I glued them together and folded it in half. I cut my strips like normal, but now I had a flat place to mount to Goliath. I glued the mane, starting at the top and working my way to the opening for candy in the back. Everything was laying flat, so I ran a bead of hot glue down the middle and pulled the two sides of the mane up so they would be glued upright. It probably isn't the most stable solution, but again we are talking about a pinata!
I reattached the eyes - being careful to cut off the last of the brightly colored bits it was attached to before - and there you have it. Goliath is now a beautiful unicorn who no one wants to skin. Instead, they want to beat him with sticks to find his candy center. I guess all humans are monsters to a pinata campsite. At least I give them new skin after I take it off, you all just beat them and then nibble on their insides. Gross.
I should probably get going and start questioning the writing style of this blog.
Keep making cool stuff!
Until next time,
JoshPrime
I went out and got myself a pinata and a few packs of tissue paper. The messiest part is ripping off all of the existing paper - don't forget to save the eyes if you plan to reuse them like I did! The first time I did this, the pinata had glue on nearly every inch of the tissue paper. This time, it seemed to only be glued on the edges. I also found that this pinata was covered in clear packing tape. The last one I did had no packing tape on it anywhere and was held together completely by glue. I guess I bought a different brand, but they looked exactly the same to me - until I ripped them apart of course. It is a good thing pinatas don't have feelings, I would be some kind of Hanibal for pinatas. I can just see the pinata campfires, whispering huddled against the plastic fire (they aren't going to hang out near a real fire for obvious reasons) sharing scary stories of the man who skins them alive.
We have taken a weird left turn on this post about someone's birthday. Let's get back to talking about crafting. My skinned donkey, who I have named Goliath for some reason, is great and all, but I am about to cover him in white tissue paper. Since I don't want to be covering him for ten years, I will need to lighten his base color so that the cardboard and bits of stubborn paper don't show through.
I took my tissue paper and set about 20 sheets on top of each other. Then I cut about 4 inches the whole length. Now I had a big stack of rectangles and cut about 3/4 of the way up my rectangles creating little hairs for Goliath on long strips. Using one strip at a time and starting at the feet, I put a dab of hot glue on the start and slowly wrap Goliath and cover him in white fluffy fur. I used plain uncut tissue paper for his underside, because in my last experience, the hairs sagged and made the unicorn look a little less svelte. Within about half an hour he was mostly covered.
This is a pretty forgiving process. You can cover mistakes easily. Keep in mind that you want the hair to run down the legs, but across the back. That can take a little maneuvering to change directions and make it look normal. I am not sure how successful I was this time, but the mane is going to hide most of the back anyway so Goliath can deal with it.
I created a horn with a paper plate. I cut a line up the middle and rolled it on itself to form a horn. I wrapped that in uncut tissue to make it look a little different. If I was feeling a little fancier, I would have wrapped a small ribbon in a twist along the horn to make it clearer, but I didn't have any appropriate ribbon in my supplies, so the mane and white fur will have to sell it as unicorn for me.
The mane was a big of a struggle for me. I honestly forgot how I did it last time, and my reference pictures were of little help. I think I did it differently last time, but this worked out too. First, I took two sheets of tissue paper in purple and pink. I glued them to each other as I folded them up into a 2 inch long strip. Then I cut all the folds and cut long strips up the back. I glued that right to Goliath's ass (just below the opening for candy), and let it hang down. The strips wanted to stay laying on top of each other and really needed a good fluffing up to make them look more like a horse tail.
For the mane itself, I cut a purple and pink sheet at twice the width of my strips. Then I glued them together and folded it in half. I cut my strips like normal, but now I had a flat place to mount to Goliath. I glued the mane, starting at the top and working my way to the opening for candy in the back. Everything was laying flat, so I ran a bead of hot glue down the middle and pulled the two sides of the mane up so they would be glued upright. It probably isn't the most stable solution, but again we are talking about a pinata!I reattached the eyes - being careful to cut off the last of the brightly colored bits it was attached to before - and there you have it. Goliath is now a beautiful unicorn who no one wants to skin. Instead, they want to beat him with sticks to find his candy center. I guess all humans are monsters to a pinata campsite. At least I give them new skin after I take it off, you all just beat them and then nibble on their insides. Gross.
I should probably get going and start questioning the writing style of this blog.
Keep making cool stuff!
Until next time,
JoshPrime
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