Minnie Party How-to's, Part 1

Here is a link to the original party post.

There is so much to explain with this party I thought I better do two posts.

The Pinata:

Okay this was so easy. I was worried it would take forever, but I made it in less than an hour.

What I used:

A Costco sized Huggies box.

tape

craft glue

a roll of crepe paper

a couple sheets of tissue paper

tape

I started by cutting out the mouse ears shape. I used bowls for my drawing. You'll need two sets of ears, a front and a back.

Next I cut the flaps from the top and bottom of the box in half lengthwise. I took the strips and made them pliable by bending them and rubbing them along the edge of the table. It's kinda like curly ribbon. You just have to break the stiffness so you can bend it around the shape of the ears.

I attached the strips one side at a time. I started at the center corner of one ear and taped it into place. Then running along the edge I would place a piece of tape every now and then. You don't want to tape the whole thing or they won't be able to break it open, use just enough to hold it in place. I continued this until I wrapped around the whole thing. Taping in all the corners help it hold it's shape.

I turned it over and attached the other side the same way.

I left this gap in the top so I could fill it with candy.

I didn't get a picture, but at this point I would poke a hole in the front and back to fish your wire through. Once you've added the wire you can cover the box with paper.

I started at the edges. I ran lines of glue along the edges on both the top and side of the pinata. Next I covered them up with the crepe paper.

I did this on both sides

Then I covered the entire thing with a layer of black tissue paper. I glued it down and cut away the excess.

I covered the tissue paper with spirals of ruffled crepe paper. I started with the ears first.

First I went around the edge with the glue. Then I pulled the crepe paper into gathers as I layed it down. I would lay it in the glue and scrunch it up.

Once the outer layer was done I would start on the next layer making sure they overlapped a little.

For the middle of the circle I scrunched a strip of the crepe paper into gathers and formed it into a circle and attached it to the center.

After the ears were done, I did the same thing for the center. I covered both the front and back and sides with the crepe paper gathers.

For the sides I did the edges first then did a ruffle down the middle.

The only thing left to do is add a bow, it can be used to hide the wire.

The Mouse Hands:

First I made a pattern. I started with a circle for the palm of the hand them drew fingers. Mickey and Minnie only have 4 fingers. You'll need to make sure you make at least one finger wide enough to fit two real fingers.

I cut them out of white felt. I cut the top of the hand on a fold so it would have a rounded bottom and be double thick. I cut the bottom in a single layer trying to use less felt, but you could do both hands double thick.

Then I sewed the the top to the bottom

Once I knew they fit, I drew the black lines on with a fabric marker I already had. It would probably look better if you cut and sewed them on using black felt. I was out of time. Of course you would need to do that before you sewed the two layer together.

The Goodie Bags:

What I used:

White, Black and Red felt

1" Black ribbon

small red polka dot ribbon

fray check

First I made a pattern for the mouse head with a piece of cardstock. I traced spools of thread and such, anything round and the size you want will work. Then I use the pattern and cut out several of the mouse heads in the black felt. I cut several white circles slightly bigger than my mouse ears and sewed the two together with the ears centered in the middle.

Next I cut the font and side panels of the bags. The front panels are 5" x 7" and the side pieces are 3" x 7". I cut my black ribbon into 20 in strips and fray checked the ends.

Next I sewed the black ribbon onto the bags and then the mouse ears circles in the middle.

To assemble them I sewed the sides and the front and back togehter. It looks like a bottom-less box. Then I folded in the sides at the bottom, like a flat lunch sack, and sewed the bottom closed.

The Birthday Outfit

I simply used Wonder Under to add everything to my $3 T-shirt. I made the skirt up the same way I made THIS ONE. The only difference was I added a gathered piece of black fabric to the bottom. I bought 2 yards of the polka dot fabric. I was able to make the skirt, all the hats and banners plus have some left over.

I'm sure I left something out so let me know.

Here is a link to Part 2 of party How-To's.