Pirate pinata

 When I was asked to make a piñata for a pirate party I was quite excited. I didn't have much time so I started on both the pirate and the pirate ship. I ended up finishing the ship for the party though as I thought it would be quicker. It was a lot of fun to make and the little boy who it was for liked it so much that he didn't want to smash it up, he wanted to keep it so we turned it into a pull string version. I don't have any pictures of that as it was all a bit last minute. It was so nice to see his reaction because I don't often do kids piñatas, let alone see their faces when they receive them - except for my children who are a bit spoilt when it comes to piñatas. Children are so honest, especially younger ones like the lad this piñata was for, you know their reactions are genuine, and not just out of politeness or because they appreciate how much work goes into something like this. 
 It did start out looking more like a Viking long boat and took a lot of research on pirate ships and, although it's far from perfect I'm still quite proud of this piñata! X

Mirror ball pinata

I was asked to knock up a quick disco ball piñata for a childrens party this week. I love mirror balls and fairy lights and although this one went down a storm and was truly appreciated by the lucky birthday girl I'm still quite upset to see it go. I think I'm going to have to make one for our house.

We did used to have a giant one in the kitchen but got rid of it in the interests of taste when we moved. Unfortunately I've reverted to my disco ball ways and spangley ways (especially after discovering mirror ball fabric) so we're now having a bit of a mirror ball theme in our piñata house. Rest in pieces mirror ball. I don't envy whoever had to clean up all the mosaic tiles afterwards (obviously not made of glass).

Paintings

My two daughters share a bedroom. One is 4 and the other is turning 12 in a few weeks. I'm very proud of both of them - they help out with piñatas from time to time and are very smart young ladies. Although sometimes the youngest 'helping' is actually more of a hindrance, sometimes she's quite brilliant and I don't know what I'd do without either of them!

The three of us have lived here for a year now and we're still unpacking and settling in. It's taken us that long to finally agree on a colour scheme for their room. It's difficult to find things that an almost teenager and a little one have in common!

I found a rug in Ikea (vile cattle market I enter under protest, although now they've started selling alcohol in the shop it's become slightly more bearable) which had a rainbow pattern on a black background and that's now the
theme of their bedroom. I've been working on a series of paintings for their walls and I'll be raiding our fabric bins for making them curtains. Buying them like normal people would just be too easy! We've been recycling the same curtains for years now - in fact a ridiculous amount of recycling goes on in our house.

Anyway, this is more of a personal post and it's not really piñata related, I just wanted to add pictures of the paintings I've been making. I'm not very good at it but I'm learning as I go along. Although I have managed to sell a few of the ones I've painted so far somehow. And the kids are pleased with them. Probably much more so than anything we could buy in a shop because they have a say in how they turn out. I hope that they'll both contribute to their room with some of their own projects - especially as our fridge and freezer are practically buried in their art work/prizes/merit cards etc.

Wedding heart pinata

This heart piñata was custom made for a Mexican themed wedding. The lucky bride and groom are currently on their honeymoon in Mexico. Where I'd personally like to be as the weather is starting to turn! It's the largest heart piñata I've made so far - measuring over a meter wide! 

The banner was designed especially for the lucky couple by Sally Lock. The red heart is made with hand marbled paper and the flowers are bespoke from a selection of our most vibrant paper.

Wedding card box

Another wedding camper van order. This one was sunshine yellow for a late summer wedding. The camper vans make a popular and creative card box for those of us who are fans of the VW camper van!

Shelter fundraising donation

Fujitsu recently had a fund-raising event for Shelter and I was asked to make a donation to the northern branch by an old school friend. The order included an old 80's style mobile phone, a bulky computer monitor, a piggy bank and the Fujitsu logo for people to smash up.

I wasn't quite sure how to do the logo as I find bubble writing much easier when it comes to piñatas so I feel I cheated a little by covering a cardboard box and putting it on but they seemed happy with it anyway!

I really should do something about the strippers in my kitchen though, they seem to be quite a permanent feature now!  I think if I do many more personal projects I'll have to ether sell off some of the old ones or organise some storage space somewhere else. I've already stuffed piñatas in friends garages and lofts! Which actually lead to a recent sale when one of them had a visitor but I'd grown quite fond of the Chinese dragon in question. In fact I'm not even sure if I have pictures! I've also got orders for a couple more so hopefully I'll get around to it this time.


 Anyway, I should get off and go to bed. I've got orders to get on with and I'm behind on several blog posts as usual and I've been distracted by painting butterflies and 'paper-clips' (as my children call them). I'll add them to my list of projects to write about even though they're not piñatas! One day I'll nag my web guy into finishing the website and I'll be able to use this blog as it was intended - for personal use!

wedding cake piñatas

We've started a new line of wedding piñatas that can either be used as post boxes or piñatas. The ivory wedding cake piñata, with a co-ordinated cascade of roses, topped with two doves was a recent order for a dove themed wedding. The red heart wedding cake piñata had a bit of a naughty underwear theme using lace and red roses and could be used for a hen night. Instead it was one of the 65 piñatas used for pinatafest 2013.

Poo sticks

Painted background, brown pulp tree and hand made flowers. My daughter says I should call it poo sticks because that's what it looked like when I was making the tree. It's now proudly hung in our bathroom. I'm very proud of my first papier mache canvas.

This pic doesn't show the colours well. I'll add updating it to my ever expanding to do list!

This is hopefully going to be one of many pulp canvases, if I ever get the time!

Go compare pinata

At the moment the adverts for go compare car insurance feature the fictional character Gio Compario which have been voted "most irritating advertisement". You know what they say - no publicity is bad publicity! The character is actually played by Welsh tenor Wynne Evans who is a very talented and amazing guy (not that you can tell that from the adverts).

It's amazing how much I learn each time I make a piñata!

As the adverts are very annoying, in fact as I'm writing this I have the theme tune from them stuck in my head which I'm seriously going to have to banish by listening to something else as soon as I've finished this post!

This piñata was part of pinatafest. The biggest piñata bash in the UK on the 3rd of August, with bands, burlesque and a magician. It was a very unusual event but it went down really well with everyone who came. We had people from all over the country, I not only spoke to people from local cities such as manchester and Sheffield, there were people there from London, Liverpool, chesterfield, all over! It was an amazing event that we'll be repeating next year! Although I think we'll chose a more accessible location next time. The only complaints we had were about how difficult it was to find the venue!And I did a lot of market research (networking/chatting to random people). There will be more pictures and information about the night to come! 

 I did most of him the night before the event so he's a bit last minute. I think he's turned out pretty well considering, but I think he'd look better with a little more detail, including more of a flick to his hair!


We didn't end up smashing him up like we were meant to so at the moment he's in storage. I'm not quite sure what to do with him but if I don't think of anything by next year I'm sure he'll be a welcome addition to Pinatafest 2014!

Purple spotty dragon

We had an order recently for a 3 foot dragon that was 'every colour' but mostly purple. The girl that ordered it loved it so much when she saw it  that she refused to smash it up and ordered another piñata for her party instead!

Whilst I was out taking pictures a week old lamb from the farm came by to have a closer look. It was very cute. I have it on good authority that the dragon piñata is now hung up in the entrance hall to their house.

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.587273534636966.1073741826.234857009878622&type=1 - for more pictures (including the ones of the lamb!).

Pinatafest ; the Uk's biggest pinata bash!

We're planning a party on the 3rd of August at Beaver works in Leeds. We've been making them for quite a few years but we've never had the chance for a proper celebration because we're generally too busy!


Tickets will be £8 plus booking fee available from http://www.jumborecords.co.uk/tickets.asp?sort=&event_id=15779.
There will be bands and acts as well as more piñatas (containing prizes) than you can shake a wet stick at! Although most of the piñatas will be for display purposes only we'll still have more than enough to out piñata the hardiest attendee! http://pinatalady.blogspot.co.uk/p/blog-page.html for more information. You can also find the event on FB 

http://www.facebook.com/events/505074799583076/?fref=ts

If there is anything you'd like to smash up then why not drop us a line and we'll get it knocked up for the party!

Papier mache coffins, cheap, affordable and kind to the environment.

We've had a few funerals lately and deaths of people we know. I  said that when I die I expect someone to make me a coffin but I've been told that when I do I'll have to make my own because no one I know is brave enough to attempt making one!

I'm not sure how I feel about keeping my own coffin around the house or even in the cellar but I definitely thought it was something interesting to look into. I like the idea of having a green coffin made out of recycled materials that will rot down into the earth quickly. I'd also love something that's quirky and suits me.I like the idea of having something that makes people smile when they see it. Maybe something bright and eye catching, that's more like a work of art than your typical funeral ware. Or perhaps I'd go for something black, iconic and ironic.I'll have a go at a couple and put pictures up, when I finally have time. It's not everyone who gets to design their own coffin!

I didn't make the coffin in the picture, it's actually a coffin piñata but I thought it was appropriate (for me at least)!

Prices for wedding photography

http://www.louisebjorling.com/how-much-does-a-wedding-photographer-cost-%E2%99%A6-guide-to-uk-wedding-photography-prices/ I came across this when I was looking at camera's and for photographers and as I know a proportion of are looking for wedding piñatas I thought I'd share this information!

I thought it was handy for advice on how to find a good photographer as well as how  much you can expect to spend!

Pinata cookies!

http://www.sheknows.com/food-and-recipes/articles/958083/cinco-de-mayo-pinata-cookies

We saw these online and thought we'd share! They are such a fabulous idea. The link above tells you more and how to make them. They're a fabulous idea for a children's party- although I'm not sure how many parents will be able to find the time to make them! If we've time me might have a go at making them later with our kids and put up pictures of the results.

A lady pinata one of our amazing people pinatas!

Here's our most recent order, finished and ready to go. We're in the process of making a series of fabulous people piñatas that you just can't buy in the shops!

As well as some popular characters we'll be making stripper piñatas for hen and stag nights and some classier ones too. We might also end up making the odd less savoy character for parties, we'll just have to see what the future brings.

We can make anyone into a piñata - to find out what you'd look like as a piñata or any person of your choice why not get in touch!

If you'd like to see more photo's please click on this link http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.536318019732518.123166.234857009878622&type=1&comment_id=97280776&offset=0&total_comments=2&notif_t=photo_album_comment you can also virtually see out piñatas being made.

To order one of our amazing people piñatas you can get in touch by sending an e-mail to pinatalady@gmail.com or visit out website for more information http://thepinatalady.co.uk/ We also welcome comments and suggestions!

 Hope you enjoy the rest of the blog!

Pinata Cake!

Not sure how this was made but I'd love to have a go. Looking forwards to celebrating  out anniversary - can't wait to have a little party and lots of fun smashing up piñatas!

Wedding season again!

It's that time of year again when wedding season is starting up again. Here's our first wedding order of this year. We've another couple of these ordered. They're one of our most popular piñatas! We're not surprised though. they are very beautiful - we've a few decorating our house!

People piñatas

We're quite busy with orders at the moment. As well as the usual camper vans (well it's quite usual for us!) we're also making people piñatas! We'll add more pictures and details once they're finished  But here's a sneaky preview.

Another quiet period

Sorry there haven't been many recent posts. Every year we do something for a charity and we're just in the process of organising this years donation. Any suggestions for charities or charitable events are most welcome. Normal service should resume as in a week or two! X

Recent pinata orders

We've had a few orders recently for piñata messages, numbers and words. Including a few piñata numbers. Here's a picture of a pre-battered number 4 and a couple of birthdays that are just over a meter long (to give you an idea of size). We're pretty run off our feet at the moment with wedding season coming up, planning an anniversary party and just generally trying to keep well ahead of orders so that we can spend our free time working on a few personal projects.

Snowman pinata

This years snowman piñata. He's not quite finished yet but he'll probably have to do as is till next year as the orders are racking up and we have a party to organise for our youngest child. We're also hoping to get some more pics with a blue sky in the background before the snow melts! Here's a good preview anyway!

Depressing January project

We were recently contacted  asked to produce 21 piñatas. We're pretty sure this is the biggest piñata event in UK history - we can't see any others mentioned online.

It's kept us very busy over Christmas and new years but it's also been a lot of fun as well as quite a challenge!

We're now getting on with other projects including a giant woman, another camper van and a 5ft snowman, wedding flowers... not to mention the butler, and the next big furniture project. I haven't had much time for pictures or to upload the blog but watch this space!

The piñatas included
3 Raindrops
3 pigs
3 clouds
3 monday's
3 thermometers
3 calenders
3 smiley's that weren't smiley!