This is one of my favorite Recon projects I have did so far.  My lil cousin has outgrown her Barbie toys.  I was left with a bag full of clothing she no longer wanted.  I started picking through it and started thinking that many of the pieces were small enough for hair accessories.  

This first one is a Barbie black furry boa.  I added a ribbon, a red rose, and sewed on an elastic strap. This one looks so much prettier in person.  The rose is deep red and the fur is very dark black.



The second one is a crocheted Barbie hat I packed with cotton filling and sewed a barbie shirt around the cotton for the inside.  I glued it in place with a light coating of sewing stitch glue.  I then put on the elastic band and added some glittery paint to the inside to make it sparkle.  





What do you think?  I still have a lot of Barbie clothes and I plan on making some other hair type accessories.  Any ideas of what to do with the rest?

I think we should have a nbc swap real soon since it is so close to jack's lovely holiday.  Is there anyone that would want to organize one?  I am so interested and I know there our other craftster buddies out there that would be down. 

I am living in the DuQuoin area.  I have lived in southern illinois for most of my life.  There is not much interest in my area at least among the people I know to start up groups!  I really want to start a group whether it be just someone teaching us all to knit, hang out and share ideas, meetup socials where we bring a dish, or anything where it is just craftsters meeting craftsters!  if there is already something going I would even be interested in hearing about that!     

There are few people i seen posting on the city guides for southern illinois and i have pm'd some peeps.  I would love to share ideas on this, like i said even if it is just a small meet and greet!  So post away and Pm me or add your post that you are interested and what your ideas our.  I hope to get something going by at least the end of summer beginning of fall if at all possible.   So please feel free to share the ideas and your interests what ever they maybe! 

For the past week more or less I have been working on a Barry Manilow Pinata for a CopaCabana theme birthday party.  I was very intimidating making a pinata with more than one balloon!  I think I succeeded in pulling this one off.  I am going to post pics so if anyone else ever feels like they cant make a pinata with more than 1 balloon, they can see how easy it is to make a person!  I think you could get away with making any type of Icon or general people with these steps.  Let me know what you think and I will probably add some pics later since we haven't smashed him open yet.  He will be filled up with goodies soon.  I am going to cover the hole up with yarn hair as soon as we fill him.  Check out my blog for more info, pics, etc.  I am always looking for new LJournal friends.



First I took and filled up one deco balloon all the way.  Then I filled up a second balloon a little more than half way for the body.  You will need to tape the 2 balloons together using either clear tape or duct tape.  Next take 2 toilet paper rolls and 2 paper towel rolls.  Tape each to the body balloon with clear or duct tape to make arms and legs.  I cut the paper towels off a bit to make him more proportioned and so i could add his tapping feet.

Next thing you will need to do is mix up your glue by using 1 cup water to 2 cups of flour.  Make it a thick mixture like glue .  I heated mine up on the stove so i could do more than one layer at a time and it seemed to also dry faster.  This was just an idea recommended by a friend.  You can also use wall paper paste or any pinata type glue.  
Once mixture is cooled, rip or cut up strips of newspaper about 1-2 inches thick, dip them in the mix and stick them on to make your first layer.   I also did a second layer after completing the first. I would recommend the use of a fan to help dry out the layers.  I waited till it was completely dried and added a 3rd and 4th layer.  On the 3rd and fourth layer I also started to plan out the face and placed a nose in the center of the head using balls of waded up soaked in glue newspaper to form the shape.



After all of the layers are completely dry I painted it with white paint to cover up the newspaper print. It is probably a good idea to cut a hole in the back of head or body now and take out balloons so you can place in your stuff when you are ready.  


Now just paint on your clothing and add all of your features / accessories.  I used some painted on card stock to make hands and feet and glued them on with epoxy.  The eyes and mouth were made by using a 8x10 picture of barry manilow i printed in black and white and painted over it then cut the pieces out and glued them on the face to make it easier for proportioning and was faster for me to get it completed.  I didn't make him as highly detailed as i wanted but i figured we would be smashing him anyways!

Well that is my Barry manilow pinata .  I hope you like it!

I modified/updated this with new pics and new charms for you to see.  They are very detailed but look a bit fuzzed with pics.  Enjoy what do u think?  

Here are my pins i Just completed this evening for my bf and my cousin.  THE FIRST is of Kenpachi and the 2nd is urahara both from Bleach.  I just found some images online , freehanded them on, splash of color, hole punched a hole in each, popped em in the oven, put a ring on each and popped em on some extra large saftey pins from a jewerly kit! Viola easy lil nighttime project and everyone is happy cause we all loveeeeeeeeee some Bleach here!

THey are very detailed but i couldnt get a clear enough shot on my photos.
i am putting up a link to the album so you can view more if you cant see them well in these shots.  There is
IShida, Ichigo, Kenpachi, Gin, Kon, Husagya, and urahura with few others.  I am working on all of them with a necklace i can switch them out on.  Thinking about doing d-grayman too.  

 http://s593.photobucket.com/albums/tt18/jigarkhwar/?newest=1
lINK TO ALBUM

I really love the articles and things in Southern LIving and Cottage LIving.  They somtimes have cool craft ideas and really cool travels of shows and things they have been too.  I recently read an article about some texan flea market groups that blew me away.  Anybody else enjoy these are have past isssues with cool articles.   I am new to them both but have fell in love with them.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/37624233@N00/153411837/ - this is my bf's really awesome tribute to sublime picture he made .

Also I am showing some jar candle votive holder thingys I have been making for fun and gifts.   They are super easy and I am sure others have made some like these ....I have seen them in many craft magazines and stores..........che ck em out let me know what you think.   trying to do something different with them besides the usual ones you see with gingerbread men and fruit and such on them.  What would be a cool thing to put on them or paint on them that you think would be pretty suaveeeeee.   

here is the link for these___candle jars below. 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/37624233@N00/153411836/  This is my first real post of work of mine and my bfs.   I am clueless on how to insert photos using html and such so i stuck with my easy happy links.   Peace and love, mana Thanks for looking

This is my first post on craftster and I hope i am putting this in a good place.    I was wondering since i have come into a large amount of magazines if i was to cut images out and decoupage them to furniture would i have to worry about copyrights?   Some of the furniture we would like to sell but are unsure what to do about this first.    Thanks for your information.


also anyone else have ideas of what i can do with all th ese magazines.....i have like a thousand !!!!