Mickey Mouse Piñata

For Lola's recent Mickey Mouse themed birthday party I made a piñata - a Mickey Mouse piñata, of course.

Lola has a go at smashing her piñata

I'd made a papier mache piñata in the past but this was my first time making a cardboard piñata. I must say, cardboard piñatas are much easier and less time consuming to make than papier mache piñatas. No worries about balloons popping, no waiting for layers to dry, no layers for that matter! Cardboard piñatas also open up a world of shapes that are just not possible with papier mache and a balloon, for example the traditional donkey shape.

It only took me two evenings to make the cardboard piñata from scratch.

Here's a look at how I made the piñata...

You've got mail...

Last week during a visit to Habitot I noticed Lola spending quite a bit of time playing with a wooden letterbox. She posted wooden letters over and over and seemed to be having loads of fun. I decided that a toy letterbox was just what the girls need at home and set about making one.

Ready to post a letter

In goes the letter

I found the perfect sized cardboard box from a recent Amazon delivery and started covering it with white duct tape. The tape adds strength to the box as well as a new colour. I cut out a slot on the front for the mail to go in and a door on the back for easy retrieval of mail. I used a looped pipe cleaner as a handle on the door to make it easier for little fingers to open.

Back of the letterbox

Then it was time to add a roof. I cut the roof shape from some bright orange card I had laying around and attached it with glue tape. The remaining orange cardboard was later rolled into a tube to become the pole. More on that later.

No letterbox is complete without a number so I cut out a nice big number one from cardboard and covered it with gold washi masking tape. I added a name plaque which was also made from cardboard and washi masking tape. These were both attached with glue tape.

We're number 1!

Now the only thing missing was a letterbox flag to indicate when the girls have mail. Like the number and name plaque this was made from cardboard and washi masking tape. I attached it to the side of the letterbox with a split pin so it can easily be moved up and down.

Lola moves the letterbox flag to signal that the mail has been delivered

Once the letterbox was complete it was time to install it outside the girls' bedroom. I attached the letterbox to the wall with a couple of Command Picture Hanging Strips. Once the letterbox was securely in place I positioned the cardboard pole underneath. The pole isn't actually attached the letterbox however it is jammed in quite tight between the bottom of the box and the floor so it doesn't move. The pole is purely for decoration and doesn't support the letterbox at all.

Lola and her letterbox

While I worked on the letterbox the girls worked on cardboard letters and postcards to play with. Ava made some lovely postcards from a tropical location.

Ava posts a few postcards

Looks like someone is on holiday in a tropical paradise

The girls really enjoy playing with their new letterbox and it looks right at home outside their bedroom door.

Here are some more photos of Lola and the letterbox in action.

I've got a letter to post

  

Posting a letter

In it goes

Ooh... what's in here?

Lola collects her mail

Codornices Park, Berkeley

I seem to be on a roll with the playground posts tonight so why not add another one?

Here in Berkeley there is a hidden gem of a playground in Codornices Park. Ok, so it's not really all that hidden, but it's new to me.

A while back I read about some amazing concrete slides in San Francisco. For some reason I was talking to a staff member at our local Trader Joe's supermarket (local as in the supermarket under our apartment) about these slides and he mentioned that Berkeley has it's own concrete slide. Huh? How had that slipped past my radar? As soon as I got home I got online to find said slide - to the detriment of my perishable groceries which were left out while I scoured the internet! It turns out the concrete slide is located in Codornices Park, a favourite amongst Berkeley locals. Codornices Park was added straight to my "must do" list.

A few weeks later we happened to be catching a bus that went straight past Codornices Park. On our way home we stopped off and made a bee-line straight to the slide.

Now, although incredibly popular with kids, this slide is not for the faint of heart. It's 45ft long, barely wide enough for an adult's backside and made of skin grazing concrete. To avoid tearing off skin, and to make yourself slide faster, it's best to slide down on a piece of cardboard, especially if you're wearing shorts. We had no cardboard with us but luckily there's quite a lot of it left behind by previous sliders.

Ava slides down at high speed.