Is it Monday AGAIN?

I just sat through 3 hours of training that didn't apply to me, so now I'm in a very cross mood. But instead of grumping about the weather, my job, and how the rest of the planets have aligned against me; here are some cute things you should make in time for the Oscars on March 7th:

Bakerella's Oscar Cookies:



Invite me over to bite the heads off statuettes when our favorites are wronged by the Academy. And then take a shot every time someone mentions Haiti, Michael Jackson, or the thanking God. Trust me, you'll be passed out across the plasma screen before the RIP video of dead celebs even rolls. At my much more civilized Oscar party a few years ago we played a bingo game with similar triggers, though in my current mood alcohol seems much more likely.

Official nominations are listed here. I've seen exactly....none of these. That's not true, Harry Potter was nominated for some little award nobody cares about. But seriously, that's the only nominated movie I've seen out of all of them. Sheesh.

Goodie Bags

I love goodie bags. Adore them. Feel that they are unfairly relegated to children's parties and the academy awards. To me, a party is not complete unless you take home party favors.

That said, some of my closest friends are quite minimalist and can't stand taking home "useless junk", so there's that to consider as well.

And then disregard :)

These "schwag bags" were for the Oscar's party I threw as a fundraiser for the Roseville Women of Today, they were glossy black gift bags snagged on clearance at the Taher Retail Store (the folks behind a million party supply catalogs, including M&N International). They were stuffed with all the trivia games for the night - rolled into tubes and tied with a ribbon, a pencil to complete them, a ballot to guess the night's Hollywood winners. Gold mardi-gras beads peeked out to carry on the black & gold theme, and inside were movie-themed trinkets from Oriental Traders

Clapboard keychains - these were junk. Cheap, yes, but I'm sure nobody held on to them. Not recommended. I don't even see them sold by themselves anymore, but you can see them in this "party pack" they put out.

Movie Mints - these were fine, edible favors are always good.

Mini Neon Clappers - to "cheer on" your favorite stars. I love the larger version of these, but the minis are junk. Too small to actually make any noise.

We also had coupons from local businesses, some of which were really great deals.

In general, this wasn't my finest batch of goodie bags, but considering the event and budget (fundraiser) they still made an impact. And they looked delightful all lined up waiting to be distributed :)

I'd like to thank the academy...

These were my costume awards from last year's party, which you'll remember was a Hollywood theme so the Oscar-gets-mummified style was doubly appropriate.

I borrowed the idea from someone on this guy who is someone I came in contact with on Halloweenforum.com (excellent site for sharing and getting ideas!) - what a super nice fellow! He actually sent me directions on how he made his little darlings, and I co-opted it for my skill level. They required a little practice and one test dummy, but I think the end result was spectacular.

I picked up the dolls at my local Dollar Tree, can't beat that price. I sent their ball gowns and tiny shoes off to my cousin's daughter, who was thrilled and only tentatively asked what I had done to the dolls who used to wear them.

I banded the hair to the neck, and cut off the excess - it just gets in the way and disrupts the stickiness of the tape. For the bases I varied from the original guy's version with wood because I really didn't want to cut and drill, but I happened upon these fantastic little blue triangle bud vases which looked to me exactly like an award base. The top was just a bit wider than the legs, but stuffing them with some plastic bag pieces held the ladies firmly in place, and the vases were heavy enough to keep them solidly upright.

The tape was a quandary, I actually tried several kinds of medical tape. The first attempt was a shiny reflective-type that was the perfect width (1/4" I think?) but it didn't like to stick to itself, hold the paint, or otherwise behave. It actually curled off my practice lady.

What did work was fabric medical tape, it had a little texture and was wider but I cut strips in half and that looked fine proportionally.

I wrapped the ladies using 4-6" strips for the most part, any more than that and you get bumps and wrinkles. I wrapped from the bottom up for the most part, as the head is sort of the focal point, but spent most of my time on the arms.

Barbie arms are sort of evil. At least knock off barbie arms. I found I really had to force them to do what I wanted, and more than once they ripped the tape right off going back to their original pose. Since they're wrapped, you could always rip the arms off and replace them with q-tips or pipe cleaners or anything else, but I just cut and bent and taped till I got the effect I wanted.

Don't forget to leave a little peep hole for the eyes, and to mask it while you're spray painting - this is a little challenging, but worth it.

For the "best couple" I used 1 1/2 dolls - I actually cut both torsos off (they popped off pretty easily) and repositioned them to be equally supported on the legs. I think I used duct tape to attach them first, then just covered with the medical tape like the rest. This is my favorite one by far :)

I went pretty low-budget for the nameplates, but I didn't think anyone would mind - as much as I'd like to think everyone will keep them prominently on their mantle forever, they're a novelty item, and a seasonal one at that. So I just cut a mat out of black card stock and used gold stickers to spell out the awards - this year we did "Most Creative," "Best Costume," and "Best Costume - Couple." Everyone seemed happy to get them and I would highly recommend this craft.

"Alphaloons"

Here's a product I love for parties and events - huge mylar balloons shaped like numbers or letters. I've used them for many things (more pictures to come - a NYE Party, Anniversary, I'm sure something else...) and here we used them to spell out "OSCARS" for the Roseville Women of Today's Oscar Party Fundraiser - they really make an impact and come in shiny metallic colors. You can get a few numbers (like the current year) at most party stores, but I generally go to M&N International for ease of ordering and the full selection. Of course, then you have to fill them up yourself, but renting a helium tank is fairly easy and balloons are a reasonably priced decorative tool - they cover a large area and come in all shapes, sizes, and colors.

One thing to keep in mind if you are doing a ton of balloons - tying balloons hurts. Sure, the first few are fine, and I'm pretty fast & dexterous actually, but after a few dozen and for sure as you close in on 1-200, you'll be bruised and blistered. I've never tried the clips, but I might consider that for any future balloon-heavy events.