Ronald Reagan Piñata

'80s-themed parties are always fun because you get to dress ridiculously, listen to power ballads, and reminisce about your childhood (well, if you're an '80s baby like me).  Several years ago, Ali had an '80s party for which I made a Ronald Reagan head piñata.  It was a rushed job.  He wasn't completely dry and hardened and I forgot to paint on his eyebrows.  A few days ago, our friend Lanie decided to give her birthday party an '80s theme and when she caught wind of the previous Ronald, she asked if I could make another.  Short notice = another rushed job.  I started him on Thursday with a balloon and some cardstock for his neck.  Then it was just a repetitive process of dipping 1-inch wide strips of newspaper in a mixture of 2 cups flour and 3 cups water, applying the strips to the piñata and leaving a hole at the top, letting it dry, and repeating three times.

I then used newspaper and cardstock to form facial features, including his pompadour, and covered his face and hair with another layer of flour-water newspaper.  THEN, feeling pressed for time, I followed the advice of Ali and Mom (against my better judgement) and put him in the oven at a low temp to quicken drying.  Um, yeah, that just popped the balloon and blew a huge crevice in his head and jacked up his nose.  In the midst of expelling numerous expletives at my wits' end, Rachel arrived to drop off a book, and then stayed for an hour and a half to help save Ronald.  Bless her heart!  To repair the Hinckley oven's assassination attempt, we made a three-layer-deep bandage of flour-water newspaper, both using blow dryers between each layer.

Then we managed the world's fastest paint job.  I painted flesh, she painted hair.  She mixed lip and eye color, and I painted 'em on him.  Add some wrinkles and blusher, and voilà!  I used an exacto knife to cut through his pomp to the previously made hole for candy and Rachel used an awl to puncture string holes.

Ronald was filled with smarties, tootsie rolls, and jolly ranchers and everyone enjoyed whacking him with the plastic bat.  To quote Lanie's 2.5-year-old daughter,

"I whacked 'The Gipper' too!  He had candy in his head."