Batman Party Ideas

Batfavors, Batgifts and Batdecorations

There are important philosophical questions to consider. Like what if aliens invaded Earth and forced everyone to wear liederhosen? I don't think I could do it. I just can't wear leather pants.

What if a car crashed through the wall right this second? That would be inconvenient, annoying, stressful and misery inducing. And I could even get hit with a car.

Or what is the best batfavor?

Obvious Options for Favor Bags

With millions of Batman toys, candy and ephemera on the market, there is no shortage of options. My advice: Don't just buy the Bat, buy the Bat you like. It's better to get one or two nice things than a bag of so-so stuff.

A comic and a little toy are ideal. Candy's not right for everyone. Some people can't and some people don't. You can get a good quantity of comic books for an affordable price from e-bay or at a comic book store back issue sale.

Riddler's Boxes

Strive for a detail everyone will look at and say, 'How did you think of that?' Give guests a memory to instagram like Riddler clues.

The Riddler party game. Take green boxes and draw question marks on them. Fill each box with a riddle. Then have guests compete to solve the most. Give a prize to the winner.

POW

In the world of Batman 66, any object could be conceal a nozzle ready to release gas or a small explosion ready to poof out confetti. Create an element of surprise (a safe explosion). If this is at your house or if you're a guest of someone you like, skip the confetti. Just skip it. Fill little balloons with helium and fill the box.

Create onomatopoeia. Take cardboard and paint pows, bam, boffs and decorate the party.

Rogue's Gallery

Batman keeps trophies of his victories over his villains. Collect little trinkets representing each villain or batcave trophy.

This doesn't need to break the budget. A resource like Oriental Trading or Art Beads could provide you with plenty of creative symbols. For the over achievers, there are options like Shapeways where you could crafty your own piece for the bag.

Go on Amazon and get a pack of evidence bags to make it look like your handing out Gotham Police Department evidence.

Be the Bat

The gift of a batmask is the gift that keeps on giving. No one's life cannot be made a little better by the addition of a batmask. My glasses make a batmask hard because I can't wear it without being blind. I have batshirts and necklaces.

Decorate the party with a batcave theme. Hang bats from the ceiling. Get a giant penny, a tyrannosaurus rex pinata (Don't worry about the age. Have fun and get a pinata.) Make a giant Joker card.

7 Weird Alternative Earth Cores

What's in the Center of the Earth?

The composition of the hidden heart of the Earth is the inspiration behind countless works of scifi. Is it an iron ball? A giant crystal? Big molten fiery wad of death? Endless caves and rampaging dinosaurs? Cities of mole people? Nothing?

Go and Google the truth. Google's answer is the Earth contains a hard core of iron surrounded by liquid nickle-iron. Dull.

Some more interesting options for Earth's filling...

Batcave

If I got to use the center of the world as my personal base...and why not? It's my world in this scenario and I call dibs on the center of the Earth...I would put a giant batcave in there with every amenity. A giant dinosaur but a real one and house-trained. The huge penny. I love the giant penny. Humongous computer. Lots of bats because they are adorable.

Then I'd wage a global battle against crime from my subterranean base. Not in the under-overlord sort of way but in a heroic way. I promise I do not have despotic daydreams.

Matroyska

There could be another galaxy inside the Earth. We could build observatories looking into the ground and study the worlds beneath our feet. Of course, that might mean no subways. But I don't like subways anyway because I've never been in a subway that didn't smell.

The Needs of the World

The world could have a giant recycling factory in the center. It would give an elegant solution to the problem of giant garbage piles all over the world.

No Hamsters!

I reject the common visual cliche of a hamster on a wheel. It would be mean to stick a hamster or even an army of hamsters in the center of the Earth running on a wheel. Though the center of the Earth might serve as a nice base to breed hamster soldiers.

POWER!!!!!!

A giant generator would provide power to the rest of the world. Of course, there already is. Geothermal energy is there, just expensive to access.

Heart of Gold

The biggest ball of gold in the world in the center of the world.

Chewy Taffy Center

Earth could be pretty tasty.

Simple Ideas for a Brighter Day

Fashion Magazine Collage

Materials
glue stick
paper or index cards
scissor
fashion magazine

My favorite sources for collage materials are fashion magazines. They are convenient and every color can be found inside their pages. 

Tip - Glue sticks are easy and doesn't cause the paper to wrinkle. Index cards are thicker than paper and hold up better to glue than printer paper.

Doodle Your Morning

Tools

Mirror

A white board marker

While you’re brushing your teeth, take a few moments to give yourself a mustache or a pirate hat. 

Tip - Test the marker to ensure it erases easily before going Picasso on your bathroom mirror. A new marker is cheaper than a new mirror.

Mashed Potato Man

Materials
A plate of mashed potatoes
A spoon

A big plate of mashed potatoes and a spoon can give you all the joy of making snowman with none of the frostbite.

Tip - Peas make good eyes, smiles and buttons. Carrots are perfect for noses.

Technicolor Applesauce

Materials
Apples
Frozen Fruit
Kitchen

Homemade Applesauce is simple. It’s apples and a little water. 

Put the cut and peeled apples in a saucepan. 
Add some water. 
Bring to a boil on the stove. 
Turn down to low and add the cover. 
Let it cook till the apples are soft. Stir occasionally.
Mash the apples. 

That’s it. It takes a little time and effort but it’s 100 times better than anything in a jar. 

So how do you make colorful applesauce? 

Step 1. Put that food coloring away. 
Step 2. Add a handful of fruit prior to cooking.

Red? Strawberries or cherries.
Blue? Blueberries.
Yellow? Peaches.
Purple? Raspberries.


Tip - Frozen fruit is perfect for this. Don’t bother defrosting them. Just add the frozen fruit to the apples before cooking. 

20 Websites with Fantastic Free Digital Stuff

There are brilliant free things out there on the web. High end software, downloads, books, movies, music, radio shows, games, pictures, comics and more. You just have to go there and get it.

Free Stuff

Libraries

Do a little digging for the fabulous gems these sites are hiding.

• archive.org
• The only difficulty is trying to navigate the millions of books, movies, recordings, and software titles. But if you dig just a little, you can uncover some fascinating treasures. I got hooked on Dragnet years ago through this site.
• Armorgames
• Insane collection of online flash games. 
• High risk of addiction.
• British Library Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts
• Scanned pages from illuminated manuscripts
• Their collection has a very effective keyword search. It's a great curiosity.
• Comic Book Plus
• A massive collection of comic books and comic strips in the public domain.
• Comic Strip Library
• Krazy Kat, Little Nemo in Slumberland, Dream of the Rarebit Fiend
• Free Music Archive
• Downloadable music.
• Jamendo
• Downloadable music
• Librivox
• Free audiobooks
• Morguefile
• Free Stock Photos
• OpenLibrary
• Indexes a million ebooks
• Project Gutenberg
• 46,000 free ebooks
• Thingiverse
• Enter the thingiverse. A collection of downloadable 3-D models posted by users and hosted by Makerbot.

Software

Amazing software to help you do amazing things.

• AVG Antivirus Software
• Protect your computer and yourself from the blue screen of death.
• Blender
• 3-D modeling software
• I am still amazed that this is free. It is revolutionary.
• Inkscape
• Illustrator is expensive. Inkscape is free.
• Krita
• Digital raster painting software.
• Ldraw
• Ldraw gives you a library of 3D models of Lego parts. 
• But that's not the best part. There is a plugin for Blender that allows you to import the 3D models and use them in your renders or work them into printable files. 
• Don't expect to get self-printed Legos. Lego has spent a half a century figuring out how to do it right. But it does open some opportunities for creative printing.
• Mixxx
• Open source DJing software.
• Mozilla Firefox
• Free and open source browser.
• OpenOffice
• A necessary tool

Inspiration to Get Back to Work

Art can open doors to other worlds. Art is tangible magick.

The Ruby Peacock
Featured with Permission from pikminAAA
Check out pikminAAA on deviantART

Today, I got a new computer and spent three hours watching the Partridge family while waiting for the files from my old computer to load.

I couldn't work on my computer so I worked on learning to draw better. Nothing worth posting came out of the three hours.

It was disheartening to feel like I'm not progressing. I decided that I needed inspiration to keep working (on my drawing, my writing and my magick).

To find inspiration, I turned to art. Today's inspiration is provided by pikminAAA.

Awake in a Dream
Featured with Permission from pikminAAA
Check out pikminAAA on deviantART

Lost in Seaweed
Featured with Permission from pikminAAA
Check out pikminAAA on deviantART

On the Edge
Featured with Permission from pikminAAA
Check out pikminAAA on deviantART