Ole!  






  Warlord of Nibblecheese Piñata
  What's a Warlord of Nibblecheese?  Leapin' leptons, man! The Warlords of Nibblecheese are only the most vile infestation of evil plaguing our galaxy!  And you call yourself a space hero?  Click here to elevate your education, to improve your intelligence, and to fibrillate your funnybone! Just remember to come back here when you're done.
         
This piñata was made for a July 2007 Zack Proton summer reading party at Book People, an independent book store in Austin, Texas. It was about five feet long from nose to toes.
The artificial background in the above photo is necessary because I took the picture in my house at about midnight the night before the Book People party (when I finished making the piñata).  The only thing in the world more terrifying than a horde of invading armed rodents from outer space was the state of my kitchen that night.  
   
The jet pack was made from empty 2-liter bottles spray painted red.  The exhaust pipes are black card stock, and the fire is tissue paper.  Ouch on the tail -- sorry 'bout that!
The hands were made from rubber gloves stuffed with toilet paper.  The sword hand had wires from a shirt hanger hidden within the toilet paper so that the Warlord could hold his sword.  Except for the finger grip, the sword was not attached in any way, and it was the first thing to go when the kids started whacking away.  Yes, the pinkie was extended on purpose -- etiquette is an integral part of interplanetary conquest!
I added customized mouse pads to his space boots because when you're infesting every corner of the universe, style is everything.
     
       
   
This is the space mouse hanging at Book People before the party.  The eyes were once again ping pong balls (you can never go wrong with ping pong ball eyes) and the nose was a styrofoam ball painted black.  The teeth are just card stock.  The ears were made from paper plates.  His harness was just crepe paper, and the red disk is a plastic container lid spray painted red.  The black base of the jet pack (better seen in the first picture) is an empty box from some Ziploc bags, painted black. The mouse's right hand (the one without the sword) had pipe cleaners in the fingers to allow for some bending.  The sword is cardboard (two layers with the corrugation perpendicular to keep the sword from flopping sideways), covered in aluminum foil.  The hilt is a paper plate painted gold, and the sword handle is bound in electrical tape partly for appearance and partly to make it less likely to slip out of the rubber glove hand.
We now join the invasion of Earth, already in progress. . .

Finally, our glorious hour of conquest had arrived.  The Warlords of Nibblecheese were about to attack.

I flew low over the unsuspecting planet Earth, looking for an opportune spot for a first strike.  Earthlings are afraid of their own tiny little Earth mice, so one look at me and they would panic and scatter like. . ., well, like mice, but like little frightened mice, not like big, fearsome, scary mice from outer space like me. 

Peering through the windows of Book People, I saw a target too tempting to pass up.  A bunch of Earth kids playing games, winning prizes, having fun.

Not for long.

I smiled behind my oversized incisors. It was time to be a party pooper.

  
Austin Kids Save Planet Earth!  
 

We all know what they say about the best-laid invasion plans of mice.

 

Better luck next time, verminous hostile alien invaders.  And if you Earth heroes want to read more about the Warlords of Nibblecheese, check out the second book of the series, The Adventures of Commander Zack Proton and the Warlords of Nibblecheese.