Vinylmation Gingerbread Decorating Contest!

Soulchild in conjunction with VinylNation.net are hosting the first ever Vinylmation Gingerbread Decorating Contest!

So let's get down to business...


Rules:
- Everything must be edible. Essentially, this means you're limited to gingerbread, candy, and icing.
- You must bake your own gingerbread. You can use store-bought mixes, or your grandma’s favorite receipe.
- The gingerbread cookie must be Vinylmation (Mickey) shaped.
- The design on the gingerbread must be of an official Disney Vinylmation. You may do any 3", 9" or 1.5" Jr!

Entry Guidelines:
- All entries must be posted in the Entry Thread before 12:01 AM PST, November 30th.
- You mush post at least four pictures of the following:
1 - Ingredients
2 - In-progress pictures (either baking or decorating)
1 - Finished product
- A copy of your gingerbread recipe. If you use a box mix, let us know what brand.
- You must post which Vinylmation you decided to bake and decorate. Please be specific and include series name and number (i.e. Park 3 Herbie)

Judging:
- Appearance: How pretty is it?
- Accuracy: How much like the Vinylmation is it?
- Tastiness: How tasty does it look? Yum!

Prizes:
- Custom Vinylmation Jr. Reindeer Ornament by Soulchild
- One of a kind glow-in-the-dark TRON: Legacy 3" custom by Evilos
- Holiday Series 2 blind box.
- Depending on how many participate, there might be more prizes included...
-If more than 12 people enter the contest I will include the MVMCP Toy Soldier 3"
-If more than 25 people enter the contest I will include the Osborne Lights 2010 3"
Why 12 and 25? Because it's for Christmas!


And so after lot's of planning and careful consideration, I was off to try my hand at baking gingerbread!

Ingredients: Sugar Cookie Mix, 1 egg, 1 stick of Butter, Rolled Fondant, water, sugar, flour, PAM cooking spray, & various colors of decorating gel.

I started with Krusteaz Bakery Style Sugar Cookie Mix, adding 1 egg, and 1 stick of butter. Stirred until dough formed.

I put the dough in the freezer for about an hour to let harden. Next I layed wax paper down on a cookie tray and sprayed it with PAM non-stick cooking spray. After an hour I rolled the dough flat using a rolling pin. I printed out a Create-your-own-Vinylmation template and cut the figure out. Sprayed the template with PAM and placed it directly on top of dough.

Then using a knife, cut the excess dough away from the template.

I decided to leave the template on top of the cookie as it baked, as seen here in my oven.

When it was finished baking, I easily cut the excess dough away that spread out using the template, and simply peeled the template away for a nice shaped Mickey cookie!

Now I got to play with Wilton brand Ready-To-Use Rolled Fondant. I sprinkled the fondant with flour and rolled it flat. Next, using the appropriate color fondant and again using the the template, I traced and cut out each piece of the Urban 1 Oopsy.

Then I put all the pieces together on top of the still warm cookie.

Using a light mixture of water and sugar, I basted the fondant to remove the appearance of flour.

Here is the cookie, half way through the process. Still a little damp, but looking great!

Then, I used Wilton and Betty Crocker decorating gel to outline the hands and feet, and draw the mouth, nose, and eyes. This part took a long time! Going very slowly, and using a toothpick to spread around the gel.

And finally, my cookie was done! Super sweet! Super delicious!

Update: I came in first place in the contest!!! Yay me! :)

WOWZERS!!!

First and foremost, I want to say thank you to Soulchild for hosting a great contest! I had such a fun time choosing, designing, creating, and decorating my cookie!

Secondly, I'd like to thank Soulchild again and Evilos for donating their custom vinyls (pictured below)! When I saw their customs, that's what made me decide to officially participate in this contest! I had to have them! They are amazing pieces of art!

Thirdly, I'd like to thank the judges for your votes, and all the peeps who enjoyed my cookie! I put a whole lot of work into it. Especially decorating the face of Mickey; took me forever and a day to get it just right! In the end (in all honesty) I wasn't 100% happy with the finished product.

Next, I'd like to thank Jennyeatworld's for her amazing work! When I saw her Yeti and Lava lamp, I knew I had to step my game way up! Her detail was awesome! She raised the bar in my mind, which in turn made me work that much harder (and slower) on my cookie! I commend you on your efforts!

I'd like to thank my girlfriend for helping me with the tedious work like cutting out the template for me, and keeping me company as I decorated the cookie. Let it be known she ultimately decided on the Oopsy Mickey. My first pick was to do Shag, then Moon & Stars. But she swayed me towards my winning design.

And last, but not least, I'd like to thank Allie086! She was the person whom I bought my Oopsy Mickey from. Thank you!

I'm glad everyone liked the design! And thank you for all the kinds messages!

I had such a great time!

Love & Peace during the Holidays!

Here's a quick look at some of the other contest entries!

Holidays Around The World Vinylmation

coming soon...

Noah: One-of-a-Kind Tron Legacy Vinylmation!

The Fish and I arrived at Downtown Disney at exactly 4:44am! It was freezing out there! We were the first two people in line! Thank you to the two security guards that kept us company!

And on top of it all, it started raining just before 6am. Cold, wet, and tired we waited in line. Miss Rachel (a castmember) finally walked us into D-Street at 6:15am!

As you can see from the video, once the rain really started pouring the small group of us huddled together under the Fossil store awning. Now wet, cold, tired, and hungry. Low and behold, around 7:30am Noah himself brought donuts and coffee for everyone! We were all shocked, yet very grateful to see the artist come down and show us some love! Thanks Noah!

Got a picture with Noah early in the morning! :)

Finally the store opened, at we had first pick at all 24 Tron Legacy vinyls! The Fish and I examined maybe about 10 vinyls before selecting our two favorites. We looked for the customs with the most detail on them.

Here is my pick! Hands down (in my opinion) the best one of the bunch! What sets mine apart from other customs is the "Y" shape right in the center of its chest.

Here's a front view of my vinyl sitting on it's stand that sits about 22 inches tall!

Side view of the stand.


After a much needed nap, the Fish and I headed back to D Street to get our Vinylmation signed by Noah! The line wasn't too long when we arrived, but became very long soon after. My custom is the one on the right, again the one with the "Y" on its chest.

Some other Noah Tron themed merchandise available.

Noah singed the vinyls and the stands.

He also took some time to add some more art to my One-of-a-Kind Noah custom!

Noah & The Outsider with my very own personalized One-of-a-Kind Noah custom Vinylmation!

Here's a video from Noah's blog showing the whole signing experience! You can catch a glimpse of the team in the video a couple of times, as well as the "Y" shape on my vinyl! Plus, you get to hear in Noah's own words his feelings about the overall event and us collectors!  :)

On the left: is the front of my Noah custom with Noah's logo and signature on the head, and my name "The Outsider" on the body. He did this for me at the "World of Color" Vinylmation release back in August of 2010. On the right: is the same vinyl, but now Noah has decorated it with my online moniker "DjGA77", and Mickey Mouse in Noah's hot rod style on the head! Very awesome! I'm hoping to take this piece with me at to all the Noah releases and have him add a little to it every time. Thus, in the end, having a truly unique, personalized, One-of-a-Kind Noah custom Vinylmation!


To Noah: "Thank you again for simply being awesome! Thank you for the donuts in the morning! You showing up there not only surprised everyone, but made us appreciate that you truly appreciate us in return! Every time we meet you are always so humble, and I will continue to support your amazing work! Thank you for not only adding to my Vinylmation collection, but more importantly, adding to the memories and experiences that keep collecting Vinylmation enjoyable for the entire VinylMania staff!"

Prancer Vinylmation

coming soon...

Snowman snow globe 9"/3" Vinylmation combo

Knick Knack is a 1989 computer animated short film produced by Pixar, and directed by John Lasseter.

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Urban 5 Tonal Mickey Vinylmation Combo Pack

Tonal colors: are different shaded colors of same main color group. Using tonal colors might end up giving very little definition to the different elements located in a space. Texture becomes very important in terms of defining different elements in this case.

Another example of tonal colors used in a Disney product are these Dooney & Bourke Bags, featuring a Mickey Mouse silhouette in tonal shades of khaki and brown.

It's rumored they are suppose to release several tonal color Mickey's for forthcoming Urban Series combo packs. I hope not... haha.

Very Merry Christmas Party/Spectacle of Dancing Lights Vinylmation

Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party Webpage

The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights Webpage

Cornucopia Mickey!

Happy Thanksgiving!

New York City Vinylmation Exlcusives

Florida Orange Bird Vinylmation

"From 1972 when Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom opened, through the mid 1980’s, there was a concession stand in Adventureland called the Sunshine Terrace, where guests could get a Citrus Swirl.

The stand still exists, but the animatronic Orange Bird that turned his head and flapped his wings is gone."

"In the late 1960s, Walt Disney Productions struck a deal with Florida Citrus Growers. An attraction would be sponsored by the Citrus Growers in Disney's Magic Kingdom theme park, and Disney would create an Orange Bird mascot to appear in a multitude of promotional items. Thus, the unique Orange Bird was born.

Visitors driving into Central Florida in the 1970s couldn't help but see countless billboards along the roads featuring the sunny, smiling Florida Orange Bird. It was part of an exciting build-up for a trip to Walt Disney World.

The Orange Bird appeared in countless television ads, magazines, newspapers, and Florida tourist souvenir shops. But there was only one place where one could *meet* the Florida Orange Bird. That was in the Magic Kingdom, in Adventureland's Sunshine Pavillion.

The Sunshine Pavillion featured the Florida Citrus Growers-sponsored show "The Enchanted Tiki Birds." More importantly, though, it featured the Sunshine Tree Terrace. Here visitors could sample the world-famous Citrus Swirls, and maybe be lucky enough to meet the Orange Bird himself.

The Sunshine Tree Terrace served a variety of ice cream goodness and popular sodas. Behind the counter "grew" a real plastic orange tree, extending its leaves to provide a leafy canopy over the area. It was covered in real plastic oranges and orange blossoms. And Guests who missed meeting the Orange Bird in the Adventureland courtyard, only needed to look into this Orange tree. Observant Guests could see him perched on one of the branches.

In 1981, Disney and the Growers signed a new contract, but by that time the Orange Bird had stopped making Adventureland appearances, and was no longer seen on television. By this time, he could only be seen in souvenir shops around the Sunshine State. In 1986, the contract ended and, unimaginable as it may seem, the Orange Bird was forever removed from the Sunshine Tree Terrace. Even worse, a refurbishment of the area in 2000 saw the removal of the orange tree, itself.

The good news...Disney still owns the rights to the Orange Bird! He's made a successful comeback in Japan, with a variety of merchandise. Hopefully, it's just a matter of time before he flies across the ocean and makes a big splash in Florida again."

More info about the Florida Orange Bird Here!

Urban 5 Vinylmation

coming soon