European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 28, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Llo Fly couples pinatas Are no stuffed shirts by Diana Valdez staff writer while most people use grocery bags to carry food and later Jay and Barbara Norman of transform them into r2d2 or Bloom county the have been making Pinata dolls for years and their repertoire of characters is if Jay can design the two can make a pita to is a doll made of paper and stuffed with it is usually part of mexican although the tradition originated in blindfolded children hit the pita to with a stick to free the goodies Barbara was first to learn the a Fiata Craft from a in showed when we first it would take about 1214 hours to Complete now weve got it Down to about seven said an air Force master sergeant and noncommissioned officer in charge of operations at the base radio and television Barbara and Jay come up with ideas for their creations on their through friends or from the latest their dolls sell by word of whenever a character is like or the we get a lot of requests for said during most holidays the normans Are Busy making seasonal characters Santa the easter Jay begins by designing the shape and color scheme on the body is a grocery bag stuffed with paper to hold its a balloon is used for the head and attached with the arms and legs Are made of rolled up the whole thing is hardened by a flour and water i Cut a Little door in the Back of the bag so people can fill the finished doll with said barbaras main Job is adding color to the she uses five to six Rolls of coloured crepe paper to cover one she first prepares the paper by cutting it into Nar Row each strip is Slit along the Edge about every two then she curls the paper Between the this is the hardest part of the she it takes a Long time to prepare the the paper is then glued onto the we once did 23 dolls in 24 said last Christmas we made All together the normans have made about 150 the normans have two and who sometimes get involved with the i like to draw and sometimes they use my idea for the said making the Pinata dolls is not the Only family Barbara is a Den Leader and coach who enjoys decorating cakes As a Jay is a cub scout the most difficult pita to design Jay has made is Uncle the Beard and clothes mean extra he gets a lot of requests for Uncle Sam at the fourth of when it comes time to use the if tapas for their intended the normans admit cringing As their artwork is being a lot of their Are kept for at first it bothered me to see one of them get destroyed just knowing All the work that goes into said but Ive gotten used to it that what there matter Jay Norman and hit with of Santa and photo by Stephanie James August 1985 the stars and stripes Page 13