DIY Peeps Easter Bouquet

An Ode to Peeps

Oh Peeps, dear Peeps, tempting, tender, tasty Peeps, how do I love thee?

Let me count the ways...

I love you for your soft-ish marshmallow inside.

I love you for your crunch-ish sugary outside.

I love you fresh-ish from the package and after a few days when you've gotten a little stale-ish.

Oh Peeps. 

I love you every which way and especially when you're in my tummy.

iLoveToCreate Teen Crafts: Peeps Stenciled Napkin with Jelly Bean Ring

iLoveToCreate Teen Crafts
Peeps Stenciled Napkin with Jelly Bean Ring
Margot Potter for Avalon Potter!

Avalon is on Spring Break and alas she caught a cold.  I stepped in to make this easy peasy stenciled napkin and beaded ring.  I used cardboard to make the stencil, but it's very important to wipe off the excess seepage under the stencil between each use on all four corners.  If you can find 'freezer paper' it makes a much cleaner and easier to use stencil.  We LOVE Peeps around here, this is my third Peeps themed Easter craft!  I had to buy a few boxes for research purposes, but keeping them from being devoured was quite a feat!

Step away from the Peeps.

Tulip Soft fabric paints and Crafty Chica glitter make quick and easy work of this design and the Glam-it-up metallic crystals are perfection for eyes.  Use Aleene's Jewelry Glue to secure the knot on your napkin rings.  This is a great way to get teens off of their cell phones and doing something fun.  Make some coordinating place mats and you'll have a delightfully cheerful Easter table.

Materials
Fabric Napkin
Thicker cardboard for stencil (thicker than a cereal box, but not too thick!)
Chunky colorful beads to make a 4" ring
Tulip Soft Paint in Petal Pink
Crafty Chica glitter in Frida's Fuchsia
Tulip Glam it Up metallic crystals in black (2 for each rabbit)
.8mm clear elastic cord (I used Elasticity)
Aleene's Turbo Tacky Glue 
Aleene's Metal and Jewelry Glue


Tools
Chain nose pliers
Paint pouncer
Craft knife
Fine tip marker

Wash napkins to remove sizing.  Iron to remove wrinkles.  I freehand drew the rabbit, it's very simple.  He should be about 2-3" tall.  You want him to fit the corner of your napkin.  If you need a guide, try using an actual Peep for reference, this also allows you a snack while waiting for the paint to dry.  Use a craft knife to carefully cut the shape out and create a stencil.  Use pink paint and paint pouncer to stencil on napkin corner.  You can also opt to add rabbits along the shorter edge of your napkin, that's up to you.  Hold your pouncer straight and hold stencil firmly to prevent paint bleed.  Be sure to wipe off stencil front and back after each use.

Before rabbits are dry, pour a small amount of glitter on each rabbit, shake around for full coverage and shake off excess. Do them one at a time! The paint should be tacky enough to grab the glitter.

Add eyes using Glam it Up crystals, I use a pair of chain nose pliers to pick up crystal, dip in glue and attach to rabbits. Allow rabbits to dry before using!

Thread beads on elastic cord. Tie ends and pull tightly. Make a double overhand knot and pull tightly. Add a dab of jewelry glue to your knot and let it dry overnight.

ILoveToCreate Teen Crafts: Pretty in Peeps Pendant

ILoveToCreate Teen Crafts: Pretty in Peeps Pendant
Mixed Media Jewelry Project
Margot Potter
“Mom crafted, kid approved.”
Copyright 2010 All Rights Reserved

I loves me some Marshmallow Peeps candies! How about you? Last year I bought a huge pile of them just to stack them up and stare at the fabulous colors. They’re so happy and fun filled. My daughter Avalon loves Peeps too. She loves them so much I can’t buy too many or she’ll turn into a Peep.

No, seriously.

I spent the better part of Easter season last year contemplating how to turn a Peeps candy into a bead. I thought about leaving one to sit for a few months and get nice and hard and then spraying it with a sealant...and heck that might work if you didn’t live in a 130 year old school house with a small mold problem. Methinks a moldy Peep bead would lack some appeal.

I finally settled on Sculpey Ultra Light polymer clay embellished with Crafty Chica paints and glitter and Tulip Glam It Up Studs. This could become a pin or a pendant or you could make a whole bunch of these on dowels and do a fun Peeps flower pot centerpiece like my edible bouquet from last year. I decided to make mine into a necklace and just added a bunch of springy Vintage and new Lucite and wood beads for a super cute necklace. If you really want to go to town, try making some Sculpey egg beads to coordinate...or add some polka dots and squiggles to large wooden beads...or do a collar of several Peeps that circle the neckline. I am not exaggerating in the least when I tell you that making these is so much fun, you’re going to look for reasons to make more!

Materials
Sculpey Ultra Light
Crafty Chica Little Chica Paints Red and White
3 Tulip Glam-It-Up Iron-On Studs Black
Crafty Chica Glitter Sunset Pink
Aleene’s Jewel-It Glue
Aleene’s Fast Grab Tacky Spray
Aleene’s Matte Finish Spray Sealant

Tools
Paint Brush
Polymer Clay Dedicated Toaster Oven
Sheet of Brown Kraft Paper

(To Make the Necklace:
Various Coordinated Beads in a Pattern That Makes a 16” or Longer Finished Length (I got the clear Lucite with green filament beads in NYC but here’s a source online and Beadin’ Path has a plethora of great vintage and new Lucite beads), 49 Strand .018 (or thicker) Beadalon Wire (always fill the holes of your beads with the wire), Beadalon EZ-Crimp Fancy Sterling Toggle Clasp, Mighty Crimp Tool and Wire Cutters)

1. Soften clay in your hands or by running it through a clay dedicated pasta machine until it is malleable. Use a real Peep as your guide to create a clay version. I bought some for research so I could get the size right...that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

2. Use a sharp pointed object to create a hole in the middle of your rabbit’s head. This hole is threaded side to side so you can string the pendant on a necklace. Skip this step if you’re not making a bead.

3. Place rabbit on a sheet of Kraft paper on the baking tray and into a pre-heated 275 degree Toaster Oven. Watch the clay to be sure it doesn’t burn...it shouldn’t take very long to set. Mine took about 7 minutes...after I burned the first one. Oops.

4. Allow rabbit to cool. Mix red and white Crafty Chica paints to get a nice shade of pink. Paint rabbit. Allow to dry.

5. Place rabbit on a sheet of kraft or scrap paper. Spray with Aleene’s Tacky Spray. Pour a generous helping of pink glitter all over rabbit front and sides. Tap off excess and pour back into jar. Allow to dry.

6. Spray rabbit with Aleene’s Matte Finish Spray Sealant. Allow to dry.

7. Adhere the three Glam It Up studs to the face of your rabbit with the Jewel-It Glue. You’ll need to have a good dollop of glue so it fits into the recess on the stud. Use the handle of your paintbrush or a toothpick to remove any excess glue. Allow to dry.

Design Note: Do not eat this Peep.  It won't taste very good.  Trust me.

A Peeps Bouquet

I’m so not Martha...so sue me.
Here’s my Easter week project...the day AFTER Easter! You'll recall I had planned to create a Peeps bouquet. I managed to eek this out an hour before we left for family dinner. I had to reconfigure the ribbon attachment after a small glue gun mishap, so it's a little lumpy but I fixed it after I took the pic. There wasn't really time to take a fabulous picture; we had to scoot! The car was really hot and the chocolate started melting and I had an asthma attack and was trying to take my coat off and get my inhaler and not cough into the bouquet...and I accidentally leaned over into a melty chocolate covered Peep that was lovingly arranged in the flower pot on my lap and I got a big glob of chocolate on my sweater. So we had to turn around, go back home, reboot...and we were late for dinner. Actually dinner was supposed to start at 3 and we were there at 3:03, but I guess folks got hungry because the Easter ham was down to a few slivers by the time we started filling our plates. So on the way home we stopped at Taco Bell.

That’s our story and we’re sticking to it.

Okay so about the Peeps bouquet...

One small tweak...next time I’ll work on the more even distribution of chocolate and lay the peeps on their bottoms instead of sides to cool. That and I'd start with the tape runner for attaching the ribbon and not the glue gun. Other than that I love this and it elicited a lot of 'oos and ahs'!

Everyone was also really impressed and with the ‘I’m a little black sheep™” t-shirts we created for our new video using our awesome new YuDu. That is until Avalon’s 9-year old cousin showed off the Easter dress she made herself. Sheesh. Thanks a lot, kid. Way to steal my crafty thunder.

Yeah...well...I get paid to make stuff. So there.

Ha ha.

Tune in tomorrow...we’ve got a brand new The Impatient Crafter™ video that shows you how to use the ProvoCraft YuDu machine! It’s a hoot in a handbasket, I swear!
Peeps Bouquet
Copyright 2009
Margot Potter
4 packages various colors Peeps
6 packages egg shaped gum or one large package jelly beans
1 small package Nestle’s semi-sweet morsels
1 large ceramic pot
1 ceramic dish for under pot
Thick grosgrain ribbon in festive colors
1 large silk flower
Hot glue
Fiskars tape runner
Wooden skewers
Styrofoam cut to fit bottom of pot
Aluminum foil

Tools
Scissors
Silicone spatula
Aluminum or wax paper lined cookie sheets
Hot glue gun

1. Run two lines of tape along rim of pot and adhere ribbon smoothing out any wrinkles as you work.
2. Remove flower from stem and use hot glue to attach to place where ribbon ends meet on pot.
3. Cut Styrofoam to fit into pot, leaving about 2” from top for candy.
4. Place a layer of tin foil on top of Styrofoam, sealing any gaps.
5. Pour gum or jelly beans on tin foil covering it completely.
6. Insert skewers into pot, leaving space for Peeps to fan out and not touch.
7. Melt chocolate chips on stove using a double boiler method.
8. Cover two large cookie sheets with foil.
9. Holding Peeps by their heads; swirl their bottoms into the chocolate. Use a silicone spatula to coat sides. Place Peeps on tray standing up.
10. Place trays of Peeps in fridge to cool.
11. Gently slide a cooled Peep on each skewer. Place extra Peeps on ceramic dish.
12. Eat them with gleeful abandon after soaking in the generous compliments of friends and family.

To Peep...or Not to Peep...

Image Public Domain Jon Sullivan

I would hazard a guess that Vickie Howell isn’t the only crafter to be derailed by the quasi-evil little marshmallow creatures known as Peeps. In fact the Peeps website has a crafts section and there’s an annual Peeps Diorama contest. Two weeks ago I couldn’t resist their siren song and I purchased FIVE packages. They come in a huge variety of vibrant shades now and I simply had to have every single color. Plus they were under a dollar a pack. So much joy for under a buck? Sign me up!

One package of orange rogue rabbits was gleefully consumed by my daughter, and the rest have been sitting on a shelf in my kitchen cruelly mocking me since. I don’t know what it is about Peeps. Why are we all so drawn to craft with them? I mean, if you break it down they’re actually pretty lame. It’s just a blobby drip of marshmallow rolled in super fine electric kool-aid sugar and the eyes are more often than not dripping down their faces.

Yet...they’re so...damn...cute.

I bought them with the intention of making a project. I considered leaving them out to get hard and spraying them with an acrylic sealer and making them into jewelry. I contemplated a Peeps wreath for the front door. I’m still brainstorming a Peeps-on-a-stick bouquet in a clear vase with jelly bean faux rocks to secure the stems as our dessert offering for Easter dinner. If I manage to eek that project out, I’ll let ya know. It’s not looking likely with the size of my straw pile.

To Peep...or not to Peep...that...is the question.

Perhaps the best way to enjoy a Peep...is to gobble it up head first...if I open just one little package I’ll have plenty left for my bouquet...

xoxo,
Madge