Peeps Diorama Contest 2013

Do you remember the Peeps Contest that I participated in last year? You can read about it here. If you have no idea what I am talking about, let me tell you about all the fun! My local library hosts an annual contest called, Peep Into My Favorite Book! Basically, you make a diorama in a small box depicting a scene from your favorite book using Peeps (the marshmallow candies) as the characters. It is so cool to see how much creativity goes into each one.

This year I entered the adult category with a scene from Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer. I didn't place in the contest, but I did receive an honorable mention.

I also entered the family category with my 8-year-old daughter. We did a scene from The Lorax by Dr. Seuss and ended up winning first place!

                                                         

 My oldest daughter entered the teen category with a scene from Divergent by Veronica Roth and she also won first place!

Here are some of our favorite dioramas from the contest:

Love is a Radical Act

Love is a Radical Act is an art installation created by Sam and Kelly. The ceramic hearts they made symbolize that loving one another for who they are is a radical act, and I couldn’t agree more. Allowing people to be themselves is the true act of love. I knew I wanted to participate in this awesome creative movement as soon as a friend had shared the website link on her Facebook page.

I bought a pack of five hearts and have decided where each one is going. I am mailing two of them to pals on the east coast to hang in their neighborhood. The third will be hung near Olympia Timberland Library, one of my favorite places in Olympia, a place that I have felt much love. The fourth is going home with my friend Kris who is currently visiting from England. The fifth one will be hung on the Evergreen State College campus.

I was excited to hear that Sam and Kelly plan to visit Olympia this weekend and host installation events. To learn more about them, click here.

As I was typing this post up, my daughter walked into the room wearing her LOVE YOUR WORLD shirt. I had to snap a photo of her with a heart. Love IS a radical act. Pass it on.

I hope you’ll join Sam and Kelly in this radical love movement and order your own hearts to display in your community. Please visit their website to read more about the project, order hearts, and view pictures of people who are already spreading the love.

Love is a Radical Act

Peep into my Favorite Book

I want to start off by saying that the Olympia Timberland Library rules. There is constantly something fun planned for adults, teens, and kids. One of the events this month is Peep into my Favorite Book: a Peeps Diorama Contest. As soon as I told my kids about it they were eager to create a diorama.

My oldest daughter Emily is 11-years-old and a big fan of The Hunger Games. It was no surprise that she chose to do a Hunger Games diorama. She wanted the central focus to be on the cornucopia. If you aren't familiar with the book (or movie) then you probably have no idea what I am talking about. In the Hunger Games the cornucopia is filled with weapons, food, medicine, and various survival supplies.

Bella is my 8-year-old daughter who loves Amelia Bedelia and all of her kookiness. She instantly knew which book she wanted to choose for her diorama project.

We filled our table with craft supplies, crayons, and shoe boxes. While Emily began to draw trees onto the sides of her shoe box, I started forming the shape of the cornucopia out of tin foil. Next, she worked on Katniss' braid and coloring the lake while I hand-stitched mini felt backpacks and sleeping bags.

Bella's diorama was themed around the book page that read, "Remember?" said Amelia Bedelia. "You said these books needed jackets. So I made a jacket for each one." 

Bella made the mini books while I cut out felt jackets to go with them. She decided she wanted "Peep" Amelia Bedelia to be knitting behind a desk so I reused our Peep box and made a desk and chair. We broke a toothpick in half and covered both pieces with tin foil for Amelia Bedelia's knitting needles.

I am really proud of the work the girls put into their pieces. It was great to see how in awe they were of how each diorama turned out. I safely packed up the dioramas and I am excited to say that they survived the 3 city bus rides it took to get them through some errands and finally to the library.

Tonight we are going to the Olympia Library where the winners will be announced. Both of the dioramas were entered into the Family category. Wish us luck!