Until now, I haven’t done any Covid crafting. I bought some chunky yarn to hand-crochet a throw but didn’t go so far as to take it out of the shopping bag. The inertia to curl up under a throw I already had and watch TV was just too great.
The newest offering from the Farragut Parks & Rec Department gave me the rib-jab I needed to set down the remote and get busy creating. Even though I’m a mostly-responsible, past middle-age adult, I couldn’t resist the idea of building a scene from one of my favorite musicals using Peeps. Yes, I mean Peeps, the puffed sugar confection that is equally revered and abhorred.
The “Got Peeps?” contest invites young and old alike to create a scene using Peeps as the human characters. Participants photograph their scenes and submit them to Parks & Rec for judging. As soon as I heard about the contest, I felt compelled to recreate the barricade scene from “Les Misérables” using Peeps as the young rebels.
The complete rules are available here. Don’t be intimidated by my masterpiece; as a town employee, I’m not a candidate for the prize. But I can offer advice on creating a show-stopping Peeps scene. Here are some things to keep in mind while crafting:
- Marshmallow animals are easier to work with if they’ve dried out a little. Don’t get me wrong; they’re still a sticky, sugary mess. But if they’re a little bit crunchy, they’re easier to dress, color, etc. Don’t even think you’ll win this contest without dressing or coloring your Peeps.
- Cut the bottom off your Peeps to make them stand up straight. I worked on my scene with Event and Program Coordinator Brittany Spencer, and we both made the questionable choice of using extra-large rabbit-shaped Peeps. Brittany can run an event for 1,000 children without breaking a sweat, but she about lost her marbles over a marshmallow rabbit that refused to stand up straight.
- Make good choices with your glue gun. I created my scene in a box and it was simple to assemble the non-candy portion with my hot glue gun. I pushed the boundaries of good sense when I used the gun to add a costume a Peep, but my efforts to make my extra-large rabbit stand up using the glue gun were a disaster. Marshmallow just doesn’t respond well to heat. Think s’mores.
- Toss your pandemic anxiety aside and act like a kid, even if you’re not one. It’s fun to dream up something in your head and bring it to life, even if it can fit in a shoebox.
Kudos to the Parks & Rec Department for continually coming up with safe fun for families. Hide and Seek with the Admiral, an outdoor scavenger hunt in Farragut’s four parks, continues through March 31, and Grab & Go St. Patrick’s Day crafts for kids are available at the community center starting March 8. Plans are in the works for an outdoor event to replace this year’s Shamrock Ball on May 1; follow Town of Farragut on social media visit farragutparksandrec.org for updates. Fun looks different now, but it’s still there, if you know where to look.
Town of Farragut marketing and public relations coordinator Wendy Smith is your reliable Farragut insider.