For the past four years a local newspaper has had this contest where you create dioramas using Marshmallow chicks, bunnies etc.
I enjoy reading the articles and seeing the dioramas they choose to put in the papers. Now, I'd like to share them with you! Enjoy this years Peeps dioramas.
i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif<3 Caite
Marshmallow madness Our fourth annual Peeps Diorama contest proves readers have no shortage of sugar-crazed ideas. BY RICHARD CHIN
Pioneer Press
TwinCities.com-Pioneer Press One competitor calls it "the glory of Peeps diorama supremacy and world domination."
We just call it the fourth annual Pioneer Press Marshmallow Peeps Diorama contest.
In any case, we received just over 300 entries to our annual rite of spring that stretches the limit of marshmallow animals as an artistic medium. That's down from more than 400 submissions to last year's contest but still a lot considering the main prize for the winners is a toothbrush.
Most important, the dioramas were as creative, lovingly crafted and weird as ever.
We continued to get submissions not only from the St. Paul area but also from around the country, including entries from Arizona, Illinois, South Carolina, California, Florida, New Mexico, Kansas, New Jersey and Colorado.
One entry arrived from Vancouver, British Columbia, and we got our first submission from the Southern Hemisphere, featuring Peeps posed in scenic locations in New Zealand.
'Whether or not that goes against the stringent customs regulations is a question I chose to ignore,' wrote Luke Thoreson, a Minnesotan who smuggled some boxes of marshmallow chicks into an otherwise Peepless country. 'I mean, they're hard to classify as 'food.' '
As in past years, we got entries from kids with teachers who thought Peeps dioramas would be a good vehicle for book reports.
'I buy the Peeps for almost nothing from the Target clearance shelves after Easter,' wrote Ann Jarvis, a teacher at Sibley Elementary School in Northfield. 'The kids have to promise me they won't eat them since they are a year old when they get them in March.'
But we also got lots of entries from grown-up wage slaves toiling at serious-sounding workplaces like law offices, hospitals, the Minnesota Historical Society, the Office of Higher Education, the state Senate office, 'five people from 3M Information Research Solutions,' 'the entire circulation staff at the John F. Kennedy Library in Vallejo, CA' and 'eight women with nothing better to do with the help of seven bottles of wine.'
As in past years, pop culture inspired a lot of Peeps dioramas. This year, we got marshmallow depictions of recent movies or television shows, including 'Dream Girls,' 'An Inconvenient Truth,' 'Project Runway,' 'Deal or No Deal' and 'Snakes on a Plane.'
Some Peeps artists reached back to classic movies or literature: 'The Wizard of Oz,' 'The Bridge on the River Kwai,' 'The Birds,' 'Star Wars,' 'Rocky,' 'Frankenstein,' 'Pride and Prejudice,' 'Mary Poppins,' 'The Hound of the Baskervilles,' 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' and 'Singin' in the Rain.'
Minnesotans emerging from a long winter always give us Peeps-populated beach scenes and sports-inspired dioramas: football, basketball, bowling, stock car racing, ice fishing, skiing. But this year, we also got two versions of halftime marching bands.
Recent events inspired a few dioramas, including Prince's performance at the Super Bowl and Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann's exuberant clinch with President Bush at his State of the Union address. Unlike past years, we didn't get any depictions of the war in Iraq, but several dioramas showed peace marches.
The first Pioneer Press Peeps contest was held when 'The Passion of the Christ' was in the news and in the movie theaters, so that year, we got several marshmallow Crucifixion scenes. We didn't get any Easter-themed dioramas this time, but we did get one marshmallow David smiting Goliath with a jelly bean.
Historical events both obscure and famous re-created in Peeps included the moon landing, the raising of the flag at Iwo Jima, the assassination of Julius Caesar, the guillotining of Louis XVI, the cannibalism of the Donner Party and the execution of Sacco and Vanzetti, complete with a LEGO electric chair. A couple of dioramas used Peeps to demonstrate Darwinian evolution.
Lots of entries came with tales of construction methods and mishaps: 'We have used Hot Tamales for the brickwork.' 'You can't shave a Peep's head, but you can wash it gently in warm water until the color comes off.'
Some explained how inspiration hit: 'When we read 'The Iliad' at the beginning of the school year, I thought 'Wow! That would make a really funny Peeps diorama!' '
One entry included a Peeps-inspired rap song. And many of you just can't resist a pun. That's why we seem to get at least one Village People entry every year.
This year, we also saw the 1666 Great Fire of London as described in 'The Diary of Samuel Pepys' (pronounced 'peeps') and a version of Rene Magritte's painting, 'The Treachery of Images,' which features the inscription Ceci n'est pas une pipe (This is not a pipe, except in French pipe is pronounced 'peep').
But enough of the French lessons. On to Peeps diorama supremacy and world domination. Here are our winners:
FIRST PLACE
'Run Silent, Run Peep' by Tim Smalley, 56, South St. Paul
Judges' comment: An unusual theme - a World War II submarine movie - strikingly executed by a guy who does boat and water safety work for the Department of Natural Resources and makes radio control model submarines for a hobby.
SECOND PLACE
'Peeps Processing Plant' by (left to right) Amy Lindmeier, 17, and Mary Lindmeier, 48, Rosemount; and Cory Hummell, 17, Lakeville
Judges' comment: Lots of nice details in this factory scene of tiny marshmallow bunnies making even tinier marshmallow chicks. The workers are wearing little aprons. Even the teeny timecards near the punch clock are filled out.
THIRD PLACE
'Peepspace.com' by Katie MacInnes, 27, St. Paul
JUDGES' COMMENT: ON THE INTERNET, NO ONE KNOWS YOU'RE A MARSHMALLOW RABBIT. "I WORK AT MICHAELS (CRAFT STORE), SO I KIND OF RAIDED THE CLEARANCE BIN," SAID CREATOR MACINNES. RUNNERS-UP
"Coach Mo's Woes" by William Sinnen, 48, Chaska
Judges' comment: Sinnen was a runner-up last year, too. "I'm a frustrated Gophers fan, and I was venting. But now Tubby's here, so I'm good," he said.
"Hen Cold Blood" by Mary Nelson, 23, St. Paul, and Nina Shepherd, 45, Deephaven
Judges' comment: Like the Truman Capote novel that was its inspiration, this depiction of the Clutter family slaying somehow turns something gruesome into art. "The line we had to walk constantly while doing this was being respectful to the Clutter family," said Nelson. "Granted, it is a Peeps diorama, but it's artistic expression at the same time."
"Open Air Stadium" by Karen Domeier, 25, Inver Grove Heights, and Jory Burroughs, Woodbury, and other labor and delivery staff at Woodwinds Hospital in Woodbury
Judges' comment: A joint project by a nurse and an obstetrician, including Easter Peeps bunnies plus some leftover Halloween Peeps cats. Even though it's an outdoor stadium, it's a turf field.
Richard Chin can be reached at rchin@pioneerpress.com or 651-228-5560.
PEEPS ON PARADE
For the second year, some of the winning dioramas and dioramas from contestants who thought they should have won will be displayed at the University of Minnesota Bell Museum of Natural History from Saturday to April 22. Diorama makers who want to show off their works can drop off their dioramas between 9 a.m. and 8 p.m. Thursday or between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Friday at the museum, 10 Church St. S.E., Minneapolis.
Hope everyone has a wonderful day.
