peep

Here comes the sun, here comes the sun
And I say it’s all right”

-Beatles, “Here Comes the Sun

For this adorable display, you’ll need:

– a basket

– flower foam

– decorative grass (I used colored wood shavings for a little shabby-chic inspiration)

– a 1 1/2 foot long dowel

– about two feet of thick wire (make sure it will hold its shape under pressure)

– 3 packages of Peeps marshmallow chicks

– hot glue gun and glue sticks

Directions:

1. Cut the flower foam to fit your basket, making sure that the foam is wedged securely in and will not wiggle on you later when you insert the dowel.

2. Cover the flower foam and fill any remaining space with the decorative grass (or wood shavings if you prefer).

3. Insert the dowel in the middle of your basket and flower foam, ensuring that it is secure. Then set the basket aside.

4. Cut roughly a two-foot length of wire and shape it into a circle. Leave about six inches of unshaped wire at the bottom of the circle to wrap around the dowel later. It should look like giant lollipop with a tiny stick when you’re finished.

5. Attach the Peeps to the wire. You can thread them on, however doing that tends to hollow out the Peeps and make them look shriveled. I found the easiest way to go about attaching them to the wire is to pull apart the base and the tail leaving a sticky silt in the back of the marshmallow chick. Put the wire in that slit and then press the marshmallow pieces back together. The marshmallow adheres to itself and the wire so it won’t slip.

6. Once you’ve filled the wire circle with Peeps, wrap the loose wire end around the top of the dowel and secure it with generous amounts of hot glue. I laid my basket on its side so that gravity didn’t foil my gluing efforts.

7. Once the glue is dry, stand the basket up and enjoy your cheerful Peep sun centerpiece!