I’ve been wanting to make a Peep diorama for years. I remember making a diorama (of the Peepless variety) for a 6th grade school project, and I really enjoyed the process. (Wish I photos of that–it was of a scene from a Nancy Drew book.) Anyhow, I may possibly not have made another diorama since then.
A few weeks ago, I decided this was the year. And I had the idea I wanted to go with. I may have told a few people that my biggest fear* was that someone would beat me to the punch with the idea. (*Not actually my biggest fear.) And I’ve been working on it here and there for about the 3 full weeks. (I ordered the Peeps on Amazon, since I wasn’t sure we’d be able to go out to get them.)
It was really quite therapeutic to work on the little details. I made these bunny slippers one morning while everyone else was still sleeping.I made the portraits on the wall by photographing the “family” in front of a landscape painting.An early stage of the diorama. This box appeared to be an excellent size for a Peep desk.The coffee cup was one of the final details. I just made it this afternoon. You can sort of make out the cookies (made from felt) and the colored pencils (made from toothpicks.)The curtains are made from some old torn pajama pants. Rather fitting, I guess.I was also quite pleased with the armchair, which I made from cardboard, foam, and fabric from some long-departed corduroy pants.I couldn’t quite capture the whole scene from one angle.Yes, I did walk around the house taking photos of peeps in different locations for the zoom meeting.I was rather inordinately pleased with my grocery bag, amazon box and laundry basket.
One of the things that also pleases me about this project is that is was almost entirely made from materials we had around the house. The only new items were the Peeps. There are a few items that were small toys, but most of the things I made from materials from our recycling and scrap fabric.
Here are a few photos I took while we were visiting my mother-in-law for Easter weekend. The kids and I decorated eggs on Saturday, and we had the traditional egg hunt on Sunday.
I find dyed eggs to be so appealing, visually. So much color, so much potential for variation. So many eggs to use for egg salad afterwards. (The color is not always so visually appealing then, though.)
Not so subtle a hiding place.
Incognito.
A blue bloom popping up among the green fronds.
These are totally not eggs, but they are springy, and mighty colorful.
This morning, as I went about my business, which included doing tasks which I shamelessly attributed to an imaginary rabbit, a song popped into my head that I remembered from when I was little. “Ce matin, un lapin…”
I don’t know when the last time I thought of this song was, but there is a good chance it’s been many a year. For one thing, I don’t think I ever googled it before, so that may be an indication.
Back in 1980, I moved to France (along with my mother and sister). My sister and I went to an international school outside of Paris. We weren’t exposed to a huge amount of contemporary popular French culture, as we didn’t have a TV, and went to a school with primarily non-French students. However, at some point in the year, I went on a trip with my class into the French Alps. I don’t remember how long of a trip it was (2 weeks, maybe?), but there was a bit more cultural immersion, staying in a dorm run by French employees. There was certainly more music played than was typical of our regular school. I’m pretty sure this was when I would have heard the song, because those are the memories it triggered.
It probably shouldn’t surprise me that I remembered the lyrics a little wrong, or perhaps that I’d misheard them in the first place. (I was 9, and not a native speaker of French, and I don’t remember how often I would have heard the recorded version of the song, and how often I would have heard it sung by other kids.)
I’d thought it went: Ce matin, un lapin. Ou tu es un chasseur. Ou tu es un lapin qui avait un fusil.
(“This morning, a rabbit, or you are a hunter. Or you are a rabbit who had a gun.”)
I think 9-year-old me interpreted the song to mean something rather philosophical, and somewhat twisted, along the lines of: “Today, will you be the rabbit, or the hunter? Or will you be a rabbit with a gun?” The tenses don’t really make sense for my interpretation, though.
It turns out the song was much more literal:
Ce matin un lapin a tué un chasseur.
C’était un lapin qui avait un fusil.
“This morning a rabbit killed a hunter. It was a rabbit who had a gun.”
Yes, a perky little kids’ song about a homicidal rabbit.
collecting tokens 