Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola's Prada Candy L'Eau And A Look Behind The Scenes.

To promote Prada's latest fragrance, Candy de L'Eau, Directors Wes Andersen and Roman Coppola have created a real tale told in three online episodes starring Léa Seydoux.

The Winner, Finalists and Best Of The Washington Post's Peeps Show VII: 2013 Diorama Contest.

Washington Post has announced the Winner of The Peeps Show VII: 2013 Diorama Contest winners. The seventh annual Peeps Diorama Contest brought in more than 650 entries.

This year’s standouts include reproductions of oil paintings and controversial films, as well as replicas of iconic landmarks and democratic institutions. But ultimately nostalgia won. The diorama, “Twinkie: Rest in Peeps,” stole the most hearts and votes from The Post newsroom.

As is often the case, I don't agree with all of their picks. So, after the winner and finalists, I'm showing you a few I think should have been honored, such as The Peeping, an homage to Stanley Kubrick's The Shining shown at the top of this post.

The 2013 Peeps Show Winner:
“Peeps Mourn Their Peeps: Twinkie, Rest in Peeps,” created by Leslie Brown, 55, and Lani Hoza, 48, of Charlottesville.



Lani Hoza, an advanced-placement psychology teacher, and Leslie Brown, a manager in the principal’s office, have a reputation among the students for submitting hilarious dioramas to the contest. Adding to the creativity and absurdity of the scene, the Peep Pope comes out of retirement to preside over the funeral of Twinkie.



The Twinkie will be buried in the graveyard where other departed treats, including Ho Hos and fruit pies, have been laid to rest before it.



Brown bought the wooden box and wood panels and took them to the high school woodworking shop to have them cut before she stained them. She also sews and made the cushions for the pews and all of the outfits.



Finalist: “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Peep”



Mark Rivetti, 29, is a three-time finalist in our contest. His latest diorama is an homage to the oil painting “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte,” by French artist Georges Seurat.



Rivetti made use of Georges Seurat's pointillist style, which he’s coined as “Peepalism,” in his depiction of “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte,” where Peeps enjoy a lazy afternoon on the banks of the River Seine.



Rivetti made 30 figures using the heads of Peep bunnies and sculpted clay for the bodies. To match the perspective of the painting, the Peeps in the background are smaller than the ones in the foreground, a visual trick that makes point of view important to the scene.

Watch Mark create his Masterpeep:


Finalist: “Peep’s Chili Bowl”


The staff of the Corporation for Enterprise Development takes diorama-building seriously. The office team has submitted dioramas for five of our seven contests. Many of the members live in the U Street corridor, making Ben’s Chili Bowl a natural choice.



The team photographed Ben’s to help scale their entry, with the restaurant's popular chili dogs and other dishes being served by aproned marshmallow bunnies. The restaurant is illuminated with a strand of holiday lights.



In the team’s homage to the U Street haunt, President Obama visits Peep’s Chili Bowl with his Secret Service detail while the injured Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III waits outside.

Finalist: “Despeepable Congress”


To make the Minions, they turned Peeps upside down and painted on their trademark blue overalls, adding red overalls, too, to depict the partisan divide.



Googly eyes tricked out with modeling clay and a gluelike substance made from confectioner’s sugar gave the Minions their wild-eyed mien.



At Siemens Building Technologies in Beltsville, a team began building a model of Congress during the State of the Union address. In an unexpected twist, Gru’s Minions from the movie “Despicable Me” replace the representatives and create “Despeepable Congress.”



“We didn’t have a political agenda or message, but we wanted to make a funny and common representation of Congress tripping over themselves,” Hughes said.

Finalist: “Zero Peep Thirty”


Nicholas Burger, 33, and Radha Iyengar, 32, economists at the policy think tank Rand Corp., wanted to depict a scene from “Zero Dark Thirty” without diminishing the importance of SEAL Team 6’s mission.



Judges marveled at the battery-powered, light-up fireball made of spray-painted cotton, and the realistic copy of the compound.

Now, for a few of MY personal favorites:

above: The Peeping, Submitted by Elizabeth Vogt,14, Lucy Vogt, 11, Brad Vogt, 47, of the District and Peter Vogt, 71, of Cabin John.


above: Life of Peep, Submitted by Kathy Ansell, 61, and Chris Broquet, 57, of Alexandria.


above: Banana Joe the Affenpeepscher bests an impressive line-up to take Peepminster's most prestigious award- Best in Peeps. Submitted by LeAnn Lemke, 46, of Potomac Falls.


above: The Expose on Pink Slime Burgers being served in cafeterias comes too late to save these Pink Peeps. Submitted by Peter Yeo, 49, of Chevy Chase


above: Michael Peeps goes for gold at the Olympeeps. Submitted by Ron, 56, of Lusby. (I just love the use of the Chick Peeps in the pool coupled with Bunny Peeps as spectators)

To see other entries into this year's contest, go here.
Thanks to Deb Lindsey and The Washington Post.

Zombie Easter Bunny and Zombie Bunny Lollipops.

Think Geek's Chocolate Zombie Bunny and Zombie Bunny Lollipops are sure to be a favorite amongst flesh-eating zombie-loving adults and children this coming Easter Holiday. What better way to celebrate the Lord's rising from the dead than to indulge in Undead Bunnies?



Chocolate Zombie Bunny



The Zombie Bunny is made from 8 ounces of solid white chocolate.
$15.99
Buy it here


Zombie Bunny Lollipops



The Zombie Bunny lollipops, which come in a set of four, have variations in the zombie bunny blood spatter color, as they are all hand poured.

• Set of four lollipops for you to eat or share (each is individually wrapped to help with sharing).
• Each pop looks like a zombie bunny, but tastes like cotton candy.
• Net Wt: approx. 4oz.
• Dimensions: approx. 2.125" x 3.5" x 0.25" (just the edible part).

$9.99
Buy them here

Custom Candy and Lego Letters Make For Some Sweet Wall Decor.

Letter Sweet framed wall art is a unique mixed media sculpture created with real LEGO® toy bricks and real candy.




Each artpiece is a custom, hand crafted work that will make a fun and colorful addition to any home.



If you prefer, you can select each letter's combination of LEGO® brick color and candy type. Artwork will be emailed to you within 48 hours for your approval.



Every letter tile is made with real LEGO® toy bricks and real candy, including Jelly Belly® jelly beans, Smarties®, Sweet Tarts®, and candy corn.




Each letter tile measures approximately 4" wide x 6" high. And each tile is completely sealed to prevent damage from moisture or pests.


The tiles are mounted to a lightweight yet rigid high-denisty PVC plastic, commonly used in the picture framing and museum industries.



Each Letter Sweet art piece is a unique, custom hand crafted, high quality, luxury heirloom. And every art piece is signed and numbered by the artist, and includes a "Guarantee of Originality" - no two pieces will ever be created alike.


Who's behind this?
Inspired by his love for toys and candy, Gary Doss created the first Letter Sweet artpiece in 2012. Gary has been the owner and curator of the Burlingame Museum of PEZ Memorabilia since 1995, and the owner and curator of the Classic Toy Musuem since 2004.


above: Gary Doss

Gary started his career in 1972 as a professional enameler in San Francisco, CA. Clients included Macys, General Electric Medical, and Ziff-Davis publishing.

In 2008, Gary created the World's Largest Pez Dispensing Machine and received world wide attention when his artwork was recognized by the 2008 Guinness Book of World Records.

Gary's passion for creating fun, silly and unique items continues today with Letter Sweet.


Letter Sweet

220 Pound Dress Made of 50,000 Gummy Bears Is A Tribute To Alexander McQueen.

For TWELV Magazine's debut issue, Hissa Igarashi and Sayuri Marakumi created a dress entirely out of gummy bears; paying homage to the late Alexander McQueen.



To create the masterpiece, steel wire was twisted into the shape of the dress and covered with a sheet of vinyl. Then 50,000 gummy bears were painstakingly glued on by hand in a colorful pattern reminiscent of a Chevron rainbow.



Taking three weeks to complete, the final dress was fitted exactly to MAJOR model Jessica Pitti's measurements. And weighing in at approximately 220 pounds, required the strength of three adults to move.

The shoot was held at Splashlight Studios and took 4 to 5 hours to complete.

McQueen's Rainbow Dress that served as the inspiration:



information and images courtesy of TWELV Magazine

How The World's Best Selling Valentine's Day Candy, Conversation Hearts, Are Made.

Note: This is a partial reprint of a post from two years ago.

It's that time of year again. Valentine's Day. When happy shiny couples give one another cute warm fuzzies while the rest of the world either remains hopeful or bitterly dejected. Either way, one can't get away from the classic "Sweethearts" by Necco come mid-February. From the candy to Keds, iPhone apps to fragrances, talking hearts abound.

First, some Necco history of the candy:


Today's best-selling Valentine candy -- Sweethearts Conversation Hearts--the pastel sugar hearts with the quirky sayings, were as much a part of your childhood as they are for today's kids. New England Confectionery Company manufactures over 8 billion hearts each year to keep up with demand for this American icon.



Still it's hard to believe that the concept behind today's Conversation Hearts got its start when Abraham Lincoln was still President. Mottoes seemed to have come into prominence with cockles, a small crisp candy made of sugar and flour formed in the shape of a cockle or scallop shell. The early cockles contained mottoes, which were printed on thin colored paper and rolled up inside.

In the 1860's, when Daniel Chase, the brother of New England Confectionery Company's founder, Oliver Chase, began printing sayings on the candy. He experimented first with hand tools, and then devised a machine in which the cloth was replaced with a felt roller pad, moistened with vegetable coloring, usually red, which pressed against the die. The die printed the words on the lozenge paste and the double purpose machine cut the lozenges.

Below are images of the process today:





above: the making, baking and packaging process today

Grown-ups were entertained and passed the hearts around at parties. For weddings, there were wedding-day lozenges with humorously foreboding prophecies such as: "Married in satin, Love will not be lasting" "Married in Pink, He will take to drink" and "Married in white, You have chosen right."

The present day Sweethearts® Conversation Heart dates back to 1902. Back then, besides hearts, they also produced various shapes such as postcards, baseballs, horseshoes and watches.


above: Richard Krause, the President and CEO at the New England Confectionery Company, 2009 (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

In the early 1990's, New England Confectionery Company's Vice President Walter Marshall decided to update the sayings each year and retire some. His first --Fax Me--created a lot of attention from Sweetheart fans. As a result, each year we receive hundreds of suggestions from romantics, candy lovers and school kids for new sayings. From old tech, "Call Me" to new tech, "E-mail Me," Sweethearts® keep the pulse on the heartbeat of the nation.



Conversation Hearts have been used in various ingenious ways over the years-- to propose marriage, to teach children statistics and reading, to decorate cakes, and as borders for frames.


above: the anatomically correct human heart made of the candies by Lego brick artist Nathan Sawaya.

You can see many Conversation Heart inspired products, from iPhone covers to jewelry, at the following links.

Zazzle
Etsy
Red Bubble

Sweethearts and Conversation Hearts Candy and Items on Amazon