Editor’s note: When Matt Peick of Eagan submitted two photos of his Peeps diorama, “Peril on Peep Mountain,” he also included a PDF that explained the story behind its creation.
After reading all 1,180 words, the judges were both impressed by his efforts (especially that he used our contest to fill a creative void in his life) and afraid for him (don’t try and climb a roof for your photo, Peeps!).
The Pioneer Press also extends our thanks to Peick’s wife, Stephanie Peick, for agreeing to keep the house at 60 degrees for the sake of the diorama (our artist was trying to avoid a second Rice Krispie avalanche).
We hope you enjoy Peick’s saga as much as we did:
“Peril on Peep Mountain”
Submitted by: Matt Peick
Chocolate Modeling Support by: Madeline Peick (daughter)
Literary Input by: Wyatt Peick (son)
Patience by: Stephanie Peick (Wife)
A creative and artistic project such as this is an unlikely match with a family of engineer parents and engineering and computer science students. Timing is everything. While sitting in a local café back in mid-February I was taking an inventory of the home improvement and various engineering projects I had on my to-do list, and it occurred to me that not one of these projects contained any redeeming artistic expression. Fate intervened as I glanced at the pages of the Pioneer Press that an earlier patron had left behind and saw an ad for the Peep Diorama Contest. “Well,” I thought, “there it is then, I had better act quickly before I change my mind.” On the drive home I thought about one of our few other family creative projects (a film about three kids conquering Mt. Crumpit), assigned family tasks in my head (without consent), and bought four family-sized boxes of Rice Krispies, a pound of butter and 10 bags of marshmallows. The plan was to move ahead without any plans, timelines, or sketches. Just start building.
Step 1: Create a mountain mimicking Mt. Crumpit out of a cardboard frame and Rice Krispie Treats.
Matt Peick used cardboard, four family-sized boxes of Rice Krispies cereal, a pound of butter and 10 bags of marshmallow for his diorama version of Dr. Seuss’ Mount Crumpet. (Courtesy of Matt Peick.)
The story and the Peeps
With jobs and life to attend to, I set aside the mountain for a week and covered it with a black plastic garbage bag. The intent of the garbage bag was to stop the mountain from drying out. This may seem like a trivial detail; however, the error of this detail would reveal itself shortly.
The vision of three Peeps climbing the mountain with one of them having slipped, dangling from a rope, was forming in my mind. The Grinch, looking down from a perch at three frightened Peeps inperil, would add to the drama! Although not part of the competition, a happy ending seemed in order – something like, “Unbeknownst to the Peep children, the Grinch’s heart had grown three sizes earlier that year. Instead of adding mean spirit to the situation, the Grinch reaches down and saves the youngest Peep child dangling from the rope and welcomes them all to the mountain.” I described this all to my son who has the literary skills of the family; after receiving the blank look and ever-so-slight eye roll that only a teenage son can deliver, I responded that I was glad he was on board and set him to work crafting the story behind the diorama.
Matt Peick used brown modeling chocolate to create lederhosenfor the Peeps of his diorama. (Courtesy of Matt Peick.)
The next order of business was setting my daughter to work sculpting the Grinch with some green and brown modeling chocolate I ordered. She is quite talented at such things and quickly created a perfect Grinch. I used the brown modeling chocolate to create lederhosen for the Peeps. One of the Peeps was to have its head turned and be looking downhill. This required a bit of head repositioning that proved more difficult than first anticipated. Overcoming this challenge, all the characters were completed
within the week and placed in the freezer.
Tragedy strikes
My intent was to apply frosting to the mountain, arrange the characters, and take pictures over the following weekend. So, the next weekend, I moved the mountain back to the table and removed the bag. That’s when I realized there had been an avalanche on Peep Mountain! A slow, drooping, unheard, unseen avalanche!
A partial avalanche of the Rice-Krispie-treat-surface of Matt Peick’s diorama. (Courtesy of Matt Peick.)
The Rice Krispie Treat mass had separated from the cardboard frame and slid down the mountain. It took some cutting and removal and three more full double batches of Rice Krispie Treats, but it could all be fixed.
Concerned that it could happen again, I concluded that some sort of avalanche control was in order. My wife did not fully see the wisdom in, but reluctantly agreed to, my proposed solution: We just needed to keep the house at 60 degrees or so for the next day or two until the project was complete. So, the heat was turned off and the kitchen windows were opened – simple!
One more delay
For his Peeps diorama, Matt Peick built a base for a paper sky. (Courtesy of Matt Peick.)
The lack of a project plan evolved into a situation not quite as artistically freeing as first imagined. When starting to envision the how and where of capturing the final images, the idea of kitchen cupboards and lights in the background did not fit the theme. A sky backdrop was clearly necessary. I incurred another day’s delay obtaining a sheet of paper, painting it blue, and building
a frame that could attach to the kitchen table.
Final touches
Matt Peick, an engineer from Eagan, went all out for his Peeps diorma, including building a frame for a paper blue sky. (Courtesy of Matt Peick)
While frosting the mountain with gray and white frosting, it was helpful to recall the words of Bob Ross, “There are no mistakes, only happy accidents!” After frosting, I added some final touches. Sprinkling the entire mountain with powdered sugar at the end helped cover some of those happy accidents and accentuated the wintery scene. The Peeps needed some white modeling chocolate to help hold them in place. I used a piece of licorice for the rope holding poor Polly Peep. Finally, after spray painting a cloud on the backdrop, the last detail was complete. I took pictures in our properly chilled kitchen photo studio. The pictures, in my opinion, turned out good … but not great. Something was missing. An actual sky background, with no trees or houses – just sky – would be perfect.
The final blow
This is what happened when Matt Peick tried to take his Peeps diorama onto the roof for a photo. (Courtesy of Matt Peick.)
After surveying our property for a spot where only sky could be seen in the background, it became clear that the only spot with such a backdrop would be the roof of our house. The mountain itself was surprisingly heavy and tough to manage on a ladder. I needed one hand under the mountain base for support, another to stop the mountain from tipping, and a third to hold the ladder. It was during that no-hands transition from the ladder to the roof, as everything went top heavy and started slipping backwards, that I had to decide: either the mountain goes, or the mountain and I both go. As I watched Peep Mountain crash back to earth in slow motion from my perch on the ladder, I decided that all the pictures gathered in the kitchen studio were pretty great after all.
“Peril on Peep Mountain”
(Courtesy of Matt Peick.)
Atop Peep Mountain in the crisp morning air,
the green grouch looked down and saw a scene that shouldn’t be there.
There shouldn’t be, there couldn’t be, Peeps this high up, and yet,
there was Polly Peep facing a deadly threat.
She swung from her climbing rope, round and around,
her friends were sure she was bound for the ground.
The poor little thing must be half frozen,
she had clearly forgotten her lederhosen.
Suddenly they spotted the green grouch on his perch,
and each little Peep wished they had never skipped church.
For the Peeps couldn’t have known that just the day before
the green grouches heart had grown three sizes more.
So instead of peril and a terrible fall,
a furry green arm came down and saved them all!
— by Wyatt Peick (inspired by Dr. Seuss)
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