One of my favorite snack foods has got to be the pretzel. It’s crunchy and salty, it’s tasty on its own, and it pairs well with both sweet and savory ingredients. You can dip it in chocolate or cheese and both will be delicious (just not at the same time… unless you’re really adventurous).

 

Sometimes it’s fun to pick a favorite snack and then create variations on a theme with it. Here are a few different ideas for bringing Halloween flair to some yummy pretzel treats.

 

These pumpkin pretzels from Make Bake Celebrate are too cute for words! Chocolate-covered and dipped in sprinkles, they’re the perfect salty-sweet combination. Add leaves and stems with some piped chocolate for added detail.

 

Photo via Make Bake Celebrate

 

 

You can never have enough chocolate covered pretzels! For a fun variation on the same flavors, you must try these Frankenstein pretzels! Grab pretzel rods, green melting chocolate, black gel icing, chocolate kisses, and shredded coconut. With some simple assembly, you can make the perfect creepy cuties to compliment your bright pumpkin pretzels.

 

Photo via Simply Designing with Ashley

 

Finally, let’s finish up with a savory pretzel dish. With some pretzel sticks, string cheese, and chives for garnish, you can create the most adorable witches’ brooms. Cut up the string cheese to act as bristles, stick in a pretzel to be the handle, and tie on a chive if you like (you can skip this last part if you’re not a chive fan).

 

Photo via

 

Yum! These make perfect Halloween treats, but are also great festive snacks for any time—be it in the classroom, after school, or for a sleepover.

 

Which of these variations is your favorite? Do you have any other spooky snack ideas?

Scribble Town (ST): Drum roll, bird tweets, and a big round of applause for Rabbit Days and Dumplings, Elena Moon Park’s new music album! It’s an “all-ages folk and children’s music from East Asia”. I can’t wait to hear all about it!

Elena Moon Park (EMP): Hi all! I’m Elena Moon Park, and I’m a musician living and working in Brooklyn, NY.  I grew up in the hills of East Tennessee, then lived and went to school near Chicago for a few years before moving to Brooklyn.  Upon moving to NYC, I began freelancing as a musician around the city, and since 2007 I’ve been playing music for families.

ST: Every life has its own special beat and story! How is the tune now- where are you and what are you up to these days?

EMP: These days I live in Brooklyn, NY, where I work with an organization called Bang on a Can’s Found Sound Nation and play music on a variety of instruments.  For the last eight years, I have been playing fiddle and trumpet with the Brooklyn-based family music band Dan Zanes and Friends (DZAF).  I traveled across America and around the world playing music for families with DZAF, meeting many parents and children of all ages, and I quickly realized that there is a lack of music from Asia in the US-based family music world.  Two years ago, I decided to make my own album for families, featuring folk and children’s music from East Asia, and this resulted in Rabbit Days and Dumplings, released in September 2012.

ST: That’s great!  We can already mark are calendars for your next show at the Lincoln Center in NYC for Saturday, July 27 at 12pm.  I’m still curious as to how it all began with you.  When did you start creating music and was there somebody that encouraged you?

EMP: I started learning how to play the violin when I was around 5 years old.  When I was young, my parents strongly encouraged me to play music, and I am eternally grateful for that!  Sometimes it was hard to practice when I was growing up – there were many other things I wanted to do! – but my parents convinced me to stick with it, at least until I went to college.  After college, I continued to be inspired by many, many fun and adventurous musicians, especially when I moved to NYC and decided to learn more instruments.

ST:  Like what – which instruments do you play?  I have a feeling the list will go on and amaze us all

EMP: Besides the violin, I play mandolin, trumpet, ukulele, jarana (Mexican guitar), spoons, and I just started learning how to play the musical saw.  I liked the mandolin immediately because it is tuned just like a violin, and I think the sound is lively and beautiful.  I played French horn in high school band, and I always enjoyed playing a brass instrument, so I picked up a trumpet.  The ukulele, jarana, spoons, and musical saw are all discoveries through playing family music.

ST:  From horns to strings you are creating a melodic soundtrack to your foot steps. And for us too!  Is there a particular place or environment you find yourself feeling really inspired to create?

EMP: I am most inspired by meeting people and hearing their stories.  This is one of the reasons that I enjoy playing folk music so much — because folk and traditional music, and any music that has been passed on through generations, constantly being reshaped and re-imagined, embodies such a depth of history and culture that one can learn from.  Music is such a fantastic way to communicate across borders and languages, and a beautiful way to build relationships and communities.  In that same vein, playing music for families, and watching the intergenerational bond that music can create, has been the most enriching musical experience of my life.

ST: Oh, that gives a window as to what propelled you to create Rabbit Days and Dumplings.  The album really brings together so many different people, cultures and languages.  On the record there are many wonderful musicians singing and playing with you.  How did these collaborations come about?

EMP: As I was discovering what a joy it was to play music for families, Dan Zanes (my bandleader) began to encourage me to teach him some folk songs from East Asia.  I grew up in East Tennessee, but both of my parents immigrated to the US from South Korea.  I realized that I didn’t know any folk songs from East Asia, and decided that I should definitely learn a few.  It started with one Korean New Year’s song called Sol Nal that we played on a DZAF Holiday Show, and thus started Rabbit Days and Dumplings!

I have been very fortunate to play a lot of different kinds of music with many different musicians in this rich musical land of New York City.  While putting together my album, I enlisted the help of friends and friends of friends, and many were gracious enough to join me on the album.  All of my song arrangements are inspired by these incredibly talented musicians, and so the album is truly a reflection of the New York City musical world that I know and love.

ST: Wow!  Elena, for somebody so musically creative are there other forms of art you practice?

EMP: I really love to take photographs.  I have a nice but simple point-and-shoot digital camera, and I try to take it with me whenever I travel.  For me, photographs are expressions of appreciation for the beautiful things you encounter every day.  They make me stop and recognize these moments of beauty, both small and large.

ST: Every picture captures a moment and every song has its place.  When you were growing up what was your favorite song?

EMP: I had a lot of favorite songs when I was growing up.  One Korean song, San Toki, which is featured on Rabbit Days and Dumplings, was a favorite of mine when I was really young.  When I was older, I really liked the song “Rainbow Connection” from the Muppets.

ST: My sister and I used to sing Rainbow Connection too!  Another song which brings me back to my childhood from Rabbit Days and Dumplings is Ti Oh Oh.  My mom would always sing that to us especially when we were taking a walk in the forest.  Thank you for capturing all these wonderful sounds, stories, and songs!  Scribblers, have a listen to some songs on http://rabbitdays.com/music.

EMP: I’ve always tried my best to explore as much as possible, and to be open to any and all new people, places, foods, art, music, and ideas.  This openness has always led me somewhere fulfilling and fun.  At the same time, I learned to keep in touch with my roots, and to get to know my roots better as I grew older.  The most important thing for me, though, is to keep having a good time on the way, wherever you are heading.

ST: Thanks Elena for your advice!  We will all have happy feet our adventures thanks to Rabbit Days and Dumplings!

Scribble Town (ST): Somewhere in between Disneyland’s heart racing Space Mountain and the soft butterfly tummy flutters of Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage adventure rides we have the beautiful artwork of Jerrod Maruyama.  His work is currently on view at Disneyland’s WonderGround Gallery.  Jerrod went to San Jose State University where he earned a degree in Illustration. He loves drawing, watching cartoons and visiting Disneyland whenever he can.

Jerrod, where are you and what are you up to these days?

Jerrod Maruyama (JM): I live in Sacramento, Ca where I work from home as a freelance illustrator. I do all kinds of different projects for many different clients. I specialize in character concepts and designs. Sometimes I’m working with existing characters – putting them in different poses or costumes. And sometimes I get to create brand new characters from scratch. It’s a fun job and I’m always doing something different. But it’s also a lot of work.

ST: It sounds like a fun job and perfect for you!  When did you start drawing?  Was there somebody that encouraged you or was it the cartoons themselves that called for your creativity?

JM: I’ve loved to draw since I was a little kid. I would get obsessed with certain characters or movies and draw them over and over again.  My friends and family would certainly enjoy my drawings. I loved drawing for other people whether it was birthday cards or posters, I would always draw with an audience in mind.

I think that’s why I became an illustrator as opposed to a fine artist. I would get a lot of positive feedback on my drawings from lots of people – but there was never really any one person who encouraged me to go to art school or pursue art as a career. Drawing was just something I did.

ST: I love your new take on cartoons such as Modern Mouse and Alice in Wonderland.  Hipster Mickey is so great!  It’s amazing how you managed to keep Mickey’s personality going even with the new threads.  How did you get the vision for these characters?

JM: I’ve been a life-long fan of Disney animation. So, I was thrilled when Disney contacted me and asked me to create some art for their WonderGround Gallery. It was a new concept for the company and they wanted artists to bring their own interpretation of classic Disney characters – including Mickey Mouse. I have several pieces currently in the gallery with more to come. The gallery changes shows roughly every six months or so. New artists and characters are featured with each new them. The gallery is located in the Downtown Disney district at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, CA. The next time you go to Disneyland, stop by and see all the fun artwork.

ST: Scribblers, when you get a chance go visit WonderGround Gallery!

Are you a big fan of Hayao Miyazaki’s animations too?!  How did you come up with those pieces for the The Supah Mash-Up Art Party?  Everything there is supah dupah cute!

JM: I love the films of Studio Ghibli. They’re such fun stories told in a way that’s completely different than what we’re used to in American feature animation. For the Mash-Up show, I got to work with Jared Andrew Schorr-  a super-talented artists that works with cut paper. Since we both love Miyazaki’s work we thought it would be a fun concept to collaborate on. We both chose films we love and did individual pieces as well as working together on one large tribute to My Neighbor Totoro. It was a really fun project and my first time collaboration with another artist. I was so pleased with the results and hope to work with Jared again soon.

ST: What is your process for getting your work out of your head- do you sketch with pencil, paint, computer graphics, etc. ?

JM: I always start with a paper and pencil sketch. I am always drawing. When I’m sitting in front of the tv, I always have my sketch pad near by. You never know when inspiration will strike and you have to be ready. Once I have an idea down on paper, I scan the image into the computed are re-draw everything in Adobe Illustrator. It’s a powerful tool for artists but takes a little time getting used to it.

ST: That’s right- strike while the iron is hot! Now I’m wondering, what your studio environment is like. That’s where the magic happens!

JM: I am at my computer almost the entire day. Whether it’s drawing, updating my website or promoting my work through social media outlets, I spend long hours standing in front of my computer. I have a really high desk that allows me to stand or sit when I feel like it. I like listening to music when I work but usually it’s music without words. I find myself easily distracted by songs so I usually listen to classical music or contemporary movie soundtracks. If I’m doing Disney work, I find listening to Disney music puts me in the right mood!

ST: From being a fan of Disneyland to now creating art for them- I’d say you are living your dream!  Any tips for us Scribblers?

JM: If you like drawing, do it all the time. Give yourself a made up assignment and do it to the best of your ability. Draw what you love and push yourself to get better. Everyone will tell you your drawings are great and that’s nice to hear. But you have to continue to improve your skills and learn more about the art you love. Don’t be shy about your work. Show it to as many people as you can. Get their feedback. It can be difficult to hear negative things about your work but try to listen to what other people have to say. Some of it will be helpful and constructive and some of it won’t. But you will always learn something from it. Take classes when you can and draw as much as possible. Keep your drawings. Keep them in a sketchbook or even a box for all your doodles. It’s important to see your progress and fun to revisit old drawings. It’s not an easy job being an artist, but it can be a lot of fun and very rewarding.

ST: Thanks Jerrod!  For more inspiration please have a look at Jerrod’s website http://www.jmaruyama.com.

Scribble Town (ST):  Every year, Youth Art Month (YAM) has a flag competition for each state.  Students from each grade level (elementary, middle, high school) creates a flag design for YAM in their state.  The design can use the National theme: Art Shapes the World, or you can create your own theme.  A winner will be chosen from the three levels and the winning flags will be represented on the posters and postcards promoting the YAM show at the Capitol in March.  The winning student artist will receive an actual 3’x5’ flag of their winning design.  On the Scribble Blog with us is the winning high school student from Minnesota, Chelsea Waite!

Chelsea, what was your first thought when you heard of the YAM project?

Chelsea Waite (CW): When I first heard of the contest, I was excited because I have never been involved in a art contest this big before.

ST: Already you sound like a person who is up for challenges and like to take a chance! How did your idea develop?  What story or idea are you trying to convey with your flag?

CW: I wanted to focus on the idea of diversity. I think diversity is important to New Mexico because of the many different cultures we have here. My first idea of how to represent diversity is in using the Zia symbol. I found that I could manipulate the ends of the symbol to go off into different direction, but then come together in the middle to make one complete symbol. This is how I think the people of New Mexico are, we come from lots of different cultures but live together as one.

ST: Multiculturalism in New Mexico is just one of the things that makes it a special place. How did you decide what medium to use?

CW: I decided that I would use Sharpie and color pencils because it is easy to make small thin lines with these mediums.

ST: How do you feel about your final outcome?

CW: I was happy with my final outcome, but I never thought it would win.

ST: And that’s exactly what happened! What do you like most about your YAM flag?

CW: My favorite element in my flag are the yucca flowers. I didn’t choose the yucca flower because it is our state flower, I chose it because it is not very pretty. Compared to the millions of flowers in the world, the yucca flower is ugly but if you look close enough there is beauty there. I think this represents New Mexico because of that very same reason. This state is often overlooked but if people take the time to look close enough they will be able to see beauty.

ST: That’s such an honest approach to depicting your surrounding.  There is beauty everywhere if we just tune our eyes in the right way.  You are so wise and thoughtful!  How did the idea come into your head?

CW: I came up with the idea the moment I heard about the contest. The idea popped into my head very easily and with not much effort.

ST: And just like that we now have a beautiful YAM flag for New Mexico! Thank you Chelsea for your creativity and taking the time to share with the Scribblers!

If you live in a college town or anywhere near a college campus, you know what time of year it is… GRADUATION!  It seems every other day this month, kids are receiving diplomas and throwing up their caps. And before you know it, next month it will be time for preschool, elementary, middle, and high school graduations. If you have any grads in your family, why not celebrate this milestone with some sweet treats?

 Photo: Bakerella

These chocolate graduation caps are simple to create and easily customizable for school colors. You can make them chocolate lollipops or just clever candy sans the sticks, depending on your preference. To make them, you’ll need: miniature Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, melting chocolate, chocolate squares (Dove or Godiva make good ones, but even small chocolate covered graham crackers or square chocolate covered wafers will do), miniature M&Ms, sour strings (Airheads Extremes Rainbow Berry Sweetly Sour Belts work great), and lollipop sticks (optional).

 

You can work in any order you prefer, but we’ll start with the top of the caps. Unwrap your chocolate squares and separate your sour belt ribbons by color. Choose the school color and cut or tear a small piece off (about an inch to an inch and a half in length—you can eyeball this). Draw a thin line of melted chocolate with a toothpick on the chocolate square from the center to an edge and glue on the sour belt string and a mini M&M to match.

 

Now for the bottom: chill your peanut butter cups in the freezer for a few minutes so the wrappers remove smoothly. If you’d like to make these as lollipops, let the cups return to room temperature (on a sheet of wax paper), then dip the end of a lollipop stick in melted chocolate and carefully insert it about halfway into the peanut butter cup and let it dry.

 Photo: Family Life with a Mom Who is All Hart

Once hardened, adhere the tops to the bottoms with some more melted chocolate and let dry. If they’re lollipops, stick them into a Styrofoam block to dry standing up. If they’re without sticks, leave them on the wax paper.

 

There you have it! Tasty, adorable, and celebratory treats worthy of your graduate! These are very easy to customize and substitute ingredients. For example, you could use icing or candy coating instead of melting chocolate and you could use pull-apart Twizzlers instead of sour belts. You could even use white chocolate for all the ingredients, so feel free to play around and see what you come up with. Congrats to all the classes of 2013 on their accomplishments and the many more to come.

Photo: Bake Me More

Hi there, Scribblers! Hope you had a very merry Christmas. How about we get started on that happy New Year? This time of year always feels like a marathon of holidays with New Year’s Eve shining as the main event.

New Year’s Eve is the ultimate time to celebrate. Usher in a new year, shout out the count down, cheer, make noise, toast, dance! You don’t have to go out to a fancy party to celebrate. You can have a blast at home with family and friends (especially if you have littles who can go to bed once they’re tuckered out). And nothing says celebration quite like confetti.

While there’s no doubt that confetti is messy, it’s just so festive! It’s also not quite as bad as glitter. Sometimes you just have to take on the extra clean up and enjoy the moment. One way to do that this year is with these adorable matchbox confetti holders from Carolyn’s Homework.

You’ll need matchboxes (the same number as guests you’re having over), festive paper (could be scrapbook, foil, wrapping, or origami), twine, and confetti (either bought or self-made).

Wrap the matchboxes in your bright, festive paper. Fill each one with a handful of confetti. To make your own, all you need is a hole punch and paper (this could be your leftover festive paper). Definitely do it over a piece of wax paper to funnel them into your boxes after and avoid rogue pieces.

Finally, close up the boxes and wrap some twine around them for an extra cheerful touch. If you want, you can add countdown numbers to each and have your own countdown confetti wave.

You’ll have to get the vacuum ready for the next morning, but the fun will be well worth the quick clean up. Here’s to a happy New Year’s Eve and an even happier New Year!

Photo via Carolyn’s Homework

 

 

 

 

 

What are your feelings on candy canes? Come wintertime, they’re just all over the place. While they make lovely seasonal decorations, they often lead a lonely existence. Sure, every so often, someone will eat one, but that’s it. As a stand-alone snack, they’re fine, but imagine how yummy they’d be with some tasty partners in crime!

 

These adorable sled snacks from Gluesticks and Planning with Kids make a perfect treat for the kids… whether it’s for a party or just hanging at home. All you need are mini candy canes, some chocolate frosting, mini Milky Way bars, and Teddy Grahams.

 

Cut your Milky Way in half and use the chocolate frosting to adhere it to two candy canes for the sled. Then stick a Teddy Graham in between the chocolate bar halves for the driver. That’s all it takes!

 

Mmm… chocolate and peppermint that’s as tasty as it is adorable. Now, there’s a winning combination. On your marks. Get set. GO!

 

photo via Gluesticks

Happy Thanksgiving Scribblers!

What a beautiful day for a parade and for sharing time with friends and family.

I thought that you would enjoy these fun and easy activities to keep your little Scribblers busy while you are preparing for the festivities.

Scribble your own Thanksgiving placemat with our downloadable coloring page.  Click on the image to download and print.

Your kids will enjoy making this turkey headband.  It’s easy too. You’ll need some colorful construction paper, scissors and glue.  Cut, glue and assemble and enjoy!

Here’s a coloring page that’s sure to delight, get those crayons and markers out and get scribbly!!

Wishing you a happy day and a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Gobble, Gobble!!!

Warm Regards,

Andi

Chief Scribbler

Thanksgiving already?? WOW…How quickly the year has flown by!

It’s that time again and I’m busy planning for all the festivities.  One of the highlights for me is always the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.  The parade has such great energy and has a way of inspiring me.

The balloons are my absolute favorite!  I look forward to seeing them every year and this year there will be three new balloons debuting at the parade!!  Each of these balloons take about a year to create.  The balloons have taken their test flight and are ready to fly in the 86th Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade.  The festivities begin next Thursday morning at 9:00 am.

Sometime ago, while watching the parade I thought, wouldn’t it be fun to make a Thanksgiving Parade Scribble mat, so…I contacted the Macy’s buyer, drew a sketch for him and voila, the buyer purchased Scribble mats to help promote the parade.

In addition to the fabulous balloons the parade lineup will include floats, cheerleaders and dancers, clowns,  marching bands from all over the country and celebrity performers too!!  What a line up.  And of course there’s Santa in his sleigh!

Which is your favorite part of the parade?  Have you ever watched the parade and been inspired to create something?  Why not try it while watching the parade this year or while preparing for Thanksgiving dinner and share your creations with us.

Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Scribbling!!!

 

 

 

Hi Scribblers,

It’s been quite the week here in NYC.  Hurricane Sandy came in with such tremendous force, I don’t think anyone was prepared for the damage and devastation she left in her path. Our building was evacuated and our lobby filled up with water and could have passed for an Olympic sized swimming pool.   We still are without power or heat. Transportation has been difficult and we haven’t been able to get to the office, so I’ve been scribbling up a storm this week.

I thought I would share this opportunity with you.  The Fowler Arts Collective is putting out a call for art for their upcoming December exhibition. They are asking artists, writers, and designers to send postcard sized works in any medium.  I was inspired to create “Stormy Rays”.  I’m going to color it and send it to them.

Your postcards can be priced at $20, $30, $40, or $50. The artist will gets 50% if the work sells… (woohoo!)  This is a great activity for you to do with your little ones. You can send as many postcards as you want. The more the merrier!

Please have a look at their website for full details of how you can submit your art.

So get your pencils, markers, paints etc. out and start scribbling.

We would love to see your creations.  Please share them with us and if you know of any events that our readers may be interested in, please share them with us too.

Happy Scribbling!!

All my best,

Andi