Thus I give you “A Long Time Ago, In a Galaxy Far, Far Away…” inspired by the scenes in Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi when C3PO is telling a story to the ewoks in their forest city.

Here it is in the daytime. I used a plant tray as the base and filled it with potting mix for the ground. The bunny peeps represent the human characters (or human-like). The chick peeps are the ewoks. R2D2 is a reconstructed chick peep and some Sharpie pen. Since I moved to North Carolina this year, the woodland accessories of moss, sticks and rocks were very easy to come by!

I handcrafted the C3PO log chair with nothing but sticks, string and love.

Ewoks are outfitted with paper bag cowls and felt-tipped spears.

Han Solo and Princess Leia are canoodling in the corner, “Is that at blaster in your holster or are you just happy to see me?” Complete with felt vests, dresses and paper bag braided hair.


Luke is being moody in his black outfit, with R2-D2 hooting in concern.

As inspired by our friend, Jad Bean, we’re renaming this little blue droid R2-Peep2.
Can’t get enough? Check out way too many pictures of my sugary masterpiece.

As with all food that happen in the Crawford house, many of recipes have to be modified to meet my lactose intolerant needs. For each recipe, I’ve highlighted how we made it lac-free!

First was the Baked Tex-Mex Pimento Dip with bread squares. To make this lactose-free we used goat cheddar cheese. This dip was SO good. I loved the warm, gooey goodness! Due to my food allergy I don’t get cheesy items that often since we have to make them all at home, so this was such a treat.

Next was a cold dip, Loaded Baked Potato with warm waffle fries. To make it lac-free I subbed tofu sour cream and goat cheddar cheese. We added extra hot sauce, because since we’ve moved to the South I’m addicted to hot sauce. Also a tasty dip, was a little blandish with the tofu sour cream, could have used more salt. It was also a little stiff and a challenge to dip into with the subbed ingredients so nuking it in the microwave for a minute makes it so omn mon nom g0od!

Beyond the SL inspired dips, Brian made his always tasty pico de gallo and a new concoction of a chipotle salsa verde. The pico needed a pick-me-up that we couldn’t identify. Brian’s salsa verde is always top-notch and the addition of chipotle peppers was oh so good.

I guess we made some healthy stuff, too. For dessert we whipped up a honeyed goat yogurt dip for fruit and a homemade sweet biscuit.Here is a peek at the full spread, our friends made a Buffalo Chicken Wing Dip, Guacamole, Pigs in a Blanket, hot wings and brownies. Yes, sir, we had a delicious selection of dippy goodness!

Here is guest Becca with her bounty. All the dips got rave reviews from the guests. Such a great way to spend a Sunday!

Unlike last year, I’m gonna show you my abandoned design concepts for fun. Plus I only have two abandoned designs this year, not ten like last year.

We made the move to Raleigh in June, so this year I didn’t have the time to physically work with the board, so I chose the Boardpusher route. The nice thing is it freed me up to just think about the graphics. Time for pictures!

Now for the abandoned concepts. Maybe next time.

Boba Fett as Virgin Mary

Realized early on that I didn’t have the time & skills to pull this one off.

Boba Fett crossing the Alps

A Star Wars take on the classic Napoleon portrait. I think the horse needs to be replace with a Tauntaun to fully pull this one off, which is beyond my skills.

Well, there you have it. I’ll send pics of the actual board when I have them. If you’re around Denver, head to the Bordo Bello show on Sept 30th @ 6 p.m.

Here are my friendly fiends.

They are acrylic paint and chalk on blackboard tablets I found for $1 each at the wonderful Scrap Exchange in Durham, NC.

Of course each of these monsters have a story…

Gwenn – She’s a little misunderstood because she sees the world from a different point of view, but she’s a party girl with colorful dots that go with any outfit.

Simon – Loveable, big and red, but be careful he has claws and a mouth full of teeth

Stella – She molds her way into everyone’s heart, but she is kind of all over the place.

Rowan – Giant building eating monster. More of a butterball than a bully.

In the meanwhile, check out our newest blog Wander South where we’ll share all our wanderings through photos and handy dandy articles about cool places to check-out. Writing and photography is crafting after all!

I made this little felt Baby Bruce for the rear-view mirror. Be careful. He bites.

Big Bruce

UPDATE: We won!!! Brian won Most Unique and I won Most Creative. We got sweet prizes from Think Geek including a Hi-Def Art Pad, Space Origami and a external battery pack. We also won the “Geekest Shirt Contest” with Brian’s Captain Kirk shirt – another Crawford craft project!

Here he is!

We loved making these little guys. They are made out of fimo-type baking clay, imagination and a whole lotta geek power.

I made a Luke Skywalker Meco vs. a Darth Vader Meco. Their light-sabers have glitter in the clay!

R2-D2 even showed up to the photo-shoot.

Brian made a Meco as he is falling into a black hole. Meco is experiencing the theory so well described by Neil DeGrasse Tyson as spaghettification as you pass through a black hole. Yes, that is real spaghetti.

For the Crawford household nothing says Easter like zombies. This is Brian and my CCIC Peep Show entry entitled “Night of the Living Peep” and is, of course, inspired by the classic Night of the Living Dead.

Note our heroine Barbara being chased by some zombie peeps, with one just on her heels.

See the gore of her ill-fated brother becoming dinner.

Here is a wandering zombie by Brian that is munching on a bunny ear.

Even one peep is trying to escape from his grave.

We made funny tombstones hand-painted by Brian with fine mossy accents.

We made this diorama with cardboard for the base and tombstones. I used balled-up plastic bags to make the hill. Covered it all with burlap. I used Easter grass to make, well, the grass. We used human bite marks and lots of paint for the zombies. I used fabric for our protagonist’s outfits. It’s all adhered with our old friend hot glue and scotch tape.

Just remember this scene the next time you enjoy a fluffy, fresh peep. Beware!