The Cursive Project: Narwhal

Trevor chose "narwhal" for Letter N of The Cursive Project. As I mentioned in that first post, Trevor drafted the whole A-Z list ahead of time, so I've had plenty of time to think up a craft for each letter. Some have been easy, while it's been a major struggle to think up a cute, original craft for others. I was stumped about how to make a narwhal, until the day Steve offered to do a grocery store run to pick up the only two things we needed: bread and milk.

I do 99% of the grocery shopping, and when I do, I always get a full cart's worth. Rather than do a quick run for two little items, I'm more likely to do without them until my next major grocery store trip. Steve doesn't mind running to the store; in fact, since he works from home, he often welcomes quick errands that give him a reason to leave the house. Anyway, my point is that Steve went to the grocery store to get two items. He has never, EVER, come home with just the items he planned to buy. He almost always comes home with treats that I never buy, things that aren't on sale, etc. We all know this, which is why Trevor is happy to accompany Steve to the grocery store and doesn't always choose to go with me: Daddy says yes to everything Trevor asks for, and Mommy does not. This time, in addition to bread and milk, they came home with Twinkies.

I can't remember the last time I had a Twinkie, as it's been years (probably the last time Steve brought some home from the store). I don't love them, and if I'm going to indulge in a treat, I'm not going to choose one that's only so-so. As Steve and Trevor were enjoying their after-lunch Twinkies, it struck me: a Twinkie would make an excellent narwhal! 

Time to create! We looked at photos of narwhals and talked about what we could use for each feature. After digging in the pantry, we came up with our supplies and got to work. Here is my Twinkie narwhal:

This is Trevor's. He preferred a toothpick for the horn instead of the twisty candle.

The eyes are mini chocolate chips and the fins are Melt 'n' Mold wafers that we carved down with a knife. 

We were both really happy with our narwhals except for the color. Narwhals are dark and speckled, not yellow and cake-like. Perhaps if we used a pastry brush to add cocoa powder to the Twinkie? Yes! Much better.

Finally satisfied with our narwhals, I lit the candle. 

A great start to the second half of The Cursive Project!