tiny dancers!

Simeren and i are friends from way back in grade school. the school district's boundaries and personal aspirations meant we weren't always in the same school doing the same thing, but now the whole world is on facebook, so it's like no one went anywhere. way back in 6th grade we were in a particularly strenuous reading class. i mean i was an honor student, and Simeren more so, but this guy liked giving us essay questions, huge vocabulary words, and involved projects. we spent one afternoon at her house making [pre-Disney] Beauty and the Beast stick-and-paper puppets so we could put on a show for a kindergarten class. this was an actual assignment--the kindergarten teacher actually had to sign off that we performed. but our teacher was the fun teacher too, and though i wasn't over-joyed to be on stage, i was pretty content to draw some characters and put them on a stick. we even made a rose with a bobby pin so one character could hand it to another. we were geniuses.
nowadays i'm still at it: Simeren emailed me asking if i could make gluten-free lemon-flavored luau cookies for daughter Ava's 3rd birthday, and can they be cookie pops? the art she sent me (the graphics on the invites etc) inspired hibiscus and hula dancers, so once again Simeren and i are entertaining kids with ladies and flowers on sticks.
i used the gingerbread girl shape, for the skirt or course, but the shape of the arms allowed for her different arm postures. her hair flower is a fondant cut out. i didn't bake the sticks into the pops, otherwise i'd only be able to bake like, 4 at a time, so i taped the stick to the inside of the bag, then slid the cookies in head first and tied them at the feet. then no one had to bite into a stick!
i get nervous when i have to do people shapes, but i always end up liking them. i think i may have to do some witches this fall. also 3 September birthdays are on the way--stay tuned...