Not in the mood to say please, thank you, or wait your turn in line? Are you grabbing stuff that isn’t yours, refusing to share, and not listening to others? This rude behavior could describe you. Or it could be your HAT.
We read Rude Cakes by Rowboat Watkins (chronicle books, 2015). Rude cakes are just that. Rude. They never say please or thank you. They take things that don’t belong to them, refuse to listen, don’t wait their turn, and never share. Interestingly, giant cyclopses absolutely LOVE rude cakes….to wear as jaunty hats of course (what else would they do with cake?). When a rude cake finds itself unceremoniously hoisted onto the head of a giant cyclops, it’s feeling pretty grumpy. And get this – giant cyclopses are perfectly behaved. They say thank you and please. They share and wait their turns in line. After a day of observing nothing but good behavior, the rude cake/hat finally learns to say please (as in “Please. I’m not a hat. I’m I tired cake, and I would like to go to bed now.”). Perhaps being polite has its benefits after all!
You’ll need:
- 1 plastic hat
- A strip of poster board (mine was 6″ x 25″)
- 1 standard-sized paper plate
- Cake decorating supplies (more on those below!)
- A cake eyes and mouth template, printed on 8.5″ x 11″ card stock
- Scissors, tape, and glue for construction
- Hot glue
We used “Neon Happy Birthday Derby Hats” from Oriental Trading Company ($7.50 a dozen). Oriental Trading also sells child-sized black plastic top hats ($7 a dozen). Those work too!
Circle a strip of white poster board around the crown of the hat and attach it with tape. You don’t want your cake hat to be towering above your head, so our poster board strips were just 6″ tall. Additionally we offered the poster board in 3 different color choices: white, pink, or brown.
Next, cut a paper plate to fit the top of the poster board circle, then attach it with tape or hot glue.
Time to decorate! We cut a number of scalloped icing drips from white, pink and brown construction paper. We also offered crepe paper streamers, patterned tape, pipe cleaners, cotton balls, and assorted pom-poms.
When the decorating is done, cut a mouth from the template and attach it to your cake (you decide – is your cake smiling or frowning?). Attach the eyes as well, using a black maker or dot stickers to add pupils. Finish the look with ric rac ribbon eyebrows.
We had sheets of tissue paper available for those who needed to make their hats a little more snug. But I have to share the following innovation with you – a pipe cleaner hat strap and jaunty tissue paper cape. May I present…the most dapper…Captain Cake!
Get into character with a little bit of stage magic! This winter, we hosted a fantastic hands-on (or arguably, a face-on) workshop about how actors use makeup to transform themselves into a character. The workshop was expertly and enthusiastically taught by Jenny Scudder from 
Next, Jenny discussed how, in addition to makeup, actors can also use their voices, gestures, costumes, props, and sets to bring their characters to life. She described what stage makeup is (big, bold, and expressive) and what it isn’t (it’s not meant for close-up photography like a fashion shoot). As she was lecturing, Jenny was effortlessly applying her own stage makeup, which was Grizabella from Cats.
Jenny also talked about the names of the different brushes, and techniques for application. Finally, she brought out some latex scars and gashes she had prepared in advance. My forearm became the test subject for a massive latex scar, some red base makeup, a loaded stipple brush, and some fake blood. Here I am, modeling the finished product in my usual subtle way.
Finally, it was time to turn the artists loose on the makeup! There was plenty of it. Jars, palettes, sponges, pencils, brushes…the works!
Jenny divided the kids into pairs so each pair would have someone to assist with the application of his/her makeup. I really liked this because it meant that the kids weren’t sitting passively, having their faces done by adults. They were actively involved in the whole process.
Ready to see some results? Even though there was quite a bit of smiling and laughing, I did encourage the kids to try to stay “in character” while I was photographing them. I’ll begin with Arwen, who you saw at the beginning of the post:
The Wicked Witch of the West…
Do you recognize the zombie on the far left from the beginning of the blog? The funny thing was, we never planned to photograph her with her hood up. As it turned out, she had to walk home from the program in full makeup. In order to not freak anyone out, she pulled her hood up. It looked so fantastic, I had to take a photograph!
It doesn’t matter if you’re a massive cumulonimbus or a more modest tuft. A fluffy costume, weather pom-poms, and abject enthusiasm are all you need to be part of the most adorable cloud formation ever. Did we pull some awesome moves? You bet. The video is at the end of the post!
Now for your costume! Cut 2 sheets of white poster board into matching cloud shapes. Hot glue the 2 shapes together. Why? Because when it comes to gluing scores of cotton balls on poster board, 1 sheet is just too thin. It warps almost immediately. With 2 sheets hot-glued together, there’s much less warping. Glue cotton balls to the front of your cloud costume, and add a construction paper mouth and eyes if you’d like.
Use a hole punch to make two holes in the top of the cloud. Thread white string through the holes, adjust for height, knot the string, and hang the cloud costume around your neck.
When everyone was ready, the clouds gathered outside on the library’s plaza. We spread out in a grid (well, we attempted a grid) to insure that no one would get smacked by a weather pom-pom. Then, facing the kids, I cued up my playground whistle, and we got in formation.