Pretzel Raccoon Craft

If you've been searching high and low for an edible raccoon craft, I have good news.

I was sketching a pretzel (as one does) when I noticed that the little nubs at the ends of the arms (do pretzels have arms?) looked like ears. So I dropped what I was was doing and made some raccoons. You'll notice I experimented with different ways to make whiskers on two of them and left the whiskers off the others. I prefer the no whiskers, while Steve says the white whiskers are best. Rather than a tutorial with one or the other, you get both. Affiliate links below. 

Edible Pretzel Raccoons

Materials:

• parchment paper
• pretzels
• Wilton Candy Melts (black and white)
• Wilton sugar pearls (black and white)
• scribe tool

Steps: 

Follow the instructions on the package to prepare the Candy Melts. I used 10 white discs and 3 black to make grey. Dip each pretzel in the melted candy, then transfer it to a sheet of parchment paper. Fill the holes of the pretzel with more melted candy. If the ears aren't prominent, add a little extra candy to emphasize them. Let the candy set. 

Follow the package directions to melt the black candy. Dip the scribe tool into the black, then lay it across the face (angled downward) to make one side of the raccoon's mask. Add a white pearl eye, the repeat on the other side of the face. 

Use more black to color the inner ears. 

If you want to make whiskers, do it now. For the white whiskers, I tried to use the same technique as with the marshmallow bunnies, but it didn't really work (since the marshmallow was convex and the pretzel surface concave), so I just drew them on. I used a clean scribe tool to etch whiskers from the solid grey, but it was really hard to get clean lines. Ultimately, I decided I preferred the raccoons whiskerless. Your call. 

Put a tiny amount of black candy onto the scribe tool, then touch it to the white sugar pearls to add pupils to the eyes. Add a dot at the bottom of the face to adhere the black sugar pearl nose. 

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If you're looking for more raccoon crafts, I have two others: a cardboard tube raccoon, inspired by The Kissing Hand, and a Valentine's Day raccoon that you could make with any box of treats, not just conversation hearts. 

Fun Fact: Tennessee named the raccoon its official state wild animal in 1971. 

"You've Stolen My Heart!" Raccoon Valentine

While brainstorming ideas for my money valentine cards, an idea popped into my heart for a raccoon valentine. With their adorable little robber's masks, raccoons are the perfect way to tell someone, "You've Stolen My Heart!" Affiliate links below. 

"You've Stolen My Heart!" Raccoon Valentine

Materials:

• box of conversation hearts
• microtip scissors
• cardstock (grey and pink)
• heart punch
• colored pencils (white and black)
• googly eyes
• craft glue

Steps:

Wrap grey cardstock around the box of conversation hearts, leaving the side you open uncovered so that the recipient can eat the candy. Use the scraps to cut out a face, two ears, and a tail. Use the black pencil to draw the mask and the nose on the face, the center of the ears, and stripes on the tail. Add accents to the snout and forehead with the white pencil.  

Glue the googly eyes and the ears to the face. Cut a thin rectangle of grey cardstock and accordion-fold it to make a neck. Glue one end to the back of the face and the other end to the box. Glue the tail behind the other side of the box. Punch a heart from pink cardstock. 

Write "Valentine, you've stolen my heart!" on it. Glue the heart to the box. 

"The Kissing Hand" Cardboard Tube Raccoon

Are you familiar with The Kissing Hand, by Audrey Penn? If not, drop everything and go read it. Then buy it for the young child in your life. It's that good.

The story is about Chester, the raccoon cub who suffers from separation anxiety when it's time to go to school. His mother kisses his palm and tells him that whenever he is feeling a little lonely and needs love from home, all he needs to do is press his hand to his cheek and know that Mommy loves him. Separation anxiety was a major issue in our house for years. I'm so thankful for this book and many other things that helped Trevor feel confident when he is away from us. Right before school started, Trevor was away from us for 5 nights, which is the longest he's ever been away. We were all a little nervous about how that would go, but it was great. While he was gone, I thought back to little preschool Trevor who was so afraid to go to school without Mommy. He's come a long way.

While Trevor was gone, I dreamed up this project:

Just like in the book, the raccoon has a heart representing Mommy's kiss on his paw. 

Materials: cardboard tube, paint, black Sharpie, colored pencils, cardstock, googly eyes, glue, heart sticker

Start by painting a cardboard tube grey. When the paint has dried, use a dry foam brush or sponge to add streaks of greys and tans to the tube. You want a mottled look, just like a raccoon's fur. 

When the paint is dry, use the Sharpie to draw the raccoon's mask and nose. 

Use a white colored pencil to shade the area above the mask and to the sides of the snout to give it dimension. Then use short, quick strokes to add whiskers. Then add a white line across the bridge of the nose. 

Cut rounded ears and two arms from grey cardstock. Shade the inner ears with black colored pencil and the arms with both black and tan. Cut a pair of hands from black cardstock. Put a small heart sticker on the palm of one hand. Glue each hand to one of the arms. When they are dry, glue the ears inside the tube. Then put glue on the upper arms, leaving the ends loose. Use a rubber band to hold the arms in place while the glue dries.

I'm really happy with how this turned out. Easy, right?!

Give it a try! If you make your own version of Chester, be sure to let me know. I'd love to see it!