Every year I do some sort of Big Christmas Project.  This year I decided to keep it kind  of low-key.   We have some pastry cutters in the shape of leaves.  They’re nice because they let you stamp the veins of the leaf on, and cut the leaf out in a simple sequence.  When we make pie we often also make “Cheese Leaves” from left over crust so the kiddos can have some fun stamping them out, and sprinkling on cheese.  That way they also get a tasty snack long before the pie itself is done. I thought it would be nice to make some of these awesome cutter/stamper in more personalized fun shapes.

I’m a big fan of  Tove Janson.   My mom read me many of her Moomin books when I was a kid, and I have in turn read them to my kids.   Tove Janson’s illustrations are fantastic, and The Moomins have a nice way of dealing with life.  When a flood traps them on the second floor of their home they don’t moan and complain.  They cut a hole in the kitchen ceiling and marvel as seeing  that room from a new perspective.  They take turns diving for breakfast fixings.   I decided it would be fun to make some Moomin themed pastry cutters.

I knew I could make food safe parts out of laser cut acrylic, and I went to work in illustrator making a prototype out of clear acrylic scraps.  I had to see if quarter-inch acrylic could be stacked and glued to make the fairly deep cutter.  Here you can see the rough initial prototype of the Moomintroll cutter next to the commercial maple leaf that inspired this project.