So… supermodel (and Animal Crossing expert) Chrissy Teigen just celebrated her 32nd birthday last Friday, with a ’60s Pan Am airline party graced by the likes of famous people like Kim Kardashian and Kanye West.
But whatever. Another day, another celebrity shindig, right?
The cool part about all that was R&B crooner John Legend’s birthday gift for his wife: miniature clay replicas of dishes from her Cravings cookbook by Singaporean artist, Jocelyn Teo. If you haven’t come across Teo’s intricate works of art, which she sells under her AiClay label, just know that her hand-sculpted miniature foods are ridiculously realistic and amazingly detailed.
Just look at the tiny final products for Teigen below.
According to Teo, who documented the entire episode on her Dayre (a popular blogging platform) on Sunday, Legend’s manager was the one who first approached her and set up a Skype voice call with the man himself — whose voice she described as “deep and smooth.”
The singer commissioned her to make 15 miniature replicas, and sent over his wife’s cookbook for her to choose the dishes. Some of the ones that Teo chose to craft included chicken satay, kale salad, chicken pot pie soup, scallops with corn, and spicy tomato skillet eggs, which she said was probably the hardest to make with all its ingredients, textures, and colors.
After trying out the actual recipes, getting hands-on with the creations, and packing them off (with insurance that came up to S$400, which Legend covered), Teo’s four-month secret project was finally revealed on Teigen’s Snapchat.
Still reeling from the excitement — after all, it’s not every day you get a call from John Legend — Teo said she’s been “seriously beaming from cheek to cheek” every time she replays the video of Chrissy’s response to her gift.
“It’s not often I get a customer reaction video, just ultra warm and fuzzy to hear someone appreciating your works,” she added. “All those hours and efforts, WORTH EVERY SECOND AND OUNCE.”
For more of Teo’s works, which include local delights like ang ku kueh, gem biscuits, and kueh tutu, here’s a quick glimpse below.
