Mailbox Burrito

Last year, I made a fake slice of cheesecake and mailed it to my youngest brother, Kurt, for his birthday. It turned out so awesome, I didn't think I could come up with anything nearly as cool for his birthday "card" this year.

But then I remembered how much he loves Chipotle burritos. 

Hummm... could I do it? Could I make a fake Chipotle burrito and mail it?

Yep. Turns out, I can. 

I took it to the post office and they told me it would cost $2.90 to mail, so I put three $1.00 stamps on it. My brother said it arrived "$1.00 Postage Due." Dang. Sorry 'bout that, Kurt. I think one of the stamps must have fallen off in transport.

Here's a list of my "ingredients" and a few step-by-step photos. (I'm not an expert, folks. I'm sure there's probably a better way to make one of these. But for this experiment, it worked fine.) 

Upholstery foam (hot-glued into a burrito shape)

Color printout of a tortilla shell (spray-glued onto the upholstery foam)

Aluminum sheet metal tape (wraps around the burrito to be "tin foil")

Dry black beans

Dry risotto rice (it's whiter than normal, uncooked rice)

Corn nuts (I painted mine yellow to look more like real corn)

Green paint (for the "guacamole")

Tan-colored Model Magic (sculpted to look like pieces of cooked chicken)

Red and orange foam pool noodles (cut up to look like salsa chunks)

Clear silicon (to cover all the ingredients and keep them secured in place)

Roll up a thin sheet of foam.

Hot glue it into a burrito shape and round the corners with scissors.

Print out an image of a flour tortilla shell and spray glue it to the foam.

Cut, shape and gather your dry ingredients.

Hot glue dry ingredients to the top of the burrito. (I used a cup to hold mine upright.)

Seal dry ingredients with clear silicon glue. Let it dry upright for a few days.

Wrap burrito with aluminum sheet metal tape.