Largest Toast Mosaic - Laura Hadland sets world record
WARRINGTON, UK--Laura Hadland, 27, a museum curator of Cambridge, U.K., used 600 loaves of bread - and 9,852 slices - to turn a photo of her mother in law into an art exhibit measuring 32ft 8in by 42ft 3in (128.05 square meters) and a surprise gift for her husband's mother Sandra Whitfield for her 50th birthday, setting the world record for the Largest Toast Mosaic.
Photo: The portrait, measuring 32ft 8in by 42ft 3in, set a new world record as the largest toast mosaic.
(enlarge photo)
Mrs Hadland said: "It's a birthday card like no other."
Her mother-in-law said: "I love toast but it feels very strange seeing my face made out it. I'm really overwhelmed because they have gone to so much effort. It's been the best birthday present ever."
Mrs Hadland was aided by 40 friends who used nine toasters to brown the slices of bread before arranging them into a 32ft 8in by 42ft image.
It took seven hours to toast the individual pieces of bread into three shades and then place the thousands of slices onto a likeness of Whitfield's face.
It was displayed at an arts venue at Mrs Whitfield's home town in Warrington, Cheshire.
The leftover bread was donated to the Warrington Salvation Army, as well as the toasters used to create the individual tiles.
The mosaic was officially named the world's largest toast mosaic at Warrington's Parr Hall by Guinness World Records 'adjudicator' Claire Burgess.
The previous Guinness World record for the Largest toast mosaic measured 29ft 2ins by 44ft 11ins (121.93 square metres) and was created by staff and students at a school in Eindhoven, Netherlands, earlier this year.
Mrs Hadland, 27, explained why she did it. 'As a museum curator, I spend lots of time with Roman mosaics, so it was great fun to make a modern one out of my favourite food – everyone loves toast. 'It's a treat for Sandra made with much love and a sense of randomness. She's certainly not a stereotypical mother-in-law, she's one of my best friends and I love her.' (well...maybe this is another another world record?).
Laura used Facebook to recruit volunteers for the record attempt, which was part of a social networking project - the Wildfire Experience - sponsored by mobile device manufacturer HTC. Emily Edmondson, eight, who took part along with her mother and grandmother, was one of the youngest mosaic makers.
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