How To Make A Quick Clay Rabbit

2011 is the Year of the Rabbit.

Start with one larger sphere (head), two smaller spheres (cheeks), two medium cylinders (ears) and a small red sphere (nose). 

Flatten head and cheeks with palm of your hand.

Assemble.

Roll cylinders to ear shape and flatten.

Shape and add to head.

Tip: if you want to hang your rabbit - connect tops of ears.

Add nose. Use 2 different sized marker caps to create eyes.

Let dry.

Use a marker to color in eyes.

Asian New Year Craft: Year of the Rabbit

I've got bunnies on the brain! 

The Lunar (also called Sol Nal, Tet, Asian or Chinese) New Year is approaching. 

February 3rd begins the year of the Rabbit.

 We will be participating in a potluck New Year party. Each family is bringing a different dish from their or their child's native country. We will be doing crafts, playing traditional games, wearing traditional clothes... I am really looking forward to it. 

I have to think up the perfect craft. This one above is cute but not the one we will be doing. Even though it is simple it required a glue gun...so automatically it was disqualified. 

If you have older children or are inclined to try this yourself (maybe save it for Easter) here is how I made it.

Supplies: paper tube, string, google eyes and glue gun

Flatten a paper tube.

Cut 3 identical width strips from tube.

Cut string for hanging.

Glue string between the base of two of the paper tubes. See photo.

Glue ears to the last section of tube.

Run a bead of glu on the top inside edge of the head.

Carefully place eyes to glue. Hold until dry.

Add a bit more glue behind eyes to ensure they stay in place.

Simple! Would make a cute ornament on an Easter-themed indoor twig tree. 

Stayed tuned for more bunny-centric crafts.

Spring Flower Collages

Turn those flower catalogs that are arriving right about now into beautiful Spring collages.

Just cut out lots of flowers. Crop in close to the bloom. 

I do it while watching TV or talking on the phone. It doesn't take long to compile a stack.

Glue, paper, paintbrushes, tissue squares and glitter round out your supplies.  

I like to have them use colorful paper as the background. 

Em chose to use more tissue than flowers.

Lu was all about the flowers.  

 In the end we had several sheets of flower collages.

So, we turned them into...

Easter Eggs

And Paper Chains

Egg Heads

We received these great little Egg Head kits from our local Arboretum.  

The kits contained instructions, seeds and half a soil disc.

Teachers: These are so easy to put together! You could easily make up a bunch of these and pass them out on Earth Day.

My girls were fascinated by the dehydrated soil disc. When you add water it expands instantly.

Place the soil in the egg shell. Add seeds and water. The seeds started growing after one day. 

You can decorate your egg shells before or after your "hair" grows. Display on a cardboard ring or in an egg cup.

Model Magic Easter Egg

Supplies: Model Magic in different colors & Styrofoam Egg

Plastic Work Mat, Rolling Pin, Plastic Wrap

We began with a little color mixing. We did not have green MM so Lu mixed Yellow and Blue together. I think Lu still had St. Patrick's Day on her mind.

Roll out your MM. We used plastic over our MM so it wouldn't stick to the rolling pin. Make sure your piece is large enough to wrap around your egg. Don't make too thin or it will rip. Once rolled out have fun decorating. Rolling little balls of colored MM and then smoosh them into the MM. It is really fun and easy to do! You don't even need to wrap it around an egg.

Once your piece is thoroughly decorated, wrap it around the egg. Mush together the seam. Cove it with more colored dots. Lu even stamped hers.

I think Lu's came out looking very Kandinsky-esque! 

Let it dry. MM is very light weight. You could attach a ribbon from the top and hang your egg. Lu chose to squirrel it away in her room. Em was napping when we made Lu's. This project is so easy - I will be repeating it with Em when Lu is at school. I know she will love squishing the MM!

Easter: Basket, Bunny & Eggs Templates

Here is an easy project great for an age. You can make it as simple or detailed as your skill level. You can choose to use my template or make your own!

For smaller kids it may help to break the craft into three separate projects.

1. Decorate the eggs and the bunny
2. Decorate the basket another time
3. Sew the baskets together (optional - you can always make it flat and glue contents to back or staple the basket along the edges together)

We used tissue paper to make ours. We didn't have any brown tissue :-( It would have looked much better if we did. Tip: cut out object first and then glue tissue onto it letting tissue hang over edge of object. When dry trim off excess tissue. If you are coloring them or painting then cut out after they have been colored or painted.










































We only decorated the front of the basket. I chose to cut the handle off the second basket but in retrospect wish I hadn't. It hangs funny with out it.


Save the templates to your desktop and then print.
Print out two baskets if you are going to sew or staple them together and add basket filler.

Easter: Bunny Bookmark

Just drew this up...haven't even had a chance to decorate one with the girls yet. A good weekend activity :-) After you decorate and cut out the bunny fold arms in at dotted line. Glue basket in between the bunny's paws. Save picture to your desktop then print on to card stock. Would love to see what you and your kids do with this one...the sky is the limit! Have fun crafting!

Easter: Bunny Goo Goo Goggles

Everyone's blogs are filled with lots of fun Easter craftiness. So turning our Goo Goo Goggles into Bunny Goo Goo Goggles seemed the next natural step. Follow the Goo Goo Goggles instructions and add ears. Bow is optional. Have fun!

Felt Bunny Pins, Part II

On Friday I posted the felt bunny pins I made for Lulu's Teachers. Here are the card stock backings Lulu & I made to present the pins on. First we covered the card stock eggs in felt. Next Lulu decorate them with pieces I had already cut out for her. I pinned the bunny pins to them. I will add an Easter message on the back of eggs. These will be presents for Lulu's Preschool Teachers.

Felt Bunny Pins

Check out these adorable Bounding Bunny Pins. I found the free pattern via One Pretty Thing. They are small and took no time at all to sew. I am going to attach the bunnies to egg shaped card stock backs covered and decorated with felt. These will be Lulu's teacher's gifts for Easter. I'll post what they look like after I've finished them. Have a great weekend!

Easter Craft: Bunny Napkin Rings

I'm kinda on a Easter Craft roll. I promise this is it for a while. It is just that my friend asked me for some Easter Craft ideas and I couldn't stop my brain.

Supplies:

Paper Towel or Toilet Paper Roll cut about 2" wide
Felt
Glue or Glue Gun
Scissors


Pieces you will need:

• 1 strip of felt to cover roll
• 2 ears
• 2 ear inserts
• 2 eyes
• 1 nose
• 1 set teeth

Glue strip around roll first. If you are using regular craft glue clothes pins come in handy to hold the felt down as it dries. Next glue inserts into ears. I added a bead a glue to the base of the ears after assembled and folded in half. I clothes pinned it to the roll. Folding in half at base allows ear to open face forward. See picture. Glue on features. If desired you can cut out a rounded v shaped notch for mouth area and glue teeth behind. When dry - fold napkin into a square. Hold like a diamond. Fold down top corner and fold in sides. Insert napkin into Bunny Ring. Please leave a comment if these instructions are not clear. Of course with all my crafts I would love to see pictures of the finished projects! You can send your pictures to [email protected]
I would love to post them! Thanks! Mama King

Easter Craft: Bunny & Tulip Favor Cups

Easter Bunny Hiding in the Grass & Tulip Favor Cups
Supplies
(Start saving you snack size plastic fruit bowls/cups now! You'll need one for each place setting or guest. These cups are also great to reuse to hold paint, glue or water.)

Plastic snack size fruit bowl/cup
Felt
Scissors
Craft Glue or Glue Gun
Easter Basket Filler
Egg for Each Cup (Either Plastic or Real. You can write each guests name on the egg with a paint pen. If using plastic fill with jelly beans, a message or stickers.)
Lollipop (For grass basket)
Ribbon

Level: Moderate
Age 8+ (Younger with Adult assistance)

Bunny Hiding in the Grass

Grass Cup: Start with one clean snack cup. Measure five to six 2"w x 3.5"h sections of green felt for grass. Fringe along top. Hot glue works best but a good quality craft glue works as well. Overlap sections as you go. When dry trim top to desired length. Tie ribbon around middle/top of cup (you can glue gun in place.) Fill with jelly beans.




Bunny Cozy: Print out template (below). Cut out two bunny shapes. On one of the bunnies cut mouth detail. Cut out and Glue teeth to inside of bunny shape with mouth cut out. Run a glue bead around the edge of one bunny -- don't forget to glue the ears together. Sandwich the bunnies together. Add ear inserts and nose. I drew on eyes but you can glue on felt eyes or buttons. When dry cozy should fit over a standard size flat lollipop. I folded back the extra plastic wrapping on the lolli before I tucked it into the bunny. Stick bunny in grass cup.

Tulip Favor Cup
Start with clean snack cup. Cut out 6 petals (I provided a template -- but you don't really need one.) Hot glue works best when gluing felt to plastic. To make look tulip like, glue down one petal then glue two petal on top to create a v shape. See picture. Turn to other side and repeat. Cut out a strip of green felt or you can use ribbon to create handle. Pinking shears might add a nice decorative touch. Fill with Easter basket filler and place a real or plastic egg inside. Use a paint pen to add guests name. Fill plastic egg with jelly beans or stickers.

Click on template. Save to your desktop then print from your desktop.

Easter Craft: Bunny Place Cards

Supplies:
Cotton Balls
Pink, Orange & Green Felt, Construction Paper or Colored Foam Sheet
Jelly Beans
Rabbit Template
Card stock
Scissors
Glue or Glue Gun

Level: Easy (Adult assistance for smaller children)

Looking for a fun way you and your kiddies can dress up your Easter table? Here is Noah the Bunny (named after my little friend who inspired this project.) This is easy enough to do with a little one and to do in large numbers. You can print the template out and trace 4 times onto a single piece of 8x10 card stock.

1. Cut out template
2. Fold center section down to create kick stand
3. Glue cotton balls to rabbit (I stretch them out a bit so they aren't so tight looking.)
4. After glue is dry you can give the rabbit a haircut to shape
5. Glue jelly bean eyes and nose on
6. Let dry
7. Really crease fold -- rubbing crease several times to ensure bunny doesn't flop down flat. You can always use tape if that doesn't work.
8. Cut out carrot bottoms & tops
9. Assemble & glue
10. Write names of guest on carrots
    

I included ear insert if you want to add pink felt inside the ears. I did not.

You can also do this project in white felt. Trace template onto white felt and glue to card stock backing. It will give you a cleaner look.

Click on picture below for template. Save template to your desktop and then print for full size image. Have fun!! I have more Easter crafts coming your way next week.

Easter Craft: Transparent Eggs

This one is for my little friend Noah & his Mom. I received a request for a hanging Easter craft that shone light through it "like a sun catcher." I hope this fits the bill! Easter place cards are next on my agenda!! So check back on Friday.

Supplies:

Clear Contact/Shelf Paper
Ribbon
Hole Punch
Collage Materials (tissue, sequins, ribbon, feathers, glitter...)
2 identical egg shaped paper templates
Tape
Scissors

Level: Easy

**Tip: before starting any project with small children make sure your materials are set up. It helps the flow of the project and stops impatience on the child's part and frustration on your part.

Cut out 2 egg shaped templates and tape one to work surface. I use an old drawing board so I can move it for snack, lunch or whatever comes up. The egg guide will help your child visualize where to put the materials. Cut out two rectangles slightly larger than your egg template. Peel off backing of one (set aside second rectangle) and lay sticky side up over egg template. Tape down on each end so it doesn't slide around. Start adding all your collage material -- paying attention to your egg guide. You want a good seal around the edges so try to keep collage materials inside of egg. When your done -- peel off backing of second piece of sticky paper -- place on top of collage and smooth with your hands. You can either take a permanent marker and outline the egg shape underneath or use the second egg template as a guide to cut out egg. I held it in place with my thumb and cut around it to ensure I wouldn't get any marker edging on my egg. Untape plastic sticky paper collage. Leave egg template taped to board for the next collage egg. Cut out egg. Repeat as many times as desired. You may want to do one large egg with several tiny eggs dangling from it...it is up to you and your imagination!

This project was inspired by Linda from the Moms Craft Kit Exchange. Thanks, Linda!