Bunny Week: Clay Bunny Figurine

I'm wrapping up Bunny Week with a wee little bun.

To make your own, you need black and white Model Magic, a toothpick, 2" of fishing line, and some scissors. Start by mixing a small bit of black into a pack of white Model Magic.

When you have a grey you like, form an oval body, oval head, and two cylindrical ears. (Yes, this bunny is brown, not grey. I made a brown version first to test some things and photographed as I went. Apparently I did not photograph the same steps with the grey bunny.)

Use the toothpick to flatten and elongate the ears slightly by pressing it flat against each ear. It will form an indentation. You can choose to leave the ears flat, or prop them up a bit. Rabbit ears go all sorts of directions. 

Add a small, oval tail. Rabbit tails aren't spheres. 

With the tip of the toothpick, poke a tiny hole for each eye. Then poke three little holes on each side of the nose for the whiskers. 

Cut the fishing line into itty bitty pieces and insert a piece in each of the whisker holes. (Poof! Back to grey!) Let the Model Magic air dry for at least two days.

 

To wrap up Bunny Week, I wanted to share some of my favorite posts about owning a bunny as a pet. Rabbits are wonderful pets, but they are a big responsibility and a long-term commitment. Like a dog or cat, rabbits should have freedom to move around the house and be near people and not be confined to a cage for the majority of the time. They need to be fed the correct foods, taken to the vet for checkups, and given plenty of love and attention. Do not get a rabbit unless you are educated and prepared to give it a good home for many years. To read more about our life with a house rabbit, click on the photos and/or links.

  

            Day in the Life- Trouble deRosier           Owning a House Rabbit                     Rabbits are Great Pets

Bunny Week: Bunny Banner

I probably should have posted this banner on Monday, because how can you possibly celebrate Bunny Week without proper decorations? Fortunately, it's never too late.

Bunny Banner

Supplies: 

• grey, white, and/or tan cardstock scraps
• scissors
• glue
• yarn
• painter's tape

Steps:

 

For each bunny, cut an oval body, an oval head, and two ears from white, grey or tan cardstock. Cut a small white oval, flattened on one side, for the tail. Glue the parts together, varying the positions of the heads and ears. 

Hang the yarn, then use painter's tape to attach each bunny to the wall so that it looks like it's hanging on the string. 

Each bunny has its own personality. Or, if you make the bunnies all the same color, you could show different moods of the same bunny. 

 Need more bunny craft ideas? Here are some favorites from way back.

  

Bunny Week: Bunny and Carrot Tessellation

I am a big fan of tessellation art. For Bunny Week, I was determined to see if I could make a bunny tessellate. I'm happy to announce that not only was I able to do it, but I LOVE the results. 

I told Steve that it should be our new flooring. Or countertops. I'm nothing if not flexible. (Snorts from all who know me. I am not flexible.)

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Bunny and Carrot Tessellation

Materials:

• index card
• scissors
• tape
• paper
• pens

Steps:

The first step to any tessellation is to start with a rectangle. I cut down an index card so that my finished design would repeat more frequently, but you could use a full-size card. 

Cut an equilateral triangle from one of the short sides of the rectangle. 

Without rotating or flipping it, slide the triangle to the other short side and tape it in place. Now orient your shape vertically and trace it somewhere on the paper. It doesn't matter where you start. Once you've traced it, slide it, line it up with the existing lines, and trace again. Keep doing this, tracing all the way to the edges.  

Here's how it looks after everything is traced.

Now it's time to color it. Use orange and green to turn the triangle portion into carrots...

... and pink to make each bunny's nose and inner ears.

Add eyes, mouths and whiskers with a black pen and your tessellation is complete.

You know... this pattern might look good on our front door. That way, everyone would know what to expect when they enter the deRosier house! 

And finally, more of my favorite bunny crafts from the past. Click on the photos to go to the tutorials. 

  

Bunny Week: Bunny-Shaped Biscuits

Celebrate Bunny Week (or anytime) with biscuits!

In our family, Bunny Biscuits are a treat that we bake for Trouble for special occasions. To differentiate between those (which are not very tasty for humans) and these (which are not healthy for bunnies), I'm calling these Bunny-Shaped Biscuits. Actually, I misspoke when I told Trevor what we'd be making and referred to them as Biscuit-Shaped Bunnies. So now that's what he's been calling them. Whatever you call them, they're ridiculously easy to make and darn cute.

Bunny-Shaped Biscuits

Supplies: 

• canned biscuit dough
• rolling pin
• biscuit cutters
• black Foodoodler (affiliate link)
• cookie sheet for baking

Steps:

Open the biscuits and separate them. You'll use just under two biscuits per bunny. Roll out one biscuit to form an oval body. Set it on the cookie sheet.

Flatten a second biscuit. Use the biscuit cutter to cut two football-shaped ears, one from each side of the rolled-out biscuit. Place them on the cookie sheet with a small gap between them and the body. 

Use the biscuit cutter to cut a round head. Stretch it into an oval, then place it on top of the body and the ears. Cut a tail from the scraps and put it in place. 

Here are two of Trevor's bunnies, ready for baking. We made five bunnies from the ten biscuits in our package, then pressed the leftover bits together and put them on the cookie sheet.

Bake the biscuits according to the package instructions. We baked ours at 400° for 11 minutes, as per the instructions. They were perfect, but keep an eye on yours just in case they are done sooner. When the bunnies are golden brown, remove them from the cookie sheet and let them cool completely. 

When the bunnies are cool, use the edible marker to draw on facial features. 

All done!

I love how each of the bunnies has his own personality, just like real rabbits. 

Here are two of the items we used to make our bunnies. Thanks for supporting My Creative Life!

And here are more of my favorite bunny projects from the past. Click the photo to go to the tutorial.

  

Bunny Week 2017: Tissue Paper Topiary

Welcome to Bunny Week 2017! Bunny Week is an annual tradition here at My Creative Life. Each March, I dedicate a week of the blog to all things rabbit. It's like Shark Week, but fuzzier.

I'm starting Bunny Week off with the craft inspired by the Little Passports Rhode Island State Journal. Their version was elephants and unicorns. Ours, bunnies. Obviously, you could make any animal you want. 

Tissue Paper Topiary

Materials: 

• Chipboard (a cereal box works well)
• Scissors
• Green tissue paper
• Pencil with eraser intact
• Glue

Draw the bunny on chipboard and cut it out. Then cut the tissue paper into 1" squares. Take one tissue paper square and wrap it on the end of the pencil. Dip it in glue. 

Press the pencil with the glued tissue paper on it firmly against the chipboard rabbit. When you lift the pencil, the tissue paper stays behind. 

Now just repeat, repeat, repeat. Here's my rabbit around the halfway mark. 

And here it is, all filled in. 

The final step is to give your topiary a trim. Clean up the edges to define the shape, then trim the height to make it uniform. 

 Here's the finished topiary.

And in case this isn't enough bunny crafting for you, here are four more of my favorite bunny projects. Click the photo to go to the tutorial.

     

Happy Bunny Week!