Hoppy Easter!

Easter is one of my fave times of the year.....

Why??

Well I always tell myself to go easy on the chocolate and then of course do the opposite and gobble it all up! A Lindt rabbit has already met its demise and it's only Easter Saturday.... *sigh*

Anyways today I have been making some last minute little bunny softies for my niece and nepheww. I had the rabbit shapes cut out ages ago to make some beanie bags but I didn't like them so instead I have stuffed three, one for each kiddo. The big orange check is for my eldest nephew and the two smaller ones are for the twinnies. The little bunnies are only about 10-15cm tall.

I tried using some ribbon to tie around their necks but it just didn't suit and I was getting frustrated. So instead I cut up a couple of strips of fabric and used that instead! Gives them that cute shabby chic look and finishes them off too.

We know all bunnies have cute fluffy white tails and these are no exception! Look at their cute little bums. Last minute gifts are better than nothing!

Below I have done part 2 of the beanie/hat stand tutorial. It turned out pretty good and I am more than happy with it. Click HERE for Part 1.

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Mini Tutorial - Part 2

Hat & Beanie Stand

So the last step that we had was covering the ball with white paper and allowing it to dry fully. I left mine to dry overnight and pretty much up until about 2pm the next day as thats when I got time to start working on it again! However it was completely dry in the morning.

I only did one layer of white paper but you can see how once it's dry the newspaper is very hard to see. You could leave your ball like this but I do give it a coat of white paint later on.

The next step is the make a decent sized hole in the ball to sit on your stand. Now my stand had quite a thick pole which I wasn't anticipating before starting this project but you just adapt this bit to suit what you have. You have a thick pole then make a decent sized hole...you have a thin pole then you have to becareful not to make the hole too big.

I started my hole by finding most dodgy part of my paper mache and pushing an old set of scissors into it and twisting it around. I think I made my hole about 5-6cm deep?? Then I used a couple of paint brush ends, going up in size after each one to make the hole bigger. The paper around the hole will start to crinkle and tear but thats ok as mine got 'sucked in' to the hole when I pushed the ball into the stand.

So...put some glue into the hole. I just used an all rounder craft glue. Then press the ball onto the stand, working your way slowly down by twisting and pushing. You can see in the picture below how I meant the ripped paper got 'sucked' into the hole when I pushed the ball onto the base.

I gave my ball about two light coast of white paint and let that dry. It didn't really look too different to when I started but it just helped the base and ball blend together.

Here is my glorious stand in action! Doesn't it look pretty!?! I think the white helps make the items pop and stand out. Obviously if it was a white beanie then it might not be as effective.