Bunny Week, Day 5: Bunny Raspberry Hand Pies

Steve mentioned that he'd been craving pie, so I made him a treat for the conclusion of Bunny Week. They're raspberry hand pies and they're delicious. (For humans, that is. Don't feed pie to your bunny. Here are some ideas for bunny-safe treats.)

Start by rolling out your favorite pie dough. Use a bunny-shaped cookie cutter and arrange the bunnies on a Silpat-lined baking sheet. Spread raspberry jam in the center of half of the bunnies, including the ears. Do not overfill them, but don't skimp either. The bottom left is the correct amount. 

Get a small dish of water. Use your finger to thoroughly moisten around the edges of an un-jammed bunny, then place it on top of a jammed bunny. Do not skimp on water! This is what seals the pies and keeps the jam in. I experimented with different ways to crimp the bunnies closed (fork tines head on, fork tines from the side, finger pinch, and rolling) and they all worked equally well. The water is the key, not the crimping. 

Bend the middle two tines of a plastic fork up, leaving the outer tines intact. Pierce each bunny to make eyes. 

Bake your hand pies at 400°F for 10-15 minutes. Let the pies cool until they are safe to touch, then use an edible marker to add a nose and mouth to each bunny. 

Happy Bunny Week, everyone! 

Bunny Week, Day 4: Apple Branch Bribe

Rabbit teeth grow continuously, so it is important that they grind their teeth down. In the wild, rabbits do this by eating fibrous grasses, leaves, and branches. In your house, rabbits will do this by eating baseboards and table legs... unless you give them fibrous grasses, leaves, and branches. 

Trouble has access to unlimited hay, plus he gets fresh greens, and a small amount of pellets twice a day. He also gets branches (twigs) often. There are a number of trees that are rabbit-safe, but Trouble has a strong preference for apple branches. He devours them, particularly if there are still leaves attached. So when we wanted to do a photo shoot, an apple branch was the perfect bribe to get Trouble to pose. We had an unexpected bonus when we got a photo of his sweet little tongue!

Apple Branch Bribe (affiliate link)

We currently don't have a source for apple branches, so Trouble has had to make do with less-desirable trees. If you're local to me and have an apple tree, let me know. I'd love to come over and get some clippings, or do a full pruning for you at the proper time of year. Just let me know. Trouble would really appreciate it!

Bunny Week, Day 3: 'You're Amazing' Bunny Card

I'm blessed with a lot of amazing people in my life, but this card isn't for any of them. 

This card is actually for a group of people, none of whom I know personally. In honor of Bunny Week, I'm sending this card to the staff and volunteers of House Rabbit Society. HRS is an international nonprofit animal welfare organization with two main goals: 

• Rescue abandoned rabbits and find permanent homes for them.
• Reduce the number of unwanted rabbits and improve bunnies’ lives by helping people better understand these companion animals. 

HRS was founded in 1988 and has rescued over 30,000 rabbits. They believe (as do I) that "it is in the best interest of domestic rabbits to be neutered/spayed, to live in human housing where supervision and protection are provided, and to be treated for illnesses by veterinarians. Domestic rabbits are companion animals and should be afforded at least the same individual rights, level of care, and opportunity for longevity as commonly afforded to dogs and cats who live as human companions. Rabbits are intelligent, social animals who require mental stimulation, toys, exercise, environmental activity, and social interaction (from, as appropriate, people, other rabbits, or other animals)."

Trouble has changed our lives and made us better people and the HRS has been a big part of that. We will forever be grateful to HRS for educating us and for everything else they do.

Follow this link to see the inspiration for my card. I love these SO much.

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"You're Amazing" Bunny Card

Materials:

• white card base
• construction paper or cardstock (tan, white, pink, black)
• scissors
• glue

Steps: 

Cut out an egg shape from the white cardstock. Holding it against the tan cardstock, cut out a tan egg that is slightly larger. Fold a scrap of white in half and cut out a tail, making sure not to cut along the fold. Cut two matching ears. With the pink cardstock, cut two inner ears and a nose. Cut two tiny circles for eyes.

Glue half of the tail underneath the wide side of the white egg, leaving the other portion free. Glue the white egg to the tan egg. 

Glue the eyes, nose, and ears in place. Add a sentiment, matting it with pink and tan cardstock. Glue the bunny and the sentiment in place. 

Happy Bunny Week!

Bunny Week, Day 2: "What?"

Welcome to Day 2 of Bunny Week, 2019!

Dogs communicate with barks, yips, and growls. Cats purr, meow, and hiss. Rabbits do most (though not all!) of their communication non-verbally. Once you get to know a rabbit, you'll be amazed how much he can communicate to you via ear position, body position, and facial expression.

Trouble picks up his water dish and clanks it against the food dish to tell me it's empty, bonks his nose into my leg when he wants me to pet him, and dances back and forth in front of the kitchen gate when he wants a treat. None of those are especially subtle. His facial expressions, on the other hand, are more nuanced. At least they are until I try to get a picture. Then 9 times out of 10, I get this expression:

What? (affiliate link)

Can't you just see him asking, "What do you want? Why are you bothering me?" Of course, he doesn't dare ignore me, because it's possible that I am interrupting whatever he's doing to give him something tasty and it would be a tragedy of epic proportions if he did not know about this treasure immediately. It's funny - for an only rabbit, you wouldn't think he'd be so paranoid about eating quickly so that no one else can take his food. But he is. In fact, when I give him a treat, most of the time he will run off with it with a foot flick to remind me that the food is HIS and that I should not even consider trying to get it from him. I then remind him that I gave it to him, so there's no reason to think I'd take it back. We've been having this 'conversation' daily for 8 years. Silly rabbit. 

Bunny Week, Day 1: Pixelated Bunny Craft and a Giveaway!

Welcome to Bunny Week 2019! Bunny Week is an annual tradition here at My Creative Life, a chance to celebrate All Things Rabbit. I'm starting off Bunny Week with a pixelated rabbit craft.

Pixelated Bunny Craft

Materials:

• leftover stickers from a StickTogether kit (tan, black, pink)
• construction paper
• scissors

Steps:

Place a tan sticker in the upper lefthand corner of the construction paper, leaving a small (and hopefully even) gap between the left and top sides. Line up three more tan stickers immediately below that, leaving no gap between the stickers. Start the next column down one square to shape the bunny's ear. Continue to fill in with stickers. It is easiest to first work down the left ear, across the top of the face, then up the right ear.

Complete the rabbit's face. Use the scissors to carefully cut away any excess construction paper. 

That's all there is to it! And obviously, this isn't limited to bunnies. Use your extra StickTogether stickers to make any sort of animal, design, or pattern that you can dream up!

Now for the exciting news- my friends at StickTogether are giving away a kit to one of you! Even better, you get to decide which one you'd like to win! Simply follow this affiliate link, browse through their designs, then leave me a comment with which one you'd most like to win. If you can't decide, just list a few you like and if you're the winner, we'll surprise you! I'll announce the winner on Monday, April 1 (no fooling!) so get your comment in by then.