Bunny in a Box (Bunny Week 2020, Day 4)

Cats are famous for their love of boxes. If they can possibly squeeze themselves into a box, they will. Rabbits are the same. Leave out a box, particularly one with a 'roof' on it, and there will be a bunny in that box in no time. 

Bunny in a Box (affiliate link)

When we're not sure where Trouble is, the first thing we do is check all the boxes. If he's not out and about getting into things or hanging out with the family, that's usually where he is. Rabbits are awesome. 

Stuffed Felt Bunny (Bunny Week 2020, Day 3)

The inspiration for today's Bunny Week project came from this Bucilla Easter Egg Felt Applique Wreath Kit (affiliate link here and below). It came in the BORC I received in February. Felt applique is new to me and I've really enjoyed it. I hope this easy stuffed bunny project inspires you to give felt applique a try!

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Stuffed Felt Bunny

Materials:

• mottled grey felt
• embroidery floss (grey, pink, white, black)
• sequins (black, pink)
• white pom pom
• Poly-Fil

Steps:

Cut two identical egg-shaped pieces of felt for the rabbit's body. Set one piece aside. Using a single strand of embroidery floss, sew two black sequins and one pink sequin to the pointy end to make a face. Sew the pom pom to the rounded end. Add white whiskers to the face by tying a knot at the end of the floss, sewing up through the cheek area, then cutting the floss. Repeat the process to make three whiskers on each side. They aren't secure now and can be pulled out from the bottom, but they will be trapped in place once you stuff and sew the bunny. 

Cut two matching ears from the felt scraps. Use pink embroidery floss to stitch the inner ears. This is what the backsides of all the stitched pieces will look like:

Applique the ears to the body. 

This is the completed front:

Sew the back piece to the front, leaving a gap for stuffing. Leave the needle and thread attached. Add  Poly-fil, then finish sewing the two layers together.  

Here's the finished bunny. 

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This body position is known as a meatloaf and is a favorite of happy, relaxed buns. They tuck all four feet beneath, relax their ears, and snuggle down, often for a brief snooze. Here's Trouble, demonstrating the meatloaf position. Mostly. That ear is listening to me. 

It's very difficult to photograph a bunny in a proper meatloaf, because as soon as you get close enough to take a picture, an ear starts following you. Or, both ears. If you persist, an eye will crack open to glare at you. Sorry, Trouble. 

 I know, I know... those darn diurnal family members won't let you get a decent day's sleep. 

Hay Buffet (Bunny Week 2020, Day 2)

In nature, wild rabbits are foragers. They spend up to 75% of their waking hours searching for their next tasty bite. They eat all sorts of leaves and flowers and bark and stems and grasses. House rabbits have the same foraging instinct and need a variety of foods to stay healthy. But the bulk of their diet should be hay. 

Rabbits should have access to unlimited hay. When we adopted Trouble, we learned that timothy hay is the best for rabbits, so that is what we bought for him. Now we know that is a simplification. The best hay for pet rabbits is any hay that is high in fiber (which keeps the digestive tract moving) and low in protein (which in excess is fattening) and calcium (which in excess can cause bladder problems). Just like humans, rabbits like having choices when it comes to eating, so we bought a few bags of different types of hay and set them out for Trouble. He LOVED being able to pick just the right piece of hay from the bags. 

Hay Buffet (affiliate link)

Now we buy the Sampler Box (affiliate link) from Small Pet Select. It has four types of hay and is delivered super fresh. It smells wonderful. 

As you can see from the photos in the layout, the box is large and sturdy enough for Trouble to hop inside to graze. We call it the Hay Buffet. What's interesting is about the Hay Buffet is that Trouble never just rests or hangs out in there. He'll stop by for a few pieces of hay, then move along to another place to relax. 

Peekaboo Bunnies (Bunny Week 2020, Day 1)

Welcome to Bunny Week 2020!

Bunny Week is an annual tradition here at My Creative Life where we celebrate All Things Rabbit. I'm starting off Bunny Week with an easy paper craft I'm calling Peekaboo Bunnies. One person can make all the bunnies, or a group of kids can each make a bunny. You can make small bunnies on backgrounds the size of playing cards, or large bunnies with a full sheet of construction paper as the background. Affiliate links below.

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Peekaboo Bunnies

Materials:

• construction paper or cardstock 
• circle punch (optional)
• microtip scissors
• grey and pink inks
• craft glue
• fine tip black pen

Steps: 

Determine what size you want your finished background to be, then cut down pastel construction paper as needed. Use a circle punch or scissors on grey construction paper to cut a partial circle that will be the bunny's head. It should fill about 1/3 of the background paper and have one or two flat edges.

Cut two ears from grey construction paper. Cut two inner ears and a nose from pink cardstock. 

Ink around the edges of each cut piece. This will help the bunny stand out against the background and add some dimension. Fingertip daubers give great control. 

Glue everything to the background paper. Use the pen to add eyes and whiskers. Back each bunny with black paper, then arrange them to make a grid. 

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Wondering about the inspiration for my Peekaboo Bunnies? Rabbits are incredibly curious. Hold up a camera and you're likely to get a bunny photobomb as the rabbit looks closely to figure out what is going on. It's adorable.

Cards for Eagle Scouts

There are three new Eagle Scouts in Trevor's troop. They have been excellent role models for Trevor and I am thrilled to have watched them through their journey to Eagle. The Court of Honor to celebrate one new Eagle was supposed to have been tomorrow, but obviously it was postponed. I'd made his card (and one for the second of the three Eagles) weeks ago and scheduled this post to run today specifically because the Court of Honor should have been tomorrow. 

Like the card for Allison and Teagan's HAPPY birthday card, these cards were inspired by postage stamps. 

The first card is a virtual copy of the stamp that inspired it. To make it, I glued a blue rectangle to a white card base, added the red and white stripes, and layered the star (die-cut chipboard, painted white) on top. Then I added the sentiment and the rhinestones. 

While the first two new Eagles achieved the same rank and both exemplify the 12 points of the Scout Law, they are very different people. For the second card, I challenged myself to use exactly the same materials as the first, but in a different way. 

Congrats to all the new Eagles! I'm so sorry we can't come together to celebrate with you right now. Thank you for all you've done to help guide and inspire Trevor and other younger Scouts along their own paths to Eagle. Thank you for the service you've done to the community and all that you've given to Troop 482. 

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If you've been reading My Creative Life for awhile, you'll know that Bunny Week is an annual event that takes place each March. Starting on Monday, you'll get a week of bunny-themed crafts, layouts, and interesting tidbits about the Best Pet Ever. I've long explained Bunny Week as "Like shark week, only fuzzier." See you on Monday!