Here comes Peter Cottontale

After much procrastination I am back with a project I've been planning to share. A fun little craft to squeeze in before Easter passes us by. My daughter and I (heavy on the I) had a fun making these little bunnies for Easter. I was pretty pleased with the way they turned out. Here is a list of what I used for mine:

- cotton balls
- patterned paper
- white paper
- large brads
- pink jelly bean
- glue
- cardboard
- ribbon/trimming
- spray adhesive

I began by printing out 2 copies of this template I made. You will need to cut and trace the ovals onto the back of your patterned paper. Then cut them out. I glued my bunny template onto some thin cardboard with spray adhesive so it would be sturdy. (An old cereal box would probably work fine.) I recommend cutting out the bunny once it has adhered to the cardboard. (I didn't do mine until the end and it was somewhat of a challenge.)

Next attach your eyes. I used black brads about the size of a penny. You could easily glue buttons or anything you wanted here. Now comes the task of gluing on the cotton balls. Do not be afraid to stretch, squish or even cut the cotton to get the proper fit. I started in the belly and filled it (including the oval) and the tail in first. Then I did then feet and moved up to the ears. Start at the top of the ears and move down to the face area. Mine worked out so the last piece of cotton at the bottom of the ears covered down to the eyes. I just squished the end down under the eye.

Then it is time for the face. I was the most concerned about this part but my method seems to have worked well. I squished and shaped the next cotton ball to fit in the space between the eyes. I placed the next cotton ball at the chin and two on either side, tilted, to make cheeks. Then you will just need to manipulate a couple more pieces to fill in up around the eyes to the ears.

Time for the pretty stuff. Glue your patterned ovals onto the cotton in the centers of the ears and belly. The edges looked strange at this point so I went around them all with another layer of cotton. I was able to pull my cotton from a ball into a longer strand which worked well for this part. Once the edges were finished I glued a pink jelly bean in for the nose and tied my ribbons around the neck.

This was my first craft project 'from scratch' so hopefully others will find my instructions easy to follow. Happy crafting!