Paper Roll Easter Bunny

My imagination is like a bad habit. I have no apparent control over it. I'm trying to focus on work and school, but my mind keeps dwelling on toilet paper rolls. Ever since I did my Paper Roll Shamrocks, I'm completely obsessed. I guess maybe it's really more of an OCD.

Whatever. Anyway, yesterday's imagination binge resulted in this:

Isn't he cute?!!! Completely unrelated to ANYTHING else going on in my life right now, except for toilet paper rolls, of course. Completely unrelated to anything I NEED to be doing, really. But still ... isn't he cute? You want to do one too now, don't you? Easter isn't for 2 months, but you still want to do one now, don't you? And you'll want to even more when you see just how easy it is!

So, follow along and I'll show you how!

The supplies you will need are: 1 paper roll, a 1/2" pink pom, two 5mm black poms, a 1" white pom, and a short length of ribbon or yarn.

Begin by lightly flattening the paper roll and cutting it into 1/2" strips.

Form a strip into a heart shape by inverting the fold on one side.

Pinch the fold firmly to encourage the new direction.

If you have a particularly stubborn roll like mine, you can help shape the heart by rolling the tube onto a pencil. Only do this at the section that will form the top of the heart.

Next, form another strip into the shape of an oval.

Glue the heart-shaped strip upside-down onto the top of the oval-shaped strip. This will form the head and body.

Glue two more strips to the top of the head (the bottom of the heart) to form ears. The ears can be arranged in various positions.

Glue two more strips to the bottom for the feet.

You can use the strips for the feet as they form naturally, or you can shape the feet a bit more by adding a fold about 1/2" away from one of the other folds, and then flattening the shortened side for the bottom of the foot. (See finished project for examples.)

Take another strip and invert the fold on one side, pushing the fold through to the opposite side of the roll.

Glue the fold to the opposite side.

Glue the shaped strip into the body cavity to form the front paws.

Repeat the shape with another strip and place it into the face for the cheeks.

Your bunny should be looking like this.

If you'd prefer a white bunny, this is a good point to stop and spray-paint it.

Spray paint will have a tendency to absorb into the cardboard and will require a number of coats for good coverage. One trick to reduce the number of coats you'll need is to spray-paint first with a base coat of silver. The silver paint works as a primer and seals the cardboard, reducing the amount of paint lost to absorbtion.

Next, the bunny needs a face. Pom-poms work really well and add a soft texture to the finished project. Glue two 5mm black poms onto the top of a 1/2" pink pom. I used two black poms that were slightly varied in size, to give the bunny a more comical face.

If you're doing this with younger children, this will probably be a difficult step for them. You can glue the poms together in advance to make the project easier for them.

Glue the pink pom to the face. Tie a ribbon or a piece of yarn around the bunny's neck.

Glue a 1" white pom to the back for a tail.

He's all done! Wasn't that easy?? Now what to do with him?

He's adorable just as he is...

...but he is an Easter Bunny, afterall, so maybe a couple of Easter eggs.



Or he could be holding a tiny basket, or a giant candy bar.

Wouldn't that face be adorable delivering a special message?

What do you plan to do with yours? You know you're gonna make one! Let me know and I'll post a link!

Check out this one at Bonequinhos De Pano! Well done!

And be sure to check out the endless list of inspirational ideas at my home page childmade.com.


I'll be linking to some of the fabulous link parties listed on the right sidebar ... but really, that's a LOT of parties! I probably won't get to them all, but you should stop in and visit a few yourself. While you're at it, stop by my home page and add a few links to my perpetual link party!

Blog Gallery Gadget

Have you noticed my new gallery at the top? Isn't it cool? It's a link-out to all my prior posts. Just hover your mouse over an image and it will display the post title, or click an image and it will take you to that post. Isn't that so much better than the drop-down menu I have on my sidebar??! At least I think so.

Would you like to have one of these for your own blog? Free??! Yes, free! The left side of my brain won-out this week, and I've been "crafting" some javascript. And like all my other craft ideas, I thought I would share.

You can define the size of the gallery, the size of the images, the gallery title, how many rows tall, and even whether you want the date displayed with the description. It will automatically scan your blog posts for thumbnail images and display everything available.

Click here to initiate the setup. Key in the field values until your gallery looks the way you want it to. Then just copy the script on the right and place it in your blog in an HTML box. You could even paste it into a post, though I'm not really sure why you would want to.

Give it a try! And please let me know if you have any issues with it. Even free is no fun if it doesn't work. If you set one up on your blog, I'd love to see it. Let me know and I'll feature your site so others can see how great it looks.




Check out how Pam at Cloth to Creations set hers up!


Here's an application at Wonder Woman Creations:



Here's another application at Flower Photography:


And one at The Clip Cafe:

Rainbow Heart Shamrock Bouquet

So now that Valentine's Day is over, what are you ready for? St. Patrick's Day? Spring bouquets? Follow along and maybe I can give you a little of both!

This little clover bouquet is soooo easy! Plus, you get to recycle some old magazines to make it.

Grab that heart punch out of the pile of Valentine's Day craft supplies you were just about to pack away. Punch a bunch of hearts from a recycled magazine. Solid colors and mixed colors both work great. I did solid colors for mine because I was trying to create a rainbow effect.

This the basic process for creating the clovers. First draw a stem. Next, glue 3 or 4 hearts around the stem, with the points of the hearts aligned to the center. Then, glue a faux rhinestone into the center of the hearts.

For a bouquet, first draw a bunch of stems. The stems don't have to be perfectly aligned because the bouquet is going to cover most of the ends anyway. Begin forming groupings of hearts around the stems. To make the bouquet appear nice and full, overlap several layers.

Add a few rhinestone embellishments to the center of some of the flowers.

Finish off the bouquet by adding a small bow to the bunch of stems.

This card example can be done with a bouquet on the outside and a single four-leaf clover on the outside, or reversed, with the single clover on the outside.

Example messages for the card are:
You're the only one I want.
I pick you.
You're the pick of the bunch!
I'm so lucky to have picked you.
All I need is you!
I always knew you were special!
It's just not the same without you.

If you don't have a need for a St. Patrick's Day card, the bouquet works great for anything.

Give it a try! I'd love to see yours!

Check out this fabulous framed version made by Gretchen at The Pike Family!

Laura at Betula'Loo improvised with a flower punch. Aren't these sweet?

Have you tried it yet?

And be sure to check out the endless list of inspirational ideas at my home page childmade.com.


I'll be linking to some of the fabulous link parties listed on the right sidebar ... but really, that's a LOT of parties! I probably won't get to them all, but you should stop in and visit a few yourself. While you're at it, stop by my home page and add a few of your own links to my perpetual party!

Easy Shamrock Cards

I'm so glad you could join me today!

I'd like to show you some super simple St. Patrick's Day cards. Perhaps you're not real big on sending out greeting cards for St. Patrick's Day, but maybe that could just be a happy coincidence. Maybe you could just send a card to say, "I'm thinking of you." I know I LOVE getting cards, so much more than email. It's just ... different. So I'm going to make it really easy for you to do it for someone you care about.

For this first card, all you need is a piece of card stock and a green stamp pad. And, of course, your thumb.

Using the green stamp pad, imprint 8 thumbprints on a piece of card stock.

Add stems, and maybe a rhinestone to the center for a super-easy, festive shamrock. This one is great for children to do.

Don't put away those Valentine's crafts supplies just yet! Re-purpose some of your Valentine's heart stamps for this quick and easy stamped shamrock.

Stamp three or four leaves, ...

...draw a few stems, ...

... and add a rhinestone embellishment to the center.

Add a fourth leaf to make a lucky 4-leaf clover.

Want a card with a little more bling?

Use your heart stamps again, but dip them in glue instead of ink.

Stamp and reload.

When your shamrock pattern is finished, sprinkle generously with green glitter.

Lightly pat the glitter in place, then shake off the excess.

Draw a few stems and add a rhinestone to the middle and you're done!

Aren't these simple? Isn't it great to not have to buy MORE craft supplies? Well, maybe that's not the best part -- I LOVE buying craft supplies. But it's certainly nice to have more cool things to do using the ones you already have.

And since the cards didn't take you any time at all, now you have plenty of time to send them to someone you care about!

And be sure to check out the endless list of inspirational ideas at my home page childmade.com.


I'll be linking to some of the fabulous link parties listed on the right sidebar ... but really, that's a LOT of parties! I probably won't get to them all, but you should stop in and visit a few yourself. While you're at it, stop by my home page and add a few links of your own to my perpetual link party!