sweet easter creatures

[Want to get busy with some Eastery projects with the kids? Here is a project I printed some time ago that might inspire you - why not dig some fuzzy stuff out of the craft cupboard and give it a whirl?]

These sweet, fluffy little Easter creatures will delight both children and adults alike - and as they are made from not much more than pompoms and ribbon, they're surprisingly easy to make...

Feather Boa Rabbit

YOU WILL NEED:
various balls of yarn

short-nap feather boas

felt

cardboard

pipe cleaners

pompoms

ribbon

googly eyes

PVA glue

scissors

felt-tip pen

glue

Using a short-nap feather boa, make one 10cm pompom. Tie a ribbon around middle to form a head and body. Cut four white ear shapes and two pink inner ears from felt using pinking shears for the inner ear, if desired. Sandwiching a white pipe cleaner between them, glue together two white ear pieces, leaving 1.5cm of pipe cleaner uncovered at bottom. Glue on pink inner ear.

Cut short lengths of pipe cleaner for whiskers and glue to face, holding firmly until glue sets. Do the same with the pompom nose and googly eyes. Apply glue to ear base and exposed pipe cleaner generously and press into top of head, holding firmly until set. Glue a small white pompom to the rear for a tail. Using the foot template (below), cut foot-shape from pink felt and glue to underside of rabbit.

Feather Boa Chick

Follow instructions for FEATHER BOA RABBIT, attaching a beak, wings and feet instead of ears, nose and tail. For beak and eyes, see WOOLLY CHICK, below.

For wings, cut down two feathers and glue to side of body. For feet, cut foot template (below) from red felt. Apply glue and sit chick on his feet.

Fluffy Bunnies

 

We used an 16ply acrylic yarn for these rabbits, so they almost appear chenille-like. Make a large or medium pompom and tie thin ribbon around the middle to define a head and body. Cut ears from felt and glue to head so they flop down. Attach a pompom tail.

Woolly Chicks

Make a medium sized and a small pompom. Trim neatly and tie together firmly with the strings used to tie off pompoms when first made. For beak, cut a diamond from red felt and fold in half, placing a tiny dab of glue right in the crease to help hold beak at a 45° angle. Glue to front of head.

Cut two tiny circles from black felt, or use pieces of black pipe cleaner for eyes and glue in place. Trim chicks with little pieces of feather – a tail, a curl on the top of the head.

Pompoms

Using the circle template and enlarging to desired size, trace and cut two circles from thick cardboard and then cut holes out of the middle. Cut a long piece of yarn and wind it around and around the cardboard ring, pulling wool through centre, until evenly-covered. The more yarn you wind, the fuller the pompom will eventually be. For faster work, use double or triple strands of yarn.

Holding fingers firmly on the centre of the circle to keep yarn in place, slide tip of scissors into yarn and between the two cardboard circles, carefully cutting around the outside of the circle to release strands. Insert a strong piece of yarn between the cardboard circles and tie off tight to form the pompom. Leave this piece of yarn long so you can use it to tie pompoms together later. Carefully ease the cardboard rings off the pompom and then fluff and trim it to size.

HINT:Use smaller circles for smaller pompoms or simply trim to size.

HINT:

To make pompoms twice as fast, invest in a pompom maker.

-:- photographs Tania McCartney -:-