Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Easter Craftery from an Uncrafty Mumma

So I never thought I would ever be the "crafty" type Mother.

Turns out I was right.

However, I TRY.  I don't think I'm a particularly creative person although according to my numerology number (I'm a 9, for anyone that cares) I actually am supposed to be quite creative...apparently it's just latent.

Moving on.

So, being that it's Easter and being that I have 2 boys that are of the age they enjoy doing crafts, however short-lived that joy may be (for us all), I took it upon myself to make bunny ears for them.

Now, listen.  If I can make these ears ANYONE can.  Give me a craft that involves glue, construction paper and some kid friendly scissors and I'm all over it.  Give me a craft that involves....well, anything else and you'll see me look at you like a deer in headlights, sheer fear very apparent in my odd multi-coloured eyes...
MY EYES.  Blue, brown and all that's in between.
Okay, so ANYWAY, basically your kid doesn't really get to DO a whole lot of anything unless you allow them to use scissors and glue (which, because this is part of my helicopter tendencies, I try not to {the glue I'm okay with, depending on what they're glueing} - I am also a free range parent and all kinds of crazy in between too, it simply depends on the situation).  

Take a black or brown large piece of construction paper and cut an inch or so wide strip....you might need to cut and glue on another small strip to make it big enough to fit your child's head.  In my case, my children have massive ones so this was essential.  

Glue it together like so...

You can see what I mean about the extra strip.
Yes my1 year old son's head is that big.

What you do NOT want to do is purchase glue from the dollar store because although it does the job it has a very disturbing texture.  Not quite the runny white glue from public school that you used to let dry on your hand and then peel off (don't lie, you all did it) and not quite the texture of the glue paste the weird kid ate in your kindergarten class.  

Do not buy this glue.

See what I mean...very strange and rubbery like.
Maybe it was just really, really, really old?



Then what you do is let your child pick the colour of bunny ears they would like.  Adrian chose orange for his.  Fine.  We all know that there are no such thing as orange rabbits but who am I to crush his sweet soul.  Since my 17 month old doesn't talk and is pretty easy going I thought I'd pick his colour for him.  His ears are what I'm using as the example....black.  

Cut out bunny shaped ears like so:

Clearly I am no perfectionist when it comes to the art of crafts...no stencils or tracing here.
 I am go with the flow kinda crafter.


Then to ensure the ears are super realistic you must cut a smaller bunny ear shape in the colour pink to glue onto the black ears.  You then glue the bunny ears on the inside of the head band...like this:




Now you get to place them on your little ones heads and hope they don't destroy your amazing work of craftery (I realize this is not a real word...but I like the way it sounds)


Don't let this picture fool you.  30 seconds after this was taken Finley
knocked over Adrian's tower than ripped off his own bunny ears and destroyed them.
So I made another pair.  Because they are THAT easy...and because they both looked so
cutely festive painting Easter eggs with them on...
These are boiled eggs that I allowed my children to decorate with tempera paint.
Dyeing eggs with food colouring?  Um no. 

My husband had the fabulous idea of letting them smother their hands in the paint when they were done painting the eggs.  I was shocked that he even suggested this idea because he's more freaked out about mess than I am.  And my 3 year old was not crazy about the idea as he really,really dislikes  having dirty, messy hands (yes, I realize that we might be the cause of my child's future therapy due to OCD)  LOOK!  Two crafts in one!!!

Finley's hands 17 months
Adrian's hands 3 years
LOVE!

I hope you enjoyed my first craftery post.  Although I hope not too much.  It could very well be my last.

4 comments:

Perfecting Parenthood said...

Further to your comment about dollar stores: I never buy anything that might end up in a kids mouth there, or prepare food with. You never know what kind of alien chemicals they put in whatever lawless country they manufacture that stuff in. When even toys from reputable manufacturers have lead in them, what has the stuff from a dollar store where the labels aren't even spelled right.

Looks like the kids had a great time! Our kids love crafts too.

Laura said...

You have gorgeous eyes!!! (I know that's not relevant, but still...)

I am not a crafter, either. This post impresses me. :)

Ellen said...

Hi GG. You mentioned you have a 17 year old that doesn't talk...you may have meant 17 month old...just saying!!! Loved the blog. I'm wondering why your craft and sewing skills are so dismal? Could it be your mother never taught you? :)

January Dawn said...

@Alex - dollar stores are not a place that I frequent. I agree with your view.

@Laura - thank you!!!

@ Mum - well, to be honest I don't remember doing ANY crafts with you...I guess my memory serves me correctly??? But I believe you did attempt to teach me to crochet once. ;)