Little Fimo Chocolate Bunnies

Easter always brings to mind the images of chocolate bunnies!

I have to admit, I rarely find any of the giant chocolate bunnies to taste very good, but I feel they

need to be included every Easter for some strange reason. 

Well these little bunnies look cute and chocolatey but are not edible, they are for play!

 They are very easy and quick to make too!

Here is what you will need;

• +Fimo clay in shades of brown and dark brown, white, and pink
• +a toothpick
• +small knife (like pearing knife) or sharp clay tools

 So first, you see all the shapes you will need to make. The final bunny is just over 2" tall.

Roll your clay into the following shapes, just molding with your hands

• Brown oval shape for body, about 1" tall
• 2 brown flat circles for legs, about 3/4" tall
• 2 brown small rolled ovals for feet
• 1 brown perfectly rolled ball for head, about 1/2"
• 2 brown 1" flat ovals for ears
• 2  lighter brown/white flat ovals for inside ear
• 1 lighter brown/white 1/2" long flat oval for belly
• 1 pink tiny little triangle for nose
• 1 pink rolled ball for tale, about the size of a pea

When the pieces are ready, take the two brown flat circles and attach to sides of the main body shape.Position the feet on bottom, facing front.

 Using the knife or flat tool, smooth the edges across the back of bunny, so they look like one surface. Leave edges on sides and front, to make legs.

Next, position the lighter brown/white pieces on the ears and belly. Flatten them a bit so they become more flush with the surface.

 Get the head and attach the ears side by side to the back. Use the same technique with the knife, so flatten the edges smooth on the back of the head.

 Then get the head ready to attach to the body. Rough up the "neck" area and the bottom of the head, so they  attach better.

I curled one ear slightly, just because it is cuter.

 Again, smooth out edges in back of head, so it becomes one surface.

Add the pink triangle nose to center of face.

Use toothpick to poke an eye on either side of nose.

Roughen up the areas where the tail will attach to bunny, then attach. I gave the tail a little more texture just using my finger nail, so it was not a perfect ball. 

Use the knife again to lightly add "hairlike" texture over surface of bunny. 

Also, the toothpick along the paws, for toenails.

Then bake in the over, following directions on the clay.

Now they just need somewhere to live! 

Bunny house coming soon!

Birdhouse pocket game

Sarah had this great idea to make these little pocket games. I remember these as a kid,  rolling the ball

around to get it in that tiny indented spot it belongs in. 

I have no idea what these games are called, if anyone knows, please tell me! But I do 

remember getting these sort of things at carnivals, and especially our dentist office.

We always had a giant treasure box of plastic toys to pick through after getting our teeth cleaned, as 

a reward for no cavities!

Paper Mache Circus Animals

I have been working on a miniature circus, which you can see here.
I had it almost finished, but making the animals was holding me back.
Finally, I came up with a simple form in a paper mache style that seemed to work pretty well.

Using a 20 g. wire, and pliers, I made an armature for each animal.

Just sort of a line drawing in 3-D to hold the form.

 We have our elephant here.

a giraffe, 

and a tiger, to jump through a flaming hoop!

 Then, using tissue paper I had lying around, I stuffed it in and wrapped around

the shapes until they looked right, and secured with masking tape where necessary.

This sort of makes them look like poor little wounded animals in an
animal hospital, so let's fix them up quickly!

I used just what I had at home already,an made a sort of quick paper mache.

I tore strips of tissue paper ( used green b/c I was impatient, but white tissue paper would probably work best), and painted the surface under and over each layer 

with a watered down white glue mixture. This takes about 24 hours to fully dry. When they do dry

they are lightweight but very sturdy, and ready to be painted.

I did apply one coat of white primer to them first, before adding color.

They really came to life once I added the details: the spots, stripes and faces.

They just need some props!

 The hoop was made from 20 gauge wire with felt flames glued on.

 Then I painted some old wooden bobbins I had for the base.

These bobbins came in handy. They also worked as stands for the
elephant and the performers.

You can see the finished Circus these animals belong to here!

Mini Chalkboard Heart Messages

My kids do enjoy picking out those boxes of store bought valentines every year,and they are 

a quick easy, way to give cards to a huge number of people.

 But it is always really special when you get a handmade card. 

It can be simple or complex, but it lets the person know you were thinking of them when you made it!

These chalkboard hearts are a cute, handmade way to leave your valentine a message.

Day 20 -Miniature Glitter Houses

Day 20's tiny craft is mini glitter houses. You can start from the beginning of our 25 days of 

tiny Christmas crafts, right here!

I have a collection of vintage Christmas decorations, and one of my favorite items are the 

tiny houses, usually made from paper and often covered in glitter.

I thought it would be fun to make some myself, and even cuter to make them very tiny.

These are a little different process, using wood blocks to start (much easier!) and a plastic tree,

instead of  those bottle brush trees. 

But you can do whatever you like! They are easy enough to customize to your taste.

Just google image "vintage christmas glitter houses" and you will find tons of inspiration.

Day 18 Little Angel Treetopper

This is day 18 of our Christmas Miniature Marathon. You can click on Day 1 to get started with "Shrink Your Favorite Book."

I made this angel by adapting a larger angel template.

Day 1: Shrink your Favorite Books

Follow

We will be featuring tiny holiday projects every day until Christmas! This is the December 1 project, we just jumped the gun and released it early. Please check back December 2 for our mini walnut knitting ornament!

With the holidays approaching I am once again struggling to come up with some inexpensive, original gifts for my family. How about you?
 First order of business for me: a present for my mom. She has a home filled with festive dishes, Matryoshka dolls, quilts, tea sets and books. I try to make her a gift every year. My mom is rather obsessed with the Bloomsbury Group. She collects their various first editions, gives a dramatic slide show detailing their capers and love affairs and for many years even had a big picture of Virginia Woolf hanging in her sewing room. (If you would like to see the Virginia Woolf quilt she made it is on Tumblr) So it did not take much imagination to determine that I should make her something featuring her favorite tortured author. I decided that at the same time I could make my daughter something for her dollhouse.

Tiny, Festive Christmas Books

American Miniaturist Magazine features our cute mini books project this month. You can cut the books out directly from the magazine and assemble them. One is an accordion book featuring Corinne's hand drawn "12 Days of Christmas" and the other is a tiny "The Night Before Christmas" using 19th Century illustrations. There are other adorable projects in there as well.
you can purchase individual issues of the magazine at their website.

Pom Pom Fairy Acorns

If you come across some acorns like these in your trees, look closely, you may find a fairy nearby!

If not, you could also try to make your own because they are pretty cute.

Here is how;

Start off with a pom pom, we made our own pom poms which are really easy to make,

and look even better than the store bought ones.

You can buy pom pom makers, or cut one like I did here. You can even just use 2 fingers, and 

wrap the yarn around them.

1 .So, I like to start with one strand of yarn in the middle of the 2 sides, that can later be used to tie off the middle of the pom pom. I have just found this to be easier.

2. Lay the other piece on top of the yarn.

3. Start wrapping yarn around the middle. Just make sure that loose strand in the middle, stays loose.

 The more yarn, the bigger and denser the pom pom. 

4. When you are done wrapping it, turn it upside down and see if those ends are sticking out.

5. Just pull them together and get ready to tie a knot. You can't pull it as tight

as it needs to be at this point, but you can get all your yarn gathered.

6. Tie that knot.

7. Now turn it rightside up, and cut along the round edge, straight through the yarn.

8. Now the cardboard is loose, so just pull the pieces off. 

9. And now you can really pull the knot as tight as it needs to be. I make a double knot.

10. So grab those strings you just used to tie the knots, and shake the pom pom out. You should have an unruly, messy pom pom now.

11. Take your scissors, and clean it up to a more uniform ball. (or leave it messier if you like!) Just a little at a time, it can shrink to a tiny pom pom fast!

So, now that you have the pom poms, go get some acorn tops!

The tutorial pom pom, was make with a wool roving yarn. These pom poms above were

 made with cotton yarn. 2 very different looks.

1. Get your supplies. Pom poms, acorn tops, and glue.

2. So simple, using craft glue, fill the acorn top and then attach it to the pom pom.

3. If you want your acorn to hang, then just fold over your ribbon of choice, 

and slip it in between the pom pom and acorn top, when you glue it.

Now  let them dry, and think of all the cute places to hang them.

Windows, 

ornaments, 

attached to a gift, 

in a tiny fairy home,

 in a tree or plant,

off of a lamp, 

I mean, c'mon it's endless!