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130324 Spring craft. A family of felted rabbits in a burrow. logo

March 2013. Spring is here! My 8 year old daughter Nunu and I made a little spring craft: A burrow for a family of rabbits!

I came across Katya / Ketti Ben-Eli Shevach (from Elyakhin, Israel)’s “Bunnies in a Warren” on Pinterest a few months ago (see photo below). I instantly fell in love with her sweet little craft. I wanted to make a needle-felted craft with my 8 year old that will not be too overwhelming so that both mother and child could relax and enjoy the process together. Thank you so much Katya for the inspiration for this craft! You can look at her other beautiful work on Flickr. Click here.

Katya's bunnies in a burrow on Flickr.     ketti ben-eli shevach

Click here to view our original source of inspiration

March 15, 2013. I could not find a tutorial to go with her craft, so I made one up.

I bought a large foam egg from the local craft store, Michaels. This was to create the burrow shape using wet-felting process.

130315 Craft foam egg for making Easter craft

I discarded the tough packaging plastic seen in above photo. Then I realize the styrofoam may have little flecks that could fall off during the felting process, so I duck taped some plastic wrap to the styrofoam egg before I applied wool over it.

I started by layering thin, flat layer of roving to create the most interior side of the burrow.

130315 starting wet-felting easter egg

I wanted the interior of the burrow to be cheerful and a little bright, so I started with lighter color roving.

1303015 layering colored roving on extra large easter egg to make spring craft bunny burrow

I  continued by applying thin, flat layers of earth colored roving in opposite direction to the layers below.

130315 thin flat layers of wool roving to foam easter egg

… adding thin, flat layers of green roving.

139=0315 adding thin flat layers of green roving to wet felted bunny home

Thin layers of green fleece and roving have been added onto the foam egg. I like working with fleece, which is more sticky and rougher than wool top. Now my “egg”/burrow is ready for liquid soap and boiling water.

130315 Added thin layers of green fleece and roving on extra large easter egg. Ready for liquid soap and boiling water

I could not photograph the subsequent steps because my hands were wet and soapy. Here was what I did. I squirted very thin streams of dishwashing liquid soap over the egg, then I poured thin, small streams of boiling water onto the felt.

As much as I could handle, I gently pat the egg (with soap and boiling water on it) to get the water to soak through the whole “egg” but careful not to disturb and displace any of the wool.

I did this “patting/caressing” for about 10 minutes or less, before I applied any pressure.

When the “egg” was felted and able to withstand pressure, I rubbed hard against it and washed off the soap (over my sinkful of dirty dishes) with cold water.

After the soap was rinsed off, I inserted this wet ball into a pillow case, tied up the pillow case and added it to the family laundry. It went into the washer and dryer runs. Perhaps the washer run was not necessary, however, I imagine the extra agitation in the washer may have felted my “egg” more tightly.

Wet-felted egg just retrieved from the dryer.  I paused in my cutting, realizing a jagged cut will look more natural and appealing.

130315 Wet-felted rabbit burrow over an extra large easter egg foam resist

I did most of the wet felting at night or when Nunu was at school. After cutting the wet-felted “egg” in half (this process above yielded 2 burrows), Nunu helped me decorate it with spring flowers.

March 23, 2013. Saturday. Nunu and I needle-felted bunnies. We made extra bunnies and gave one white baby bunny to our friend Anicka as a present.

130325 white bunny in burrow. Logo

When you flip the burrow over, you get a hill. I like toys that surprise or are multi-functional.

130323 felted bunnies in a burrow on a green spring hill. logo

Bunnies peeking out of the rabbit hole…

130325 A family of felted bunnies in a bunny hole and hill

We will be using this family of bunnies and their home in a scene for our upcoming mother and child puppet show performance at the Waldorf School of Orange County on April 25, 2013. At 3:30pm, we will be performing “Snow White and Rose Red” table top puppet show.

Here is our homemade puppet show, performed in the past for Nunu’s 7th birthday.

Once Upon a Time. Snow White, Rose Red and Old Widow in front of cottage.Post Pretty. Handmade Waldorf Fairy Tale puppet theater. CastleofCostaMesa.Com

Back then, we did not have handmade bunnies, so we used plastic ones. Not anymore, now we have our own handmade ones!

Snow White and Rose Red gathering berries. Handmade and homespun puppet theatre by CastleofCostaMesa.com

Click here to view some other Spring season table crafts we made…

130525 Trio of flower fairies square logo

Waldorf Seasons Table Dolls by Castle of Costa Mesa

130924 African Merprince Summer post pretty

130925 Windswept hair, red lambswool sweater, yellow kite blonde handmade Nova Scotia Kite boy Fall Autumn Waldorf Seasons Nature Table post pretty.

130924 Waldorf Season nature table dolls for all seasons.  All Seasons The Wanderer post pretty

 

Castle of Costa Mesa’s Etsy Store

Click on the image below to enter Castle of Costa Mesa Etsy store

130529 Buttercup the flower fairy at Tanager Park with logo

Click here to view a gallery of my handmade dolls.

Castle of Costa Mesa Handmade Doll Giveaways

130919 Vintage heirlom handmade giveaway. Catch your mermaid before she swims away!

I give away my lovingly handmade dolls periodically. If you “Like” my Castle of Costa Mesa Facebook page, you will be notified of upcoming giveaways. Click here to view the list of my past giveaways. Perhaps the next winner could be YOU?

Like Us on Facebook black and white. Fairy Tale Dolls, Handmade With Love. I want you to love learning mandarin chinese!CastleofCostaMesa.Com

Photos from Waldorf School of Orange County Craft Group

121202 Vintage Life photo show girls crafting inside trailer at war times. Post button for Wednesday Morning Craft Group

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