Make a Blissful Bunny with Me (Part 1) by LeeAnn Kress of Charmed Confections

Hi Everyone!

It's LeeAnn and I am back with a sweet tutorial for you on how to make a blissful, sleeping bunny for Easter.

Since this process takes a little bit of time, I have broken this tutorial into two parts.  In Part 1, you will begin to make the below bunny, his body, arms and legs.  In Part 2, we will sculpt the head, sand, paint and assemble.  Part 2 of this tutorial will be posted on Sunday, March 9th.

I hope you will give this a try.  I will post lots of pictures for you to follow the process.  Please feel free to post a comment with any questions and I will get back to you as soon as possible. All my instructions will be below the pictures.

Materials Needed for Part 1

Creative Paperclay®

Small bowl of water

2 1/2" to 3" Styrofoam Egg -- (my package says 2 5/16 x 3 1/16 inch)

Paper towels

Ice pick or something that can be used to poke a hole with.

Toothbrush - preferably one you are not using on your teeth. :)

First off, set up your work space.  I have a silicone mat I sculpt on, but you can just put down some paper towels or paper.  Just as long as your work space pretty clean.  We will be covering the Styrofoam egg first.

Take some Creative Paperclay® and make a pancake out of it and smooth over the entire egg.  You want to get a good layer over the egg, just so that the Styrofoam does not show or poke through your clay. Paperclay is an air dry clay and will get a little dry in between working with it.  Use a little water on your fingertips to help you keep the consistency of dough.  Remember, not too much water - too much water can make your clay sticky.  If this happens, set your piece aside for a few minutes and let it dry out a tad before smoothing it out again.

Once your egg is covered, I took a little more paperclay and made an oval shape (about 1 1/2" tall by 1" wide) - make another pancake.  This is going to be the bunny's tummy.  Wet the back of the clay and adhere it to the side of the egg.  Make sure you pick where your front is going to be first.

Once you stick your tummy clay to the egg, take a paint brush, wet it a little, and go around the outside of the oval and smooth it to the egg.  We do not want any harsh lines and we want the tummy clay to stick seamlessly to the egg with no gaps.

Next, I took my husband's toothbrush (just kidding) and pounced in some texture on the egg.  I did not texture the tummy clay.  I left that smooth.  If you create holes in your clay, just push the clay to fill back in.  No worries!

Now it is time to make a cottontail.  Roll out a little ball of clay (the size you would like for your tail) and pounce it again with the tooth brush.  Wet the clay where you are going to adhere the tail and push lightly to the egg.  Just give it a few twists while adhering it to the desired spot - it helps the clay bind together.

Look!  Our sweet little tail is looking good.  Take your damp paint brush now and go around where the tail connects to the egg.  Smooth it out just a little.

This bunny needs some arms, so roll out some clay into a long snake (about 1/2" thick).  You might need to refer to the below picture when doing these arms.  My arms are approximately 2 1/2" long.  Cut your rolled out clay to that length.  Now, take your two pieces and make somewhat of a banana shape - see picture below.  Make your arms thinner at both ends.  You might have to hold your arms up to the body to get a feel for how the arms will fit with the body.

When you are happy with the fit and shape.  Use your ice pick to draw in the indentation of the paws.  Remember to bring those finger lines all the way around to the inside of the paw.

Here is how my arms fit to the bunny body.

Next, take your tooth brush again and pounce some texture into the arms.  Remember to do the backside too!  Lastly, poke a hole into the top of both your bunny arms.  Set aside and let dry completely.

Here is a picture of my arms all finished and drying.

Now, let's make some bunny legs!  Basically, it is the same process as the arms.  Roll out your clay to about 1/2" thick.  My bunny legs are about 3 1/2" long - depending how they look next to the body, you might have to trim them down a little.  For now, cut your rolled out clay to 3 1/2"  - making two!

You can see in the above picture how I flatten the top of the snake, bent it at the knee a little and then again at the ankle.  I used my ice pick to cut in some bunny toes and then put in a couple of wrinkle lines at the ankle.  Don't be afraid to play with your clay until you get the look you want.  If you mess up, cut another 3 1/2" rope and try again.  The more you experiment with your clay, the better you are at sculpting with it!

Here is the backside of my bunny leg.  You can see a different angel from this perspective.

Here are my two bunny legs.  I have pounced them with my toothbrush and poked holes in the top.  Remember, they do not have to be identical.  Just have fun and get both legs to compliment each other.  No two legs are alike!

Now, if you want to take it a step further, add little clay balls to the bottom of the feet for the bunny's pads.  Make three tiny balls and put one on the underside of each toe.  Use water to adhere them.  Next, make two larger balls and adhere one to the middle of each foot.  This step is optional.

 To get a good fit to the body, hold your legs up to the body.  You can see how the white arrows point out where the clay is thinner and shaped to fit the egg.  You can get this by pushing the tops of your bunny thighs to the egg.  Now, we do not want the clay to stick to the egg, so push gently and do not add any water.  We want to be able to take it safely apart without any damage to the body.  However, you can always fix it if this happens.  That is the beauty of this clay!  Getting the curve of the egg on the inside of your bunny's upper thighs is important.  This will make his legs fit nicely to the body after the pieces are all dry.

When you are happy with the fit, let all your pieces dry completely.

This is the end of  Part 1.  I hope you have enjoyed it so far.  Part 2 will be posted, tomorrow, Sunday, March 9th.  We will sculpt the head, paint, stain, seal, and assemble.  Again, if you have any questions, just leave a comment and I will get back to you.

To see more of my Creative Paperclay® creations, visit my site at www.charmedconfections.com

See you tomorrow!
LeeAnn