Wednesday, February 24, 2016

a little bit of Easter art to put you in mind of Spring...

I always look forward to Easter and Spring because everything is so colorful and sweet. Fuzzy little bunnies and chicks are adorable! So with this in mind I put together a quick little tutorial to show you how to make a sweet miniature pull toy with a bunny,
  or chick,
 or hedgehog, oh my!
They are super easy to make and just take a few basic tools and supplies
Start by cutting out a rectangular shape approximately 11/16" x 7/8" from a thin piece of balsa wood or a piece of heavy chipboard.
 Check the edges for smoothness
 and lightly sand them so they look more finished. I used my Metal Reliefing Block, but an emery board works just fine too.
 Pick out some pretty pastel colors of paint. (Mine are from Martha Stewart Crafts.)
I painted two coats on my rectangles, letting the paint dry completely between coats.
 Add a bit of decoration to the painted rectangles and let them dry completely.
 Make a small bow and glue it to your bunny (or other animal, if you want).
 Using a pair of tweezers (I use these tweezers for everything! In fact I often use two pairs at once as my "hands" when working with tiny things.) glue two 6mm doll buttons to one side of the rectangle as shown below.
 When they are completely dry, glue two buttons on the other side of the rectangle.
Once those buttons have all dried, you can glue some contrasting 4mm doll buttons on top of them for added dimension. 
 When everything is dry flip the rectangle over to the undecorated side. Cut a piece of baker's twine or rayon cording about 4.5" in length.
 
Knot one end of the cord then glue it to the rectangle.
 When the glue has dried flip the rectangle over and glue your animal in the center.
Ta-da! Now you have a cute miniature Easter toy to add to a doll house or shadowbox or maybe to a diorama... Speaking of dioramas, I just finished working on this one...
 I used air dry clay to make the eggs and "painted" them with Copic pens.
 I love the way they look in that cute little basket!
While I was making Easter things, I though I would try my hand at making a tiny little scene in a bottle...
 I think it came out pretty cute :)
 I was really glad I had my tweezers when I was working on this!
Thanks for reading this really long post! I hope you enjoyed it and want to make your own little pull toy. I you would like to know what I used to make the Just Believe diorama or the Bunny Bottle my supply lists are below :)

Just Believe Diorama Supplies:
Bunny Bottle Supplies: