Cardboard Easter Bunny Masks

“Morning Mommy! Are we going to craft today?”

My oldest always wakes up thinking of the day ahead. She comes into our room proclaiming that “the light is green” and proceeds to rattle off all her 3-year-old thoughts she has kept in all night before rushing to the bathroom to pee. My husband sweetly listens to her chatterings while also trying to make sure she keeps her voice down to allow the rest of the house several more minutes of sleep.

When I emerge from the bedroom, her eyes catch mine as I make my final decent from the stairs in full view of the couch she is cuddled on with dad on waiting for everyone else to wake.

What are the plans today mama? Will we see grandma or meet our friends at a park? I have a great idea – we can go play at Chick-fil-A for lunch! Is it a weekend or does dad have to go to work? Is it cold outside? It looks cold , there is snow on the ground. Mom are you making your coffee? Are we going to make a craft today?

I start my coffee and I share our plans for the day – not always ornate or substantial – but just knowing that this new day has adventure for her brings calm to her questions and her eager mind.

“And yes sweet Hilde, we’re going to craft today!”

Both girls love crafting. Our fridge is filled with artwork proudly shown off to anyone who comes over and letters are stuffed with original watercolors from the Mayberry toddlers. So it goes without saying that I have a Pinterest Board with inspiration. I ran across this pin and knew that we were going to make these cardboard Easter Bunny Masks this Easter season. While bunnies play no actual part in the Easter Story, they do remind us of Spring and I was fairly confident in my ability to use a razor to cut the shape of a rabbit out of our empty Ikea cabinet box still in our garage.

I also had leftover dried flowers from our butterfly wings last summer. I’ve been holding on to them refusing to let them fall into the “junk art” box because I know they had a bigger future than a construction paper glue stack. I looked out my window and slightly rued Springtime in Colorado – March is far to early for any hope of actual wildflowers to pick. But this was the moment I held onto those flowers for and the snow covered mountain out my window stood majestically in it’s frozen beauty reminding me the wildflowers would come in their time.

If you are only here for the “recipe” part of this post you have finally arrived!!! I’m a writer and photographer at heart so my tutorials include a bunch of personal details and photos of my children that I captured and want to hold onto forever 😉 It’s worth noting that this is the first time I’ve pulled out my camera in sometime (after my recent move into full time momming) and it felt freeing to capture photos just for myself and not for the sake of a like or a share or a click on a post. And I think they are pretty darn adorable to be honest! HAHA!

Cardboard Easter bunny masks

SUPPLIES

• Cardboard cut into Bunny Heads
• Washable Paint (seriously – it washes out of everything!)
• Dried Flowers (I also used these in another craft!)
• Sharpie
• Jumbo Craft Sticks
• Hot Glue Gun (the only way to have the flowers hold up to any type of child play!)

HOW TO

This is a two day (or spread out) project so make sure your little people know that if they, like mine, are very interested in the plan!

1. Cut out Bunny Heads on extra cardboard. Don’t stress too much about making them even or perfect. I used a pencil and sketched the shape and then cut it them out.
2. Cover your table in in paper and set out the palette of paint with desired colors.
3. Tell your kiddos to paint until all the carboard is gone.
4. Let dry completely.

We let our bunnies dry overnight which allowed for lots of excited peeks and something exciting to look forward to the next day.

1. Gather flowers and hot glue them on.
2. Use Sharpie to draw the face on. I had the girls point out to me where they wanted the eyes and mouth and they told me if they wanted big or little faces! If you have bigger kids they can do the faces themselves!
3. Glue on the craft sticks at the bottom to create a handhold for your Easter Bunny Masks!
4. The next step is to “Hop! Hop! Hop!” around and twirl in your Easter Dresses. Enjoy!

PS: Here are some of the things I keep in my craft tub to have on hand for spontaneous crafting!