Make an Easter Bunny clay decoration
Follow this step-by-step craft tutorial and make an adorable Easter Bunny. This fun project is made using our Easter Bunny Mould with Hearty Air Drying Clay. (If you've not used this before, our clay is super lightweight, easy to mould and colour, and perfect for modelling.) So, fuel up with a couple of mini eggs and let's get started!
JUMP TO: Easter Bunny tutorial video
Here's what you'll need:
Watch Heather's Easter Bunny tutorial:
Instructions:
Step 1 – Moulding the Easter Bunny
Lightly dust the Easter Bunny Mould with cornflour and tap out the excess. Fill the mould with white Hearty Air Drying Clay, or a colour of your choice. Heather finds that using slightly drier clay works best for this. Turn the mould over and press down flat against the work surface to flatten the back, and pull the clay away from the edge of the mould. Carefully twist the mould to loosen and remove the bunny from the mould.
Next, choose how you want to pose your bunny. Tilt the bunny's head to one side or cut the clay to free one of his arms, Heather suggests using a sharp pair of scissors. Once the bunny's arm is free you are then able to reposition their arm to a pose you prefer.
Avoid pressing too hard on the clay as this could result in loss of texture of the fur. If any of the fur is lost, add texture back to the body by using a sculpting tool, toothpick or craft knife, and set aside to dry.
When the bunny is dry, mould the ears. Heather has added texture to the backs of the ears using a sugar craft cutting wheel (please don’t use sharp tools directly on the moulds as it may damage them). Alternatively a textured sponge or French crepe paper can also be used.
Press the ears to back of your bunny's head using a little Extra Heavy Gel Medium or thick glue.
The expression of your bunny can be changed simply by changing the position and angle of his ears.
**TIP** The bunny bodies can be made in advance and left to dry, which makes adding and positioning the ears easier.
Step 2 – Moulding the Easter Eggs and Flowers
Using the Easter Bunny Mould and Hearty Air Drying Clay, mould the Easter eggs and flowers in many colours.
Two egg halves can be joined together with a little PVA glue to make a whole egg. Make sure to make and glue both halves together at the same time, so that they shrink at the same rate when they dry.
Glue the eggs halves together and smooth the edges together, be careful not to distort the shape of the egg.
Fill the detailed elements of the eggs with coloured clay and smooth over, add the freshly moulded egg to the mould to allow beautiful patterns of colour to form. Don't forget to remove any excess clay.
Set all eggs and flowers aside to dry.
Step 3 – Moulding the Base
Lightly dust the Medium Log Slice Mould with corn flour and tap out the excess. Lighten up a little brown Hearty Air Drying Clay with our White Hearty Air Drying Clay to create a light brown, fill the mould. Turn the mould over and press down flat against the work surface to flatten the back, and pull the clay away from the edge of the mould. Carefully remove the log slice from the mould and set aside to dry overnight.
Step 4 – Moulding the Fairy Door
Lightly dust the door of the Fairy Door Mould, and fill with Green Hearty Air Drying Clay.
Heather has found that using slightly drier air drying clay works best to mould the door, as it doesn’t stretch too much.
Work slowly to fill the mould, turning the mould around if needed.
Remove the door from the mould and leave to dry overnight.
Use a little brown or Black Hearty Air Drying Clay to mould the door handle, and leave aside to dry
**TIP** a little lip balm or white fat (vegetable fat not animal fat) can help to hold the clay in place for thinner pieces.
Step 5 – Moulding the Basket
Add a thin snake of light orange or brown Hearty Air Drying Clay into the handle part of the Basket and Flowers Mould, making sure that the clay is pulled away from the edges. Then fill in the rest of the basket with clay.
Carefully twist the mould to release the basket and gently press the dried eggs into the basket. Be careful not to press too hard, as you don’t want to loose the beautiful basket details
Using a little bit of PVA glue can help to keep the eggs in the basket.
Step 6 – Painting the Bunny
Heather has used acrylic paint in pale pink, white, and black and light blue.
Mix pale pink and white together to paint the inside of the bunny ears.
Use pale pink on its own to paint the Bunny's nose.
Using the dry brush method, use pale pink paint to lightly dust around the eyes, the mouth, cheeks, neck ruff, paws, feet and ears.
How to Dry Brush: Load a small flat paint brush with acrylic paint and then using an old rag or a paper towel, wipe all the excess paint off the brush. Scruff the rag with the brush a little if needed. The brush should be dry with only a hint of colour left on it, then lightly dust the brush over your artwork to pick up the texture and detail of the raised areas.
Add a little white paint to the teeth if needed.
Using a fine brush and slightly thinned black acrylic paint, paint the eyes being careful not to let the paint run.
Add a highlight to the bunny's nose and each eye by using white acrylic paint and the tip of a toothpick or pin.
Alternative Eye Method
To give your bunny blue eyes dip a toothpick into blue paint and add a drop of blue to the centre of each white eye. When dry add a drop of black paint to the centre of the blue, then add a highlight drop with white paint
**TIP** a little lip balm or white fat (vegetable fat not animal fat) can help to hold the clay in place for thinner pieces.
Step 7 – Painting the Eggs, Flowers and Log Slice
Heather has used acrylic paint in white, yellow, yellow ochre and pale green.
Using a fine tipped brush, add a little yellow or white paint to the centre of each flower, and stripes to the eggs.
Use a toothpick to add spots to the eggs.
Using the dry brush method, use layers of white, yellow ochre and pale green to highlight the detail on the log slice.
Step 8 – Painting the door
Heather has used acrylic paint in black, brown, white, yellow, and yellow ochre, and watercolour paint in dark green.
Paint the door frame, and, door slat and window with brown thinned acrylic paint, and the door hinges with black, and set aside to dry.
Paint a thin layer of water over the door and then add a little dark green watercolour paint into the cracks and wood grain. Set aside to dry.
When dry, dry brush the door with layers of white and pale yellow acrylic paint, to enhance the texture and lift the higher spots of the door.
Rub a little gold paint or gilding wax onto the door hinges.
Don’t forget to glue the door handle onto the door and then add a little gold paint or gilding wax to the handle.
Step 8 – Moulding the Door Frame
Make sure that you have a dry door before you move onto this step.
Lightly dust the trees of the Fairy Door Mould, and fill with Brown Hearty Air Drying Clay.
Slightly drier clay works best for this.
Add a little PVA glue to the door and attach this to the tree on the left, use a little rolled up tissue to hold the door open and to offer support while the door frame is drying
To create the door archway, add a little spot of glue to the top of the right hand tree and stick this to the left hand tree (above the door).
Adjust the door position and support the door with tissue while it is drying.
Leave to completely dry overnight.
Step 9 – Painting the Door Frame and Egg Baskets
Heather used white and Yellow acrylic paint to dry brush the door frame and egg baskets.
Step 10 – Assembly
Make sure all your pieces are dry.
Heather used a combination of toothpicks and extra heavy gel medium, or thick glue to stick all her pieces into place.
Using toothpicks to support the door frame decide where you want the door to go. Add holes to the log slice and door frame, and then push the half toothpicks through the bottom of the log slice. Add thick glue to the underside off the door frame and place this over the toothpicks. The toothpicks add extra support to the door while the glue dries.
Attach the basket in the same way, but a toothpick isn’t really needed for the basket. If you decide you don’t like the basket you’ve chosen, it can still be swapped for another while the glue is still wet.
Choose which bunny you want to use for your scene. Heather decided to go with a white bunny for this design.
Position your bunny and attach with glue and a toothpick for extra support.
Stick the Easter eggs into place, hide them just like an Easter egg hunt! Position them peaking out of the tree, behind the door or around the bunny. Make sure to wipe away any excess glue.
Step 10 – Final embellishments
Heather has used Meadow Flower Soft to add grass to her Easter scene.
Place your log slice Easter scene onto a sheet of paper. Add PVA glue liberally to the logs slice, being careful not to spread it too thin. Sprinkle the Flower Soft on the glue. You don’t need to press down on it, as the glue will hold it in place. Tap off the excess Flower Soft onto our sheet of paper and keep it for another project.
Glue the flowers in place with a little PVA glue.
And then to finish off your project add a little bow to the top of the tree door frame.
Using the Bow Trio Mould, fill the small bow with Yellow Hearty Air Drying Clay. Remove the bow from the mould and while it is still soft, add a little PVA glue to the back of the bow.
Stick the bow onto the tree doorframe, above the door, being careful not to press too hard. It is easy to bend and twist the bow while the clay is soft, but be careful not to loose any of the bow detail.
Place your little Easter scene in a safe place to dry, then sit back and admire your handiwork … go on, have a chocolate, you deserve it!
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