*This bunny has been very loved for a few years, and looks it!
This homemade bunny in a tin turned out to be such a fantastic present for our then 3 year old daughter. It’s such a simple idea and yet it ticks so many of the boxes young children enjoy in a toy: a tin with a latch they can open and close endlessly, a small furry friend they can love until it’s gone grey, imaginative play, it’s portable AND the bunny and all its bed linen can be packed and unpacked endlessly too.
Seriously – it’s been amazing. She was still playing with it at aged 5 and even now, aged 9, it will come out when she’s playing with her youngest brother, or she wants to use the blanket and pillow for something else.
How about making one for your child, or a child you know?
You can either buy everything new for your bunny in a tin, or look for things on eBay and charity shops. The end result will be exactly the same! Don’t forget, second hand clothes from charity shops are an amazing source of fabric :).
What You Need:
- A latchable tin, box, mini suitcase or a bag
- Two different fabrics – preferably fleece, or something that won’t fray when it’s cut!
- Toy Stuffing
- Needle and thread
- A bunny or similar
What You Do:
- Cut one piece of fabric to fit the whole of the inside of the bottom of the tin suitcase, to make the bottom ‘sheet’.
- For the pillow, cut a piece of the other fabric, twice the width of the tin (see diagram; Fabric 2).
- Fold it in half with RIGHT SIDES together, and sew along the sewing lines
- Leaving a section un-sewn, turn your pillow inside out until it’s the right side out.
- Stuff it with toy stuffing until it’s ‘just right’, and sew the last little bit closed. Voila!
- Cut the blanket from whichever piece of fabric you choose – the whole width of the tin suitcase ‘plus a bit’, and the right length to suit your furry friend! I cut circles from Fabric 1 to sew on to Fabric 2, for a bit of variety…
That’s it!
So cosy!
…and watch them enjoy!
*Our Early Bird discount goes live in September for 3 weeks. Please join our mailing list at the bottom if you would like us to let you know when it’s launched.
***
If your child believes in Father Christmas and you want to keep the magic for as long as possible, Elfie’s Christmas Letters (advent letters), the North Pole Christmas Letters or our Candy Cane Christmas Letters are absolutely perfect! You can preorder these for Christmas 2016 now, so please pop into the shop or join the mailing list. Elfie’s Birthday Letters and Elfie’s Tooth Fairy Letter are available in the Shop too!
Come and join us on Facebook for non Christmassy posts until much later in the year, or find us over on Christmas Traditions & Magic For Children for all year round festive chat.
To receive our blog posts, please sign up at the right hand side of this page or for Product or Christmas News and promotions from the International Elf Service, please sign up at the bottom of the page.
Love
Elfie x
Leave a Reply