Welcome to Bunnyville

Today we had a great time at the Bunnyville Event at the zoo. We had been debating between going or not because it's a bit of a drive for us, and we'll be making almost the same drive tomorrow to Brad's mom's house. We decided after seeing the weather forecast that we had to take advantage of the nice weather, who knows what it'll be like next year.

It was a lovely day, although it did start kind of chilly. The sun soon came out and the place was packed, so we hurried up and did all the Easter activities first and then took our time seeing the animals.

First up were the games, she enjoyed throwing the bean bag into the egg shape with cut-outs, the egg toss, carrying the eggs back and forth, and digging for the dinosaurs in the sand. If you're thinking, dinosaurs? The reason for them at Easter is because the next exhibit to open is all about dinosaurs. ER didn't mind; she was very happy to unearth a pink dinosaur. She also really liked the other little prize filled eggs she won for each game.

There was a craft in the reptile house, which was pretty clever I thought. The used self adhesive foam egg shapes and had the kids add eyes, beak, and feathers to the sticky side. Then they put them sticky side down into colored sand.

We managed to find our friends even with the zoo being so busy, thank goodness for cell phones! The girls were happy to see each other and it was fun for them to all get their faces painted like bunnies together.

This was the first time she's gotten her face painted and I was concerned she might not like it too much, but she sat pretty well for it. She's been calling herself princess bunny ever since.

Here is one of my first attempts at using the clone tool to erase text, I didn't like the Meijers across the front of the headband. So I tried to use PS Elements to get rid of it and add Happy Easter instead. It was very frustrating, but I enjoyed the practice. I think I may have to invest in a continuing ed photoshop elements class, I think I've hit the limits of my self taught abilities. This one was really hard to work on because of the shadows across the headband - that really got me, plus I erased a bit over the bottom of the headband. I've decided this probably isn't too noticeable. The top photo's fix up job of her on one of the turtles outside of the amphibian center came out better, although it's probably too small to tell on here. You'll have to take my word for it☺The last thing we did was go on their jelly bean themed egg hunt, where the kids got to find eggs and then trade them for prizes.Our friends had to leave after the egg hunt, but ER wanted to run around the playground. So we headed over there and then took her around most of the zoo again to see all the animals. We were exhausted by the time we left. Brad took us out to lunch on the way home, so we had a lovely Easter family outing. It was a lot of fun.

One more picture before we wash the bunny face off, she's so cheesy! Notice our kitty, the elusive Beaver on the chair behind her. He's getting braver and braver...been staying out in the open longer and longer when she's around. But still darts off if she looks like she might be coming to pet him.

Easter Crafts: Paper Basket, Favor Cup, and Egg Wreath

Need a last minute Easter basket? Try making one of these simple paper ones, I found the tutorial on Fresh and Fun and she has lots of other great tutorials too. All you have to do is score, cut, and glue...very simple. I made mine with a 12x12 sheet of cardstock, 2x12 inch scrap, and the bunny Sizzlits die that came in the same pack as the chick I used here. My daughter then decorated it with some Easter egg stickers.

They actually hold quite a lot if you use a full sheet of cardstock, and we made two to give to Grammy & Papa and Grandma Norma on Easter with some sweet treats inside. We even managed to make them with supplies we already had on hand. I've also made them in a smaller size and used them as favor baskets for the 4th of July, I just stamped a white paper base with red and blue stars to make it patriotic.I also finished up working on the felt tulip favor cup I found at Four Crazy Kings, and I just got more great news. I won Kim's 100th post giveaway and will be getting a prize package of cards that she designed! I am so excited because I love her illustrations they are so fun and cute. She has a ton of great ideas and she inspires me with great crafts for kids and me!I was going to do a post to show off my Easter decorations, but I ran out of time before the big day. I did want to show off the plastic Easter egg wreath I made, because it took me so long to make it! Even with having to rip the entire thing apart twice, a few hot glue burns, and finding out too late I was short on ribbon I am happy with how it turned out. My problems came up because I couldn't just follow the directions. I had to make mine bigger which meant I needed more eggs and the placement was a bit different. Go see Cindi's at This is My Life, hers is even cuter, wish I'd been able to find some of those iridescent eggs she used.

Easter Art: Paper Plate Chick

We made this really simple chick and it was so easy that we actually made three, one to hang from ER's bedroom window, one for Grammy & Papa, and one to take to Grandma Norma's on Easter. We had all the components on hand and they went together in a snap.

ER's favorite thing to do is paint, so she had a grand ol' time painting six plates. I think she was just happy she got to paint to her heart's content for once. This is such a nice project because I can just give her the paint and let her do her thing.

I cut the shapes for the legs, feet, beak, and eyes. She applied dots of glue where I pointed and stuck them pieces together. I stapled the head and body together. That was it, three art projects...easy peasy toddler craft.

These are based on a project I first did when student teaching so it's been awhile since I made them. I wasn't exactly sure how to position and place the legs and such; when I saw Michelle's version I knew just what I'd use for a model. Thanks Michelle!

Her's has fun assorted collage materials such as feathers and pom poms on the chick's body which is a great way to add some texture but is not painted. The ones I did when student teaching were painted and also had feathers on them but we didn't have any on hand and I just couldn't fit in another craft store run. Since the big draw for ER is painting I decided that ours would still be fun without them but I think I'll add some collage materials to our craft kit so we'll be ready to go for next time.

Check out I Blame My Mother for more Kid Friendly Friday activities.