Easter bonnets are new to us, Dylan only started education last year and the nursery class weren't involved in the bonnet parade. I'd actually fogotten they were a thing (I'd also forgotten how competitive I am, when I heard the bonnets could enter a competition I immediately decided we had to win) so when the letter came home inviting us to make bonnets I was excited. I love to craft! And I actually have a weird anxiety around crafting fuelled by my perfectionism that stops me starting projects out of the blue so a letter from school inviting me to craft!? Hoorah!!!
And as I'm back here and bloggers love a good DIY post I decided to pretend I was a good blogger and bring you this.
DIY - EASTER BONNETS (but not bonnets because we went shopping for bonnets and both children refused to put them on their heads and requested different shaped hats - or in Isla's case a headband)
Getting ready to craft is more fun than crafting (just) when it involves a trip to Hobbycraft and a soy mocha from Costa - FYI
First and most importantly we discussed themes, I love a good theme especially if it means matching or coordinating costumes (or bonnets in this case). To help us out I gave Dylan some hat shape options ranging from bonnets (obviously not), to cowboy hats (Woody and Jessie themed bonnets anyone?), top hats and even masks (I was feeling creative). Dylan chose the top hat and Isla was too busy drawing to talk to me apparently. So we talked about who wears top hats and Alice in Wonderland's Mad Hatter came up. We found some pictures of his hat and that was that. Dylan wanted a mad hat and Isla who was still too busy could have some rabbit ears. Perfect.
Floral rabbit ears
Rabbit ears - £1 pound land, Silk craft flowers £1.50-£2 Hobbycraft (the glue gun is new £5)
I started with Isla's ears because they're super quick and easy to make but also surprisingly effective and look quite impressive when they're done.
1. Cut the stems off all of your flowers. I went almost to the base of the rose but not quite so I'd have s tiny bit of room for manipulation even while the glue was setting. I could just hold onto the tiny bit of stem but hardly.
2. Figure out where you want your flowers. Play around and change where you put them till you can find what you think looks best. Personally I like it being quite full but also uneven so I had quite a lot
of shuffling. Also remember that it has to go on someone's head, don't place your flowers too low down or else the band will just pop off.
3. GLUE!! You can use whatever glue suits you best, at first I was going to use fabric glue or superglue but then I got myself a hot glue gun (!!!!!) and used that instead.
At this point I thought that I should probably have painted my nails but who has the time?
4. Keep gluing on your flowers (hopefully where you had intended to place them but if you're like me
you'll forget and have to just go with the flow) and keep checking how low your flowers are hitting to prevent the whole band popping off your head thing. Then you're done.
See? Super simple
Yet effective.
The Mad Hatters Easter hat
Tissue paper, A4 card, Reindeer moss, Chicks, Styrofoam eggs, Sheet of card, Hay stuff that I can't remember the name of - Hobbycraft (I'd tell you guys the prices but I bought doubles of things to stock up so its not really a true representation - also Harrison reads this and he might kill me)
1. So first you have to make the actual hat (unless you can find a top hat in which case I completely recommend doing that because while I love crafting I also love sleeping and spending extra time crafting Easter bonnets that aren't bonnets that will never see the light of day after the parade when you don't have to doesn't count as fun crafting to me) which involves knowing read measurements (and I had forgotten to measure Dylan's head) or being good at guessing. Luckily I know Dylan's head is about the same size as mine. Luckier still he have this great rainbow and one of the arches (the blue one) fits around half my head perfectly. So resorceful as ever I used that to create the inside circle of my hat.
2 then you need the brim. So again (resorceful) I used another arch from the rainbow. Of course I don't recommend using a rainbow stacker, actual measurements are probably s lot better and in retrospect I could have used a plate/bowl/empty plant pot and looked much more sensible.
3. Now you need the circumference of your two circles to make the tall part of the hat. They need to be in an arch shape but it doesn't need to be too precise (Mad Hatters hat remember, it can be as wonky as you like and you can claim artistic licence) with the short side matching the circumference of the inside of your hat and the long side matching the brim. The angles in the corners need to be right angles (90 degrees)
4. Cut it all out and pray you've got it all right because that's the worst of it over and you don't want to have to do that again.
5. Glue the tall part of you hat together. It doesn't have to be neat, mine certainly isn't. It'll Al be covered up in a minute and no one will know this is your first time with a hot glue gun.
6. Next you need to find a way to cover both pieces of your hat with your tissue paper. There's no right or wrong way to do it I tore my pieces of paper in half and then wrapped it around the brim of the hat but then just glued the strips onto the tall bit making sure there was no card showing. You'll have loads of excess tissue paper that you'll be itching to cut off left at the top but down. It'll create a base for your nest in a minute.
7. Glue the two pieces together. Just make sure the brim is relatively even. A.though again, Mad Hatters hat = creative licence.
7. Rabbit ears! Fold you piece of card in half and draw an ear shape, when you cut it out you'll have two identical ears. Fold a little flap at the bottom and figure out where you want them on your hat (somewhere roughly at the side but also far enough forward so you can see them from the front) then glue them in place.
Grab a sheet of tissue paper in another colour, tear it in half then fold it till it's the width you want. Wrap it around the base of your hat and your hat is finished.
8. Glue your moss onto the brim of the hat. I decided not to go the whole was around because I had some spare flowers from Isla's hairband and wanted one at the front to tie them together somehow (you'll notice if you come here now and again that I like my children to coordinate.. But who doesn't?). And make your 'hay stuff' into a nest shape and pop it into the top of your hat on top of the tissue paper (this will also stop your nest falling down and landing on your child's head)
At this point I went to collect Dylan from school which was perfect timing really as it meant he could finish his hat (with help and supervision of course, I didn't let my four year old lose with a hot glue gun!)
9. Decorate your bonnet (that's not a bonnet). Put a bit of glue onto the eggs and either place or drop them into the next and periodically around the brim of your hat/in the moss. Once your eggs are in place stick your chicks on, I found that glue on just their feet was more than enough in the nest but while they were stable enough with glued down feet on the brim they did look a tiny bit drunk so a squirt of glue on their bum held them in place (and made Dylan laugh because at four years old bums are hilarious!)
And voila! One Mad Hatter themed Easter bonnet.
It actually turned out that my super precise way of measuring totally failed me as I hadn't accounted for Dylan's hair so when he put his hat on it promptly fell onto the floor and the nest (which we didn't glue because there's no need plus I'm planning on taking it out of the hat and using it as a mini centrepiece on Easter Sunday) fell onto the floor and my previously sober looking chicks went all wonky and drunk looking. So I've had to glue a ribbon to the insides to tie under his chin and hopefully keep it on his head for the parade tomorrow. Fingers crossed
So here you go my lovely readers (no really you must be saints to put up with the garbage I talk sometimes) two Alice inWonderland themes Easter bonnets for children who don't like Easter bonnets.
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