I was walking through Target the other night and spotted some adorable bunny rabbit Easter decorations – they were covered in brightly-colored papers and covered in ultra-fine glitter. Would I buy one? Of course not. I’d make my own. To do this I had to find ceramic or resin figures (mine were ceramic). (IMPORTANT: Don’t look at the painted designs on it – look at the LINES. The shape needs to be very clean and simple otherwise you’ll end up with a very pretty, glittered blob!)
Here’s what I started with – pretty terrifying aren’t they? Well, the duck isn’t so bad but that bunny? EEEKK! So a coat or two of primer went on first. (I did the duck in gray, not sure why but ended up doing it over in white because the paper I was using was white and the gray showed through.)
Once the primer was dry it was time to start covering with the paper.
The paper I used was handmade. (See my paper hints at the end of the post!) Hint: The smaller the figure, the smaller your torn pieces of paper should be. It makes it much easier to shape around all the curves.) Tear your paper (don’t cut – straight edges will show up and leave a less uniform result.)
I worked in small sections by applying Mod Podge to the figure and then to the back of the torn paper pieces, pressing on and shaping by applying more Mod Podge over the top and blending in all the edges. Now you could use a sponge brush I suppose but I feel I have better control by using my fingers. I kept the figure on aluminum foil so it wouldn’t stick while it was drying.
Here, everything is dry and I’m ready to “glitter” him up!
To do this, I watered down a little Mod Podge and brushed over the entire bunny lightly using a paint brush. Then I gave him a “glitter” shower and left that to dry. I used Stampin' Up! Dazzling Diamonds ultra fine glitter but you could use any kind. I think even the kid's "chunky" glitter would look cute!
I added the little black bow (because I’m going with the black and white theme) and you’d never know how truly sad he looked before his makeover!
I followed the same steps with the duck, added a bow on her little neck as well and she too was a new woman! . . . I think they're a cute little pair now!
And they fit just perfectly on my dining room table!
Really, the possibilities are unlimited! You CAN use wood figures or shapes; you could add rhinestones, pearls, rick-rack on the eggs, etc. With all of the beautiful handmade papers available, you could really go crazy with this project! And those holiday decorations you're no longer crazy about? Just re-cover them!
Now here are some tips for choosing the right paper for this project:
- You can’t use tissue paper – it’s too thin.
- You can’t use regular scrapbook paper – it’s too thick.
- The best is the handmade papers or mulberry paper because when you tear them, the edges are “fibrous” and you don’t see white edges instead of the printed paper. Most scrapbooking stores carry both the mulberry paper and handmade papers.
- Stay away from solid colors, stripes or plaids. Choose paper with a tiny, all-over pattern or a tone-on-tone print (like the one I used) if you want a solid color look.
