EASTER CRAFT: EGGCUP FELT PINCUSHION

Eater is rapidly approaching and I haven't shared any of my Easter crafting yet so here goes....

I found this little guy....

...at a local market at the start of the year and took him home for $4. I think he is just devine and he has inspired all of my Easter ideas this year. My immediate thought was he would make a perfect pincushion.....so here is what I did....

....I cut a rough circle of green felt and grabbed a handful of stuffing.

Using 3 strands of floss I used running stitch around the edge of the circle......

....pulling tight as I went so I ended up with a little felt bowl. Then I stuffed it with polyfill and cut a small circle in matching felt....

.......then blanket stitched it become the base.....

Popped it into bunny to make sure it fitted...

.....perfect. At this point I didn't really know what I was making but thought a basket of eggs would be cute.

I cut a small circle of brown felt and used running stitch to gather it together at the top and knotted it tightly on the inside but kept the needle and thread attached...

....then time for the handle. I cut a tall rectangle of felt and cut 2 slits not quite to the top....

...and then plaited them. Holding tight to the bottom so it didn't unravel I stitched it to the inside of the basket...

....it looks a little like a snake here! Then tucked the other side of the handle in and stitched it tight, I knotted it on the outside of the basket and then hid the knot in the pleat...

 

Next I added a little stuffing to the basket and cut out some coloured circles for eggs, random sizes of course...

 

....the I folded each circle in half and threaded all of them onto 3 strands of floss...

 ...pulled tight and knotted at the other end......

.....added a touch of glue to the bottom and added the eggs to the basket....cute!

Then I decided I needed a bunny, a 3D one seemed a little too daunting so I went with old favourite and cut out the shape. I tried it on the pincushion to make sure it would fit with the basket.

 

Then I gave him a face and blanket stitched him on...

Time to add the basket......

 

...I positioned the basket, made a knot in the pincushion directly underneath then bought the needle up through the basket across and down back near the knot. I did this a few times until the basket was firmly on...

 

...and my Easter pincushion is complete! The great thing is I didn't glue it in the cup so if I can get sick of it I can change it.

 

Here he is with an Easter cupcake I have also been working on....

 

....more details on how to make that later!

Easter Cupcakes

I have been rummaging through unpacked shipping boxes (from our move last August!!) searching for my Easter decorations and I found these cuties I had forgotten about......

The no calorie alternative these cupcakes are made with plaster so would sit a little heavy in your tummy!

I used latex craft cupcake moulds which I found on ebay a few years ago, I found some similar ones here. The moulds need to be made latex rather than plastic to work well. All you do is pour in plaster of paris, wait a day or two to dry and then paint with acrylic. Would be a great school holiday project for kids. 

Then I have decorated a double cupcake box, I got this one fom The Packaging Place. They have a huge range of cupcake boxes and all kinds of packaging at great prices. It is just as well that I don't live in Australia anymore or my house would be full of packaging. I still have 30 pizza boxes do do something with but I have something in mind for them - I'm thinking a felt pizza toy....I will add it to my craft 'to do' list.

I used to have great fun making and painting these faux cupcakes, I think I might dig out my moulds and have another go.