One thing I have always enjoyed about decorative painting is the variety of surfaces. I love all the different shapes. Many times for me, just looking at a shape gives me an idea of what to put on it. This happened to me when I was looking into the recycle bin at these two different shaped bottles. I immediately saw bunny bodies.
I envisioned using Styrofoam balls for their heads and QuikWood (QW) to create the details. I applied pieces of newspaper with DecouPage to the bottles. Once it dried, I covered the bottles with a coat of Gesso.
Then began the process of adding the head and sculpting the details. I chose a Styrofoam ball that is in proportion to the size of the bottle. For the rectangular bottle I used a 2 1/2″ ball and for the larger bottle I used a 3″ ball. Since this was my first attempt, I used the bottles the way they were made. If I did it again, I might cut off a part of the top of the large bottle with a hack saw to make the neck shorter.
The first thing I did was sculpt the ears and let them cure. Again, I made the ears in proportion to the size of the bunny. Of course, bunnies can have all different size ears so don’t over-think it. To make it easier you can download the pattern below. Lay a piece of parchment paper over the pattern and follow the instructions on the video. For the larger ears I used 1/2″ of QW and divided it in two. For the medium ears I used 3/8″ of QW and divided it in two.
Video for making ears:
If you want to make the bunnies a little heavier, you could add some sand or stones to the bottles before adding the heads. I did not add anything to mine.
Once the ears are cured, I pushed the Styrofoam ball down on top of the neck of the bottle. I then covered the head with clay and inserted the ears.
For the large head I used 3″ (2″ to start and then 1″ rolled into a 6″ coil to finish) of QW to cover it and for the medium head I used 2 1/4″ (1 1/2″ to start and then 3/4″ rolled into a 5″ coil to finish) of QW.
I then added the feet and the tail. For the larger bunny I used 1″ of QW for the tail and 1″ divided it in two for the feet. For the medium bunny I used 3/4″ of QW for the tail and 3/4″ divided it in two for the feet.
I them added a muzzle using 1/2″ of QW for the large bunny and 1/4″ of QW for the medium bunny.
Once you have your sculpting done you will want to cover the QW with a coat of DecoArt Adhesion Medium mixed 1:1 with DecoArt paint. I usually use Oyster Beige because it is a little lighter than the QW and I can see where I painted. If you haven’t already done so, you will want to paint the paper with gesso.
I then sketched out how I was going to dress my bunnies.

At this point you could decide if you want any more sculpted details. I begin painting my bunnies and then decided to add a few more details. I used DecoArt paint for my bunnies. I recommend using your favorite colors.
I then decided to add a flower and carrots to the square bunnies and arms and a heart to the larger bunny.
Once they were painted, I gave them a light coat of DecoArt matte varnish. I then added a few embellishments.





Once I finished these bunnies, I started seeing other containers that could be bunnies as well.






I hope you will have fun creating more up-cycled bunnies. If you create some, please send me pictures at alandjanie@msn.com and I will add them to the bottom of this post.
Happy Spring, Happy Easter!
Hugs,
Jane
So cute. Will never throw out a bottle without thinking”what would Jane do?” 😊
thank you Jan, you make me chuckle!
Oh my gosh Jane…these are sooo cute! Thank you for sharing this with all of us! I definitely will be doing this!
thank you Jean, please share your bunnies
Too cute. Thanks for the tutorial
You are amazing, too cute for words!
thank you Nancy they were fun
you are very welcome Ginny, they were fun to make
So cute, thank you.
thank you Liz
So adorable,amazing, the eyes speak to me!
thank you MIM, they were fun to make
Jane, so cute. Will fit right in with my deers.
Thank you!! Love the bunnies!!