Thursday, March 25, 2010

Easter Carrots Tutorial

Recognize this post???  I thought I would repost
it since Easter is just around the corner!

I've been wanting an Easter / Spring decoration for my front door forever so I came up with (copied from a neighbor) this cute Carrot decoration for my door. The little girl that I watch everyday came over today and said that it was weird to hang carrots on the door. I told her that is how we get the Easter bunny to come to our house, she didn't think it was so weird after that. This picture makes me want to paint my door black!


I love it when projects turn out to be easier than expected and that's how this one was. It only took about an hour and a half and that is with me trying to take care of my crying baby too.

Supplies
*
2 orange tea towels ( or 1/2 yard of orange fabric that you like)
orange thread
* ribbon (what ever you have around the house, it wont be seen)
* small safety pin
* fake greenery (something that resembles carrot foliage)
* glue gun or craft glue
* fiber fill or stuffing (they are the same thing aren't they?)
* optional - brown wood stain and foam brush

Cut three carrots. They should be 6" wide at the top and 15 - 17" long. Mine are 15", but if I had to do it again I think I would make them a little bit longer. I would especially make them longer if you have a big front door, not the normal white generic one like I have.

Starting at the top, sew down the sides of each carrot using a 1/4" seam allowance. Then fold the top over 1/2" and stitch near the bottom (like picture below). Be sure and leave about a 1/2" opening to thread the ribbon through.

Turn the carrot right side out. It helps to clip the excess fabric at the bottom a little and use a pencil when turning it. Fill with fiber fill or batting or stuffing or whatever you want to call it.
Slide some ribbon onto your safety pin and feed it through the casing that you just made.

Group some fake greenery together so it resembles carrot stems and wrap some of the wire around it so it stays together. Now put lots of hot glue all around the end of it. Put it in the top center of the carrot and pull the ribbon tight and close and knot.

This is totally optional but I used some watered down wood stain to give my carrots a little more character. I didn't want them to look so new. It worked good, but my house smelled like wood stain for a while.

Group your three cute carrots together and tie some ric rac around. Use some fray check at the ends of the ric rac so it doesn't fray.



When your done you should have some cute carrots hanging on your door, and when your kids think you've lost your mind, you can tell them it's so the Easter Bunny will be sure to come.

23 comments:

rachel griffith said...

adorable.

Jen~ Lipstick and Laundry said...

I am MAJORLY in love with carrots right now, in fact just did a post and tutorial about them... NOW I MUST make these! Thank you so much for the tutorial!

Sandra said...

Very cute carrots and great idea using towels. Have to make me some now. Come stop by when you get a chance.

Gigi's Thimble said...

So cute. What a clever decoration. I can't believe Easter is next week. I guess I blew decorating for that holiday too! I've still got my Valentine's day stuff up! Agh! Thanks for the tutorial. It's really darling!

McKenzie Johnson said...

way cute idea!

Vintage Sandy said...

Thw Easter bunny is sure to stop at your house tooooooooo cute!

Laurel @ Ducks in a Row said...

i think these are really really cute!

Kris said...

Darling! I will be making some today!

Angela Yosten said...

very cute!

michelle@somedaycrafts said...

I'm totally loving these! I will feature them at somedaycrafts.lbogspot.com. Grab my "featured" button. BTW, your t-shirt idea from last week go the most views out of any from that show!!! Congrads!

Southern Fried Gal said...

Oh those are too stinking cute! I want some! Have a blessed weekend!

Julie @ Jaybird Quilts said...

super cute!

Scrap for Joy said...

This is one of the cutest projects I've seen..so unique. I collect carrots...odd, huh? I don't know why they appeal to me...they just do! I love these...think I'll make this for next year! Thanks for the instructions.
Joyce
(If you want to see my carrots...hop on over.

Jeni said...

Well I bet your house will be the bunny's first stop by the look of those carrots.

They are so cute!

I just made my little girl a stripy skirt out of part of a leftover jelly roll...now I want to make some of those pretty flowers you did for moda to put on a t-shirt to match. Thanks for doing all these neat things and sharing them!

Amy {The Idea Room} said...

Just what I was looking for. I made some and linked to your blog. Thanks!

Amy {The Idea Room} said...

Nicole--Thanks for your comments and your awesome tutorial. I love how mine turned out! I did design my blog myself all except for the header. I had Carly from Playful Pickle Designs do it. She was great to work with and super fast! We thought we were finished at 4 kids too. I couldn't get rid of the feeling that there was one more waiting. So glad I listened.

Jeni said...

I did it! I made some of your flowers and my Madi looked so cute...I think anyway. Thank you, thank you. They were hard at all...now I want to make some more...for something.

I put my little girls picture in her new ourfit on my blog.

Ashlee said...

Nicole, these are adorable!! You are so creative! I don't have a creative bone in my body. I am just good at copying others creativity! I think I might have to make me a bunch of carrots for next year to hang on my front door!

Kim D. said...

Very cute and thanks for the tutorial. I'll have to bookmark it for future reference.

Diane H said...

Just want to say thanks for the great tutorial. Had a lovely visit through your blog with my morning coffee - it was a pleasure.
Take care, DianeH
http://sideroadstitcher.blogspot.com

Amy said...

Adorable!
Blessings,
Amy

Unknown said...

These are so cute. I will be including it on Random Crafty Georgia Girl Crafty Tuesday tomorrow. Please stop by and grab a featured button!
http://randomcraftygagirl.blogspot.com

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