You are currently viewing Multiple Layered Bunny Design

Multiple Layered Bunny Design

Supplies:

  1. Wood (you could use other materials. See paragraphs below for more suggestions for alternative materials)
  2. Wood glue
  3. Glue stick
  4. Hot glue gun and glue
  5. Foil flakes in silver and rose gold
  6. Ribbon
  7. Cardstock
  8. My design, which can be found in my free library. (If you need the password, then click get password for library on the right hand side or click this link.)
layered bunny

I started out by finding a shape/simple SVG file I wanted to use. I then used a program called Inkscape to draw straight lines through my design. I made the lines longer than my design. Inkscape also has an alignment tool, which helped me make my lines evenly spaced. I then selected my image, and the lines I made and clicked path, then division. This cut my lines exactly where my image ended.

You can get similar results by using the shapes and slice tool in Cricut Design Space, but I find Inkscape easier and more precise. You will also need to make several duplicates of you image if doing this in Design Space.

Do not worry, I provide my two bunny designs I did this process to for you for free in my library! Just click on my library. If you need the password to get into my free library, then click here or click get library password.

Now that we have our design, it is time to make our bunnies. I used a mixture of my Cricut and Glowforge to create my bunnies. If you do not have a Glowforge, then you can use cardboard, chipboard, kraft board, and the Cricut Maker can cut some wood. You could use thicker materials to make your piece have more depth or you could make it all out of different colors of cardstock or vinyl. You could also cut very thin wood called veneer and attach it on top of your thicker material, to make it look like it is all made out of wood.

Before you start making any of your pieces, you will want to decide which pieces you want in what. I decided to do three different sections, which I alternated. So, I started with the bunny’s back end, and wanted this first strip to look like metal/foil method. The next strip would be my music note cardstock, which needed to be cut on my Cricut. The third strip would be my higher layer which I cut out of wood on my Glowforge. I then repeated this pattern until I finished all of my strips.

Once I knew which pieces were going to be what, I could then just cut those specific pieces on the needed material and machines. I ended up cutting each strip on my Glowforge and making two cuts of all the pieces I left plain wood. This would make these layers a different height than the others and thus help them stand out. I decided to cut each layer out of wood to make it easier to work on each layer individually. It also provided some extra thickness to my piece. Feel free to make up your own layers or to make your layers in a different order than I did.  

I decided to do my cardstock layer first. I used my Cricut to cut out only the layers I wanted the cardstock on. I hid all the extra pieces I did not need. I then changed all of my pieces to the same color so they would all be put on one cutting mat. If you want to use different cardstock on each piece, then it would be easier to keep each piece on a separate mat.

Once my cardstock layers were cut out, I used mod podge to apply my cardstock to the corresponding wood pieces. I applied my mod podge directly to my wood, placed my cardstock, and let it dry a little as I did the other cardstock pieces. I then went pack and applied a layer of mod podge to the top of my completed pieces. Now set these pieces aside to dry as we move onto the next piece.

Next, I did the foil layers. I used a mixture of silver and a few pieces of rose gold foil flakes, any brand should work. I put my foil flakes in a plastic container and mixed them together. I then applied my glue stick glue over my wood piece and placed that wood piece directly into my foil flakes. I pressed my foil flakes down onto my wood piece. Make sure to really cover your wood piece. I let it dry for just a few seconds and took a stiff bristle brush and gently wiped off the extra foil flakes. It takes a little bit of practice to get the hang of this technique, but if to many foil flakes come off, then just apply more glue, and try again. I was losing a lot of my foil flakes when I was brushing off the extra, then I realized pressing the foil flakes into the wood helped make them stick better. I also think waiting a little bit for the glue to dry also helped. I brushed my foil flakes back into my plastic container, so none were wasted. These layers took some time to finish. Once they were finished, I set them aside to dry.

For my last layer I just used wood glue to glue my two identical layers of wood together. Other glue may be better if you are not using wood for this layer.  I pressed my two wood pieces together tightly to insure a good bond.

The last step was to apply some wood glue to the back of each of my pieces and apply them to the full wood cutout of my bunny. I recommend laying all of your layers in order of how they go and apply them to your bunny in that order. Do not do all one type of strips first. This may cause your spacing to be off a little. So, just start at one end and lay your strips down in the order they go, foil layer, cardstock layer, double wood layer, repeat.

I also decided to add a bow to each of my bunnies. I think adding a bow or even some flowers really adds a nice piece of extra detail to these little guys. To make the bow I cut a strip of ribbon, and pinched it in the center. I applied some hot glue to the back of where I pinched it together. I then bent the ends and glued them to the back as well. Since the bow was going to be glued onto my bunny, no one will see the unfinished back. I did this a second time and glued the two pieces together. I then wrapped and glued a strip of ribbon around the center of my bow. You could be done with your bow here, but I decided to add tails to my bow. I cut another strip of ribbon, folded it in half and cut a diagonal at the bottom. I then pinched the top together and applied some glue before glued it to the back of my bow. I then created another tail doing the same method. Then glue your bow to your bunny. I made two different bows, one for each bunny, but used the same method for each.

I also glued towering tumble blocks from Dollar Tree to the backs of my bunnies to help them stand up.

layered bunny

I love how many different textures and layers there are in this piece. It takes a little bit of time and double checking to insure you made each slice correctly, but it was a relaxing piece to really get into. I made these bunnies for my mom, but loved them so much, that I had to make one for myself as well. I think I will leave mine out all year around since he is so cute, and not necessarily just an Easter bunny.  

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.