DIY Air-Dry Clay Bunny Vase

Have you heard Easter is coming early this year? Eek! We are just one week away and I’ve yet to post one new craft idea. And so crazy since I had tons of inspiration last Easter. Anyways, hopefully this DIY Air-Dry Clay Bunny Vase makes up for my lack of ideas this year. I love whimsical home decor and truly love how this bunny vase turned out. Can you believe it started with a coffee can? Yep! I upcycled a coffee can using air-dry clay. It was both super easy and super rewarding because the end product looks like a high-end vase (if I do say so myself) yet it only cost about $7 to make.

So here’s the deal. You may be wondering why I didn’t just make the vase shape from scratch and the answer is two-fold. Air-dry clay is not waterproof and I wanted to use this as a vase. Second, I do not have the skill sets to make a vase shape from scratch. In fact, I had never used air-dry clay before and frankly have never been good at anything to do with clay. So let me be proof that even if you have zero clay skills—you can do this! Plus, the clay did have some cracks and instead of trying to fix it with more clay, I used spackling paste. You know, the stuff you use to fill in holes on your walls. It worked perfectly! And I love how it goes on pink and drys white, really makes it easy to know when it’s dry. Perfect for us non-clay people. That said, if you are good with clay, please forgive my remedial skills and instructions. I’m a Jack-of-all-trades kind of crafter.

So let’s get started.

Materials

• White Air-Dry Modeling Clay, 2.2 lb package (Tip: It’s normally about $12, but I used a 40% coupon at Michaels to make this project only about $7.)
• Coffee Can (A tin can or glass jar would also work.)
• Craft Knife
• Ruler
• Rolling Pin
• Skewer or clay tools
• Cookie Sheet or large cutting board (optional)
• Foil (optional)
• Sewing Measuring Tape (optional)
• Spackling Paste (optional)
• White & Black Paint (optional)

Instructions

1. Remove the label from your can and make sure it is clean.
2. Measure the height and circumference of your can. Use a sewing measuring tape to measure the circumference or get ready to do a little math! Measure the diameter of the opening of the can. Then multiply the diameter by pi ( π = 3.14 ). Grade school math really does come in handy (wink).
3. Roll out your clay to about an 1/8″ thick or so. Also make sure it’s rolling out to be a little larger than the the height and circumference of your can. To protect your work surface, I suggest rolling out your clay on something you can cut on. I used the back of a cookie sheet that I covered with foil. A cutting board would also work.
4. Using your ruler and craft knife, cut out a rectangle. The rectangle’s height equals the height of your can plus an extra inch. The rectangle’s width equals the circumference of your can plus an extra 1/2 inch or so.
5. Wrap your can with your clay rectangle. Align the bottom of the clay rectangle with the bottom of the can.  Be sure to smooth out the seam where your clay overlaps. Also roll over the clay at the lip of your can so you see some clay on the inside of the can.
   
6. Cut two ears from your clay and apply them to the top of your can using extra pieces of clay applied to the inside of the can. This takes patience and some molding of the clay. Through the process, I discovered the clay wouldn’t just stand up on its own (the ears kept flopping over) so I propped them up using what I had handy in the kitchen. So embarrassing, but true. I have a feeling that maybe it would have been smart to make a form out of floral wire and then cover it with the clay, but oh well. Propping the ears up worked so do whatever works for you. (Maybe a clay expert would like to chime in on comments below.) Also note that I curled one of the ears. This is really your chance to give your bunny personality so have fun with it. Let the clay “speak” to you!
   
7. Once the clay was slightly dry, I added the face by etching it into the clay using a skewer. If you have proper clay tools, by all means, use those!
8. Let your bunny dry. The package says 24 hours, but mine took about 3 days! The main vase area and ears seemed dry in about 24 hours, but where I attached the ears on the inside of the can seemed to take an extra long time to dry. Probably because the clay is a little thicker there.
9. Once dry, I realized my bunny vase had cracks and blemishes where I didn’t fully smooth things out. To fix this, I used spackling paste. I just applied it to any cracks and smoothed it out with my finger. The spackling paste dried to the exact same finish and color as the air-dry clay. You may or may not need this step depending on your clay skills.
10. Paint your vase. Again this is optional since the clay is already white, but I wanted it to be glossy. Plus, I wanted to make sure the face stood out a little more. So I painted the whole vase white. I then applied a little bit of black paint to the cracks of the face and removed most of the black with a wet towel. I also went over the face with white paint again. It took a little back and forth to get the right amount. I didn’t want it to be too obvious. I really hope this makes sense as it is very hard to describe.
11. Now enjoy! Hopefully you’re able to add some beautiful blooms.

Spring blooms look pretty cute in a bunny! I used lemon tip leaves, spray roses in two shades of pink, and white and yellow ranunculus.

So will you give this little bunny vase a try? I love how it looks here on a floral wood tray with my vintage depression glass candlesticks and mercury glass votives. It would also be a darling centerpiece for an Easter dining table. If I had a long table, I think I would make a set of three to run down the length of the table. Maybe some day I’ll do just that. But for now, I’m going to enjoy this beauty on my coffee table. Happy Palm Sunday! And here’s to Easter coming next week!