Love Young House Love!

I know this isn't a DIY blog, but boy do I love to follow DIY blogs. One of my all time favorites is Young House Love. I can't remember exactly how I came across it, but it has been at least a few years that I have been following the blogging husband and wife team, Sherry & John from Virginia. I just love reading about their DIY projects and being inspired to try a few of my own. Their following has grown and they recently published a book of DIY ideas to inspire others. If that wasn't enough, they are on a book tour! Paul and I were lucky enough to go to the book launch that our local West Elm was having. And yes, over the past year or so I've made Paul read many of YHL posts, and he's come to enjoy them as much as I have. So he was excited to meet them also. I was probably one of the few people who DIDN'T preorder the book, so I was looking forward to getting my hands on a copy.

And my mom was excited to come over and babysit the kids for us, so it was a WIN WIN situation -we couldn't pass up this chance.

The event was on Wednesday Nov. 7, and if you're from New England you know that we were in for a major Nor'Easter storm, and boy was it a doozy! We thought that it might be cancelled, but we called and thankfully it was still on. We made our way in to town for the event not knowing what to expect. The event was scheduled for 6-8. We arrived at 5 and there was already a huge line! Thankfully the line was inside because outside the storm bearing down on the city. The West Elm staff did a wonderful job of organizing this event. They had servers passing around hot cocoa and yummy cookies.

At around 6pm John and Sherry got to their seats and the line started to move, albeit very slowly. But we didn't mind, because we knew they were chatting it up with everyone and taking pictures. Earlier in the week we were tossing around the idea of bringing them some of our ornaments as a gift. Since we're so close to Thanksgiving, we thought our very popular Turkey ornaments would be perfect! We packaged them up carefully so it could make the trip back to Virginia with them.

By the time it was our turn to meet them it was almost 7:30. We were nervous, but they were so warm and personable. We got a picture with them and presented them with our gift... they were so thankful!

So despite the horrible New England snow storm, it was a great event and we love the book and we love Young House Love!! I would suggest to anyone wanting some great DIY inspiration to follow their blog and go out and get their book!


Disclosure: We weren't paid or asked to review or talk about the book, this is just something that we LOVE here at Swirly!

Mini Swirly Bunny How-to

This project is for personal, non-commercial use.

This sweet little project is just in time for your Easter tree. Or you can make a string of garland of mini swirly bunnies for your entry way or add a bunny to the handle of a special someones Easter basket this year.
We are sure once you make one they will keep multiplying like the real thing!

Materials
• 2oz White Polymer clay
• Craft glue
• pink ribbon
• 3/4" eye pins
• pink & white craft paint
• Extra fine crystal glitter or pink glitter
• Glossy varnish
• black 3D paint

Tools
• oven
• toothpick
• ceramic tile



Step 1.
Condition the white clay. In the palm of your hand, roll the clay into a egg shape approximately 1" in size. Place aside.




Step 2.
With another piece of clay roll out a thin snake for the ears of your bunny.



Step 3.
Take about an 1" long piece and form an ear-like loop shape. Create two loops to form the ears of your bunny then blend or smooth the ends into the face of the bunny.

Step 4.
Make a small ball for the tail of you bunny and press it into the end of the bunny.



Step 5.
Using a toothpick make a Y shape in the front of your bunny to indicate his nose and mouth.
You could also make the eyes using the toothpick too.

Step 6.
Take the eye pin and gently insert into the top of your bunny so that just the loop holder is showing. Cut the eye pin to size, so it doesn't stick out the bottom of your bunny. Then place your bunny on the ceramic tile and bake in the oven according to the packaging. (if you don't want to use baking clay, you can also try air-dry clay which could work too)

Step 7.
Once it is baked, let it cool for about 20 minutes or so. Give it a quick sand with fine sand paper.
This makes the paint adhere to the bunny better.



Step 8.
Now you are ready to paint and give your bunny his expression. Put a quick coat of white on your bunny so it is a nice true white.

Using pink paint, give your bunny his nose and cheeks

Don't forget to add some pink into your bunnies ears. Then add black 3D paint for his eyes.
Once the paint dries add two coats of a glossy varnish and let dry.

Step 9.
Now you can add the glitter!
Take some craft glue and put it into a little cup and add a hint of water so the glue won't be too thick. Adding glue and glitter to small parts is easier than adding glue all over.

Step 10.
Take pink ribbon and insert into the eye hole and tie a knot.

That’s it - that is how you make your very own Swirly mini bunny!

How cute is he!!

Have fun... be creative... use your own imagination to create your own herd of bunnies!

You can easily keep embellishing this little bunny with spots or strips or flowers. You can even change the color of the bunny - make it multicolored! The possibilities are endless.
Happy Easter

Coming Up Next:
What's a bunny without his carrot?
We will show you how to make these yummy mini swirly carrots.

Make your own Swirly Treat

In celebration of Valentine’s Day, we thought we would post a fun little how-to project. The last one we did was back in October when we showed you how to create your own mini swirly ghost So check back on Tuesday the 10th, for our sweet treat post.

Make your own Swirly Ghost

Later on today at this party blog we will show you how you can make your very own mini swirly ghost ornament. Now let's have another Bloody Mary!

Happy Anniversary Silver Clay

We want to wish Silver Clay a happy 2nd anniversary! We met Marcia, owner of Silver Clay, at our local Polymer Clay group. With Lianne also being a graphic designer by day, Marcia was looking for someone to help her with creating a logo and identity for her new store/studio. The store is full of fun, funky affordable gifts and jewelry. She also offers a variety of Silver clay, Polymer Clay and jewelry classes. If you ever visit Wakefield, Ma., be sure to stop by (located 391 Main Street) and say hi from Swirly Designs. It so nice to support local business.