I’ve been stuck in a Beatrix Potter vein this Easter season. I saw some awesome faux cabbage leaf chargers in a catalog, and it got me thinking how cute it would be to use real carrots, cabbage, lettuce, radishes (do rabbits eat those?) and other bunny fare to decorate for an Easter party!
On a whim, I grabbed some produce and used items I already had at home to make this festive bunny snacks centerpiece!
What you’ll need:
- whole carrots
- 3/16″ dowel rods
- green yarn, raffia or string
- Spanish moss
- a container deep enough to sink the dowel rods at least 3 inches and provide stability to each carrot
- foam, oasis or a wood piece with drilled holes for your dowels cut to fit your container
- decorative ribbon if desired
My dowels were a bit long at 12 inches, so I snipped about 3 inches off with some heavy duty scissors before getting started.
I had a HUGE skein of yarn left over from several Halloweens ago (witch’s hair), which I split and used a single thickness of to wrap my dowel rods like such:
I didn’t have to adhere the yarn to the dowels. Instead I just wrapped the yarn at top and bottom to hold itself on. You can leave about 1/4 inch at the top exposed and whatever amount at bottom that will be hidden in your base. If you wrap it all the way down, the yarn will bunch a bit when you slide it into the foam.
Then, I snapped the green tops off the carrots and pushed the 1/4 inch of unwrapped dowel about that far into the base of the carrot. Be gentle or the carrot may split. Here’s what you end up with.
I prepared my base, threading my container with this awesome burlap ribbon.
Then I used some bright green Spanish moss to camouflage my foam.
As you can see, my container was oblong, but I think there are a variety of shapes that work – square with 3 carrots across and 3 down or maybe even potting each carrot by itself. The trick with the single carrot will be to find a pot that doesn’t visually overpower one carrot but is deep enough to secure the dowel and heavy enough not to tip over with the weight.
I placed the center carrot first, and then the carrot on either end and worked toward the middle to ensure equal spacing. For extra stability, you could use low temperature hot glue to keep the dowels from wobbling. After inserting the carrots in my base, I filled in the top of the arrangement with more Spanish moss and that was it!
Here’s the finished product.
Here are a few more pictures of the table you might enjoy as well as a source list at the bottom of the post.
The carrots lasted for quite a few days in the fridge even after the dowels were inserted. I’d say you could easily do this the day before a party and still have them look great. I soaked mine in water too and that seemed to help preserve their freshness. They’re supposed to look a little rough–it adds to the sort of rustic, fresh-picked look. After three days of leaving mine on the counter, they were a little tired and on the fourth day, I was left with this:
I’m going to wait until closer to Easter and redo the centerpiece with some fresh carrots. Hope you enjoy!
Sources:
- Melamine cups, bowls and plates, coordinating drinking straws – Target
- Coordinating napkins – Party City
- Grass mats and small felt carrots – Hobby Lobby
