The Runaway Bunny Returns

"Shucks," said the bunny, "I might just as well stay where I am and be your little bunny."

And so he did.

"Have a carrot," said the mother bunny.

-Margaret Wise Brown

 

I so enjoyed needlefelting a wall hanging based on Margaret Wise Brown's "Runaway Bunny" last year, that I decided to make another one. I've been seeing little wild bunnies hopping away at the edge of the woods when we're out on evening walks, and was reminded of the story. This wall hanging depicts my favorite scene at the end of the book of the mother and child in their cozy burrow. After talking about all the far-flung  places he is going to run away to all day, his mother just tells him she will follow him anywhere because he is her little bunny, and offers him a carrot for supper. It's a tale of motherly love.

A Full Nest

I just finished this custom handmade nest for a woman with eight grandchildren who wanted one felted egg to represent each. I was just so tickled by this, I had to share it.

Every Spring I make these nests out of European beach grass roots, an invasive species that is causing our local sand dune ecosystem to disappear. Habitat restoration was my main focus in college, and I still can't help taking out these problematic plants when I see them. I love hearing about folks making invasive plant species into art! My friend Jeff over at Mystic Orb makes these great wooden buttons out of Scotch broom stalks!

So, I take these unwanted plants, make them into a nest, add a few bits of moss and lichens I find on the ground under our ancient oak tree, and wet felt some little wool eggs, and...Voila! We have eco-friendly art.

You can read more about my handmade birds' nests on a blog post I wrote last Spring called:

Building a Nest.

And find them on my Etsy shop at: http://mountainhearth.etsy.com/