Introduction: Shoebox Easter Bunny (breakfast / Gift Package)

By deBosDesign.nl
About: My name is Thomas and I'm an architect, graphic designer and illustrator. I love designing and making new things, preferrably with a funny twist. Check out my website or socials to keep up with what Im working…

Each year with Easter our kids make a breakfast box for one of their classmates for the school's Easter celebration. They pick a random classmate and decorate a (shoe)box. They fill the box with breakfast, drinks and some treats and bring the box to school. There they all receive their box from someone else and eat their Easter breakfast together in class.

For this year because my son is not a big fan of crafts I wanted to give him something that wouldn't take too much time, but still looked fun in the end and make the recipient smile :) Because the shoebox we had was mostly brown I thaught we should be able to make a bunny out of it. I made a quick drawing of the bunny shoebox to convince my son it would look fun and a couple hours later we had this super cute shoebox bunny ready for Easter breakfast at school!

Besides fitting a school breakfast the box can also be used as a fun gift package or Easter egg hunt storage box. Or keep it as a companion and have long talks together. It's a real good listener ;)

Supplies

Because it's a pretty fast build I forgot to take a picture of the supplies before we started. I made a sketch of everything you need, don't worry it's not much, and most of this you will have at home.

  • a shoebox, preferrably folded and not glued together, with brown cardboard insides
  • some extra brown cardboard for the ears, legs and arms
  • some colored paper for the teeth, nose, belly and inner ears
  • a pencil to draw out the shapes to cut out
  • a marker to draw in the eyes (and nose if you prefer)
  • a glue stick
  • double-sided tape (my favorite)
  • scissors
  • hobby knife / box cutter (only with an adult present of course!)

Step 1: Preparing the Shoebox

This instructable is based on a shoebox with a lid that is folded into shape and not glued together. Because of the folds you can easily turn the shoebox inside-out and create a completely brown outside without any texts or logos. Without the need for glue or tape! Check the pictures to see how I turned our shoebox inside-out.

If all you have is a glued shoebox your bunny will require a little more effort. You can probably still turn the shoebox inside-out, but it will take some fixing up to get a neat brown exterior. Another way is to leave the shoebox as is and simply cover it completely with brown craft paper. Just make sure the craft paper sticks to the box.

Step 2: Cutting Additional Shapes

With the clean brown shoebox ready we can start on the additional shapes that make this bunny a.. well.. a bunny. We need ears, legs, arms, teeth and a nose. We drew in the eyes with a marker. Of course you can also draw in the nose with a marker if you prefer or use paper for both the nose and the eyes.

To make sure we had the right measurements for the cardboard pieces, we used some left over piece of paper to sketch the shape and test it on the box to see if it would fit. When we were happy with the shape and size, we traced the shape onto cardboard and cut it out using a knife (I did, not my son). If you use thinner cardboard you can also use the scissors.

Test fit all the pieces to make sure you have everything and the sizes are good. Remember that the ears and arms need a little bit extra material to put the glue or tape on later to fix them to the box!


Step 3: Stick It to the Bunny

When all the pieces are cut it is time to stick it to the bunny! Well it's not a bunny yet, but you know what I mean.

We used a glue stick for the paper parts and double-sided tape for the cardboard bits. I love double-sided tape because it's quick and not as messy as glue and holds pretty well. You can also easily test fit the part before you remove the backing tape.

The teeth can be stuck to the inside of the lid, so it really looks as if the teeth are inside the bunny's mouth. All the other bits are simply stuck to the outside of the box. Remember to put the tape (or glue) for the ears on the front and position them so the tape or glue isn't visible from the front.

This is also the time we drew in the eyes on the lid. You can create all kinds of different expressions using the eyes so choose wisely ;)

Step 4: Finishing Touches

To get the complete 'bunny experience' we added a piece of light beige craft paper as a belly and a bit of cotton wool for a fluffy tail. Both of these were added using double-sided tape but glue will work just as well.

We ended up adding a red paper tongue on the inside of the box as well and a bit of pink for the inside of the mouth. You can add as much details as you like. It's your bunny after all.

Step 5: Ready for Easter!

And there you have it: a super cute Easter bunny ready to store your kid's school breakfast, your significant other's Easter gifts or all the chocolate eggs from the neighbourhood's egg hunt. Or simply use it to store your Easter decoration or craft supplies.

Let me know what you will be using your shoebox bunny for! And please show the results if you make one, ours can't wait to make some shoebox friends!

Happy Easter everyone!