Last Year we set the bar for the remaining years of Tahlia's primary school Easter Hat Parades. I set myself the challenge of making an admirable Christian hat (no eggs or bunnies) that would be far from embarrassing and that would get people talking about the Good News of Easter, um, I mean Passover.
My first job was to secure a stuffed toy lamb - and not a Shaun the Sheep look-alike. It had to be without blemish like all Passover lambs. Happily my workmates were in the know about an awesome nearby op shop and enthusiastically took me on a lunch-time shopping adventure. Praise God this little cutie was waiting for me!
Who knew there was so much imagery in the old testament around the cross?
Tahlia did get to show her hat to her class and talk about it. I'm not sure that what she said would have made a whole lot of sense to them, but it was good witnessing practice. And it was a wonderful learning experience for us to share together.
Together we stripped back the Palm Sunday Easter Bonnet from last year.
She stirred the paper mache glue mixture and applied another coat.
She re-painted the hat.
Tahlia insisted we iron the felt before making the flowers. A step I was thinking we might be able to skip.
She cut the pipe cleaners.
She cut the red, white and orange flower pieces out and even helped with hot gluing them all together.
I made the bunch of hyssop.
I rolled strips of red felt for the blood to fill the bowl and glued one end of the ribbon for the cross to it. I glued everything down - the ribbon to the screws and itself, the felt to the bowl and the bowl to the hat.
I used a small screw driver to make holes to insert the screws. I had planned on using nails but I couldn't find them. I think screws worked well anyway because they had a lip which stopped the ribbon slipping off.
Tahlia wanted to make a door for the archway but we ran out of time. I thought it would be better without, but I think Tahlia was right to want a door. It might have helped the ribbon cross stand out more.
She helped glue everything onto the hat.
So that the lamb was not ruined by hot glue I employed more felt and my secret weapon safety pins!
We watched quite a few YouTube videos on how to make felt flowers. These were our favourites:
If you can't work out how I made the pink carnations you will have to beg me to do a tutorial. I'm not planning to do it unless someone asks though!
This year I hope we have again risen to the challenge with our Spring Lamb Easter Bonnet.
This idea came with one week to go before the event. Thankfully. I had planned something else, but it just didn't have the pizzazz I was looking for and I never ended up buying all the needed items.My first job was to secure a stuffed toy lamb - and not a Shaun the Sheep look-alike. It had to be without blemish like all Passover lambs. Happily my workmates were in the know about an awesome nearby op shop and enthusiastically took me on a lunch-time shopping adventure. Praise God this little cutie was waiting for me!
The inspiration for the Spring Lamb Easter Bonnet came from the 10th Plague from the First Passover.
You realise a lot of things when you try to convert Bible text into images. Obviously others have realised it before me because I found some awesome pictures online that demonstrate what happened to the Israelite's doors when they followed God's instructions to kill a lamb and use hyssop to paint blood on the lintel and both doorposts as protection against the death of their first born sons (Exodus 12:22). |
| Image Source |
Who knew there was so much imagery in the old testament around the cross?
Tahlia did get to show her hat to her class and talk about it. I'm not sure that what she said would have made a whole lot of sense to them, but it was good witnessing practice. And it was a wonderful learning experience for us to share together.
You might think that I made the hat, but let me reassure you, Tahlia helped a lot.
Most importantly, she proudly wore it on the day!Together we stripped back the Palm Sunday Easter Bonnet from last year.
She stirred the paper mache glue mixture and applied another coat.
She re-painted the hat.
Tahlia insisted we iron the felt before making the flowers. A step I was thinking we might be able to skip.
She cut the pipe cleaners.
She cut the red, white and orange flower pieces out and even helped with hot gluing them all together.
I made the bunch of hyssop.
I rolled strips of red felt for the blood to fill the bowl and glued one end of the ribbon for the cross to it. I glued everything down - the ribbon to the screws and itself, the felt to the bowl and the bowl to the hat.
I used a small screw driver to make holes to insert the screws. I had planned on using nails but I couldn't find them. I think screws worked well anyway because they had a lip which stopped the ribbon slipping off.
Tahlia wanted to make a door for the archway but we ran out of time. I thought it would be better without, but I think Tahlia was right to want a door. It might have helped the ribbon cross stand out more.
So that the lamb was not ruined by hot glue I employed more felt and my secret weapon safety pins!
We watched quite a few YouTube videos on how to make felt flowers. These were our favourites:
- Flowers - Flowers with felt - How to make a rose by PapelyManualities
- DIY Felt Flowers - 5 Flowers and Leaves by The Daily DIYer
- Felt Flower Tutorial #2 - DIY : How to make easy felt flower / Spring Crafts - Kids Crafts . by Miss Tricks Mix DIY
If you can't work out how I made the pink carnations you will have to beg me to do a tutorial. I'm not planning to do it unless someone asks though!
EDIT:
See the other Easter Hats in this Trilogy
- Hosanna! Palm Sunday Easter Bonnet - focuses on Praising Jesus' ability to save
- Spectacular Spring Lamb Easter Bonnet - this one!
- Magnificent Butterfly Resurrection Easter Bonnet - focuses on the joy and hope of the Resurrection
I would love to see and share your Christian themed Easter Hats!
