Tutorial: Bunny Ears Headband

For the 2nd Annual Easter Egg Hunt/Pub Crawl this year I needed some cute bunny ears. Apparently I waited too late to purchase them from Target, so I had to resort to some good ol' fashioned DIY. Here's what I did.

Supplies

• Hot glue Gun
• 1 sheet white felt
• 1 sheet pink felt
• Headband
• Wire (I used floral arrangement wire)
• Exacto knife (or scissors, which I couldn't find..)
• Pen and paper

Sketch out your ear shape on paper and cut it out once you've got it perfect. I used the same template for both ears.

Trace the pattern on your white felt so that you have 4 ears. Two fronts, two backs. Cut out the ears.

Using your paper template, figure out how big you want the pink centers to be. Once you have them at a size you like, cut them out from the ear.

Trace two centers onto the pink felt and cut them out. Make sure to cut them so that there's little to no ink on the pieces you'll use.

Position and glue your pink centers to two of the ears. These will be the "fronts" of the ears. Make sure you glue them to pieces/sides that don't have any ink from tracing. You want some extra space at the bottom because that felt will be glued to the base.

Next, take your wire and make the skeleton inside of the ear. You want the wire skeleton to be just smaller than the felt around the sides, with extra room at the base. This is so you can glue the pieces together, as well as to the headband. I did several loops of wire in my ears and make sure that the ends were tucked in. I wanted to be able to pose the ears as often as I like, so having too much wire wasn't really possible.

Take some wire and wrap it around the headband where you want to attach the ears. You want to make sure the wires extend up to about half the size of your ears, so they'll be plenty stable. Also make sure that there's no stabby bits of metal to poke through the felt, or into your scalp.

Now to attach the ears. Simply glue the ear pieces together, sandwiching the headband's wire in the center of each ear. Position the pieces so that the extra bits at the base of the ears are glued flat to the headband, covering up the wire there and making the ears more stable. Once the glue dries, trim off any excess felt.

Now you're ready to try it on. Find someone else to model it so you can get a better look at it.

After you realize your dog isn't the best model, remember that this is why you bought a styrofoam head.

Now you can sit back and admire your ear goodness.

Bikes, Bikes, Bikes

I have become obsessed with bikes. Specifically lugged steel frames made before I was born. Have you ever seen one? They're gorgeous bikes built before the time of automated factories and machines that do every joint and weld. Most of them have the initials of their builder pressed into one of their lugs - a sign of pride for that builder. I don't know who "ECS" is, or was, but I know that he built a beautiful red frame. It may have taken him 20 minutes, 2 hours, or 2 days to build this particular bike frame. I really don't know.. I just know that he took enough pride in his work to stamp his name on it for all of history to see. 30 years later I'm writing this post about a bike he made in some unknown city in Taiwan. No one's going to do that about that Huffy you got from Walmart. That bike's going to end up in a landfill.

But I digress.. I'm not writing this post about the politics of bike manufacturers. I'm writing it because I've fallen in love. When I fall in love, I'm not unlike most people. I want everyone to know about my love, understand what it is I see in my love and hopefully, love my love as much as I do. It's no surprise then that I've become the "Bike Doctor" and "Resident Expert" amongst my friends. I'm not going to claim that I deserve those titles; I'm simply enthusiastic about my new hobby and I want to share that enthusiasm.

One of the ways that people let me share my enthusiasm is by asking me for advice on purchasing a new bike. When the first few friends asked me what they should get, I attacked the conversation with fervor and often overwhelmed the audience. Since then I've learned. When it comes to getting into biking, just go buy a bike that you love to ride. Don't over think specs and brands. Don't worry about tubing geometry. You're a beginner. Just simply begin.

Get a used bike. Buy a new bike. Borrow a friend's bike. However you get your hands on some wheels, just do it and join a fun ride. I like www.sjbikeparty.org myself, but there's nothing stopping you from finding a trail and riding today.