Hippity Hoppity, Peter Rabbit Easter is HERE!!!

Hippity Hoppity HOORAY!!  Peter Rabbit Easter has arrived at Turtle Creek Lane!

I’m always sad to take down the previous holiday, but then, without fail, I get so excited I can hardly sleep as the new holiday decor starts to “take form”!! I never do the same set-up year to year, and to be honest when I begin I have general concepts of the direction I want to go, but at some point in the process it is almost as if the decor comes alive and tells ME what to do next!!! I have affectionately referred to this process as the

“Design Angels Have Arrived!” Giggle :))

I’m so excited to show you what we have come up with this Easter…

WELCOME!!

Are there words????

I’m just a little obsessed with how this Peter Rabbit motif turned out!!

I have always loved reading the stories of Beatrix Potter and as I was reading The Tale of Peter Rabbit to my kids one night I had this idea pop into my head… What if we recreated Peter Rabbit’s burrow?? How fun would that be for Easter?!! And so it began…

I ordered this oversized canvas mural from a company called Murals Your Way (I got the 8’X10′) and it served as my starting point!  There were actually murals I liked better than this one, color-wise, but this was the one that portrayed the inside of the family burrow the best, so I went with it! (As I was getting the link for you it says they are having a 25% off sale on ALL murals right now! And there are so many scenes that would be SOOO cute for Easter… or in a nursery!!! Oh, I want more babies just so I can decorate their rooms!!  Sorry, I’m getting side-tracked… Back to Peter Rabbit!)

In The Story of the Flopsy Bunnies it mentions that Mrs. Rabbit would hang “rabbit tobacco” from her ceiling in the burrow with the potatoes. Well, I had to know what that was!! So, after a little more reading, I discovered rabbit tobacco is actually lavender!! (Now that’s a fun fact!)

Of course, knowing that fabulous fact, I had to get real dried lavender and potatoes to hang in our burrow! These items actually serve three purposes. First, I wanted to make the mural feel “real” and by adding the real items it brings it to life and gives it needed dimension. Second, I wanted to soften the stark straight mural line at the top. Ideally I would’ve gotten a mural that fit exactly into the curve of the wall but as hard as I tried with various sizes, it just wouldn’t work without decapitating or eliminating a bunny! So, by carrying the vines from the banister down over the mural and by adding the lavender and potatoes at slightly different heights, it softened that line. And third, the lavender smells DIVINE!

In creating the burrow, I tried to set up their home as I saw it in my mind, always gaining inspiration from Beatrix! I decided to place an armoire with all the household rabbit necessities…

I borrowed two bookshelves from my son’s bedroom and stacked them on top of each other to create the armoire look. Then I had so much fun playing “rabbit house!!!” What would a family of rabbits need or want in their burrow….?

Gardening Books!

Peter and his friends are always going into Mr. McGregor’s garden and getting in all kinds of mischief, and maybe if they had known how to grow their own garden, Mr. Rabbit wouldn’t have ended up in Mrs. McGregor’s pie! (I hated that part of the book as a child!)

I went to Half Price Books and in the clearance section found fabulous gardening books for $3!! They were perfect for my Easter decor this season!

Next, I thought, every Rabbit Kitchen needs: Plates, Glasses, Mugs, a Pitcher, Measuring Cups, and Napkins!

Don’t you just love these napkins and napkin rings?? So cute!

And finally, to give a little more height and soften the banister behind, I added a basket of carrots, a few miniature Beatrix Potter books, and extra stemware and napkin rings (just in case they are entertaining any guests :)! 

Every home needs a Kitchen Table! I once again borrowed furniture from another room. This black table usually resides in the living room as a side table, but for Easter, it has a new job!

It is the Rabbit Family Kitchen Table!

I already owned the lettuce charger and the floral arrangement, so I “set the table” around them. I think the cabbage detail under the fork and spoon is so fun! I am linking everything for you in case you are interested in starting or adding to your Easter collection!

In the actual Beatrix Potter tales, the floor in the inside of the burrow is sand/dirt, and I entertained doing that… for about 3 seconds!!

With my kids, NO WAY!

I settled on using sheets of REAL moss! And just to make it more realistic, I added in a few faux mushrooms!!! I’m dying! So cute!! NOTE: If you decide to do this, give yourself about four hours to lay out the moss because in order to get it flat the pieces can’t overlap!! It is like putting together a HUGE jigsaw puzzle… and your hands will be green! (Hey, I’m going to remember that for St. Patrick’s Day next year… natural green dye! Hmmm….)

What Peter Rabbit Burrow is complete without a Peter Rabbit?!!

I wanted a large Peter so he didn’t look dwarfed next to the mural; and I hate to say it, but they just don’t currently make him jumbo anymore!

SIGH…

When I run into dilemmas like this I look to Ebay! Wahoo!!! This 30″ Peter Rabbit is in pristine condition with tag in-tact (which I didn’t remove because it is actually a cute little book!) Perfect!

With Peter taking his rightful place at the kitchen table, my focus moved to the Staircase!

Talk about a fun way to display a bunny collection!! Each bunny got it’s own step to tell a different story!!

The Guard Bunny!

Tetter and Totter Bunnies trying not to look up Lilly Bunnies’ skirt!!

Roscoe bunny headed to Penelope’s house with a surprise Easter Basket!

There’s Always Time for A Good Book Bunny!

Gone Fishin’ Bunny!

There are too many to include, but Pier 1 Imports has such a cute bunny collection right now! I’ve linked several of my favorites for you below!! And EVERYTHING EASTER is 20% off!

For the banister, I decided so as not to take away or compete with the Rabbit Burrow, I would keep it very simple! I just got twig garland with minimal leaf accents and dressed it with carrot picks and a few carrot bunches.

Continuing the rabbit and carrot theme to the Entry Table, I added a fabulous Beaded Carrot Runner , some orange boxes I had on hand from Halloween, adorable carrot candy jars, and fresh orange accented flowers. I finished off the look by popping in a few photos Mrs. Rabbit would have hung on her walls (Peter is there, of course!)

Although the Entry was looking fabulous at this point, the Design Angels whispered that it looked a little visually heavy on the burrow side! I needed to create at least a slight balance on the other side of the space. I achieved this balance by situating two LARGE bunnies I acquired years ago in the corner, adding some additional moss around them, and turning the empty space into a “Bunny Treat” area for Peter and all his friends…

This will enable them to avoid Mr. McGregor’s Garden all together!! Giggle! 🙂

 Hopefully you have had fun visiting Peter Rabbit’s Family Burrow!! There is SO much more to share with the rest of the house, so stayed tuned!! Below are shoppable photos of my favorites if you want to start or add to your Easter Collection!

Hugs… Jennifer

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