Ping Pong Ball Easter Bunny Place Markers

Easter can be lots of fun with all the decorated eggs and cute bunnies. If you're throwing an Easter party, and you want to have unique place markers at the table, start with a pack of ping pong balls. They're cheap but make fabulous Easter bunny place markers for your guests. Use them again next year - even if next year's guests are different - or just let the guests take their personalized bunny home.

You'll find ping pong balls at some department stores and at stores that sell sports equipment. They're much cheaper at a discount department store than a sports store. Ping pong balls are generally sold in a pack of five or six and it will take two balls to make each rabbit place marker.

Start by gluing one ping pong ball to a thin piece of cardboard. A perfect cardboard piece would be one like what you'll find in a pack of pantyhose. The cardboard is white - at least on one side - making it perfect for this craft. Cut a square of the cardboard for each egg. Hot glue will work fine for securing the ping pong ball onto the center of the cardboard piece.

Next, glue a second ping pong ball on top of the first. These two balls will form the head and the body of the bunny. Make sure the hot glue cannot be seen between the two balls and be sure the balls sit flush against each other. Create an "outfit" for the bunny by drawing stripes or dots on the bottom ball with a marker. Or, use tiny stickers to create the clothing. You can even draw clothing onto the ball.

Draw on a face or use wiggly eyes and other supplies to create the face. Ordinary magic markers work fine if you want to draw on the face. Or, glue on wiggly eyes, a tiny pink pom-pom nose and a felt triangle mouth. Cut strips of wire, or craft felt, to create the whiskers. Cut small ovals of white felt or foam to form the ears. Cut a second set from pink felt or foam, making the pink set slightly smaller than the white set. Glue the pink set onto the white set to make the inside and outside of the bunny's ears. Glue the ears in place on the ping pong ball head.

Embellish the bunny by gluing a bow onto the front of the neck area. Glue tiny flowers and beads to the top of the head, between the ears. Or, purchase miniature bonnets for the bunnies, glue the bonnets to the heads, then glue the ears to the bonnet. There are many different ways to change the look of each bunny.

Write the name of each guest on the belly of the bunny. If you want, you can use magic markers, or even stickers that feature names. Purchase sheets of stickers to make the names yourself. Write the names vertically or horizontally - that is your choice. Stickers allow you to reuse the bunnies next year; simply change the sticker names on each bunny.

Glue a little bit of Easter grass on the white cardboard base. Trim the grass so that it doesn't hang too far from the cardboard. Make sure the grass is sufficient enough to hide the piece of cardboard completely. Glue tiny craft eggs in the grass, if desired. If you want, you can use white chenille pipe cleaner pieces to create skinny arms and legs for the bunny. Although the pipe cleaner legs won't hold weight they still look cute glued onto the bunny and resting in the grass. The skinny pipe cleaner arms can be made to come around to the front of the bunny and hold a name card rather than writing the name on the bunny.

Make the silly ping pong ball Easter bunnies for your children's baskets, too. The name on the bunny belly will instantly tell your children which basket is theirs. It's a fun craft that's inexpensive and very unique. Get the kids in on the fun and let them help - they'll have the time of their lives!