How to Build A Doll's Rabbit Hutch

The finished result of a homemade bunny hutch for our family of dolls.

       A rabbit hutch may be constructed using any size or shaped box. What it looks like in the end, is up to you! I constructed a very traditional looking one for our doll's pet bunnies. The rabbits cost just a few pennies at a neighborhood estate sale. All the rest is made from common craft supplies you probably have among collected items found in a junk drawer or craft cabinet at home.

Supply List:

• a narrow rectangular cardboard box
• white school glue
• masking tape
• a little saw dust
• dried straw or grass from an old placemat or hat
• additional scrap corrugated cardboard for the roof
• faux wood plank printed paper
• fine wire or white chenille stems
• skewers or toothpicks
• acrylic silver paint (optional)
• mesh net from recycled onion or garlic bags
• Easter grass (natural color)
• Xacto knife (adults use this only)
• Four chopsticks for the legs of the hutch
• one button for door knob
• hot glue gun and hot glue

Rabbits are ready to rob someones' veggie patch I think...

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Cut top off of a corrugated narrow box and cut-away a narrow triangle shape the same shape at each narrow end of the box. Doing this will create the angle in the roof when the top is reattached to the top.
2. Cut away one half of the front of the rabbit hutch. This will be where to attach the door with bars made from skewers or toothpicks.
3. Carefully peal off the top layer of the corrugated cardboard roof top before reattaching it to the box top with masking tape and glue.
4. From the cardboard removed from the front, nestle it inside of the box to close off a small sleeping nest on the other half of the box.
5. Now cut away a window in the front of the ribbit hutch where you can see inside of the sleeping nest. Use an Xacto knife to accomplish this with the help of an adult.
6. At this time you can also cut away a small door at the top of your rabbit hutch through the roof top. 
7. Reattach this roof door with masking tape on one narrow end only.
8. Cut away a whole in the floor of the hutch where the bunnies may be seen as they wake and eat behind the barred door. 
9. This particular hole in the floor of the hutch is where the rabbits go to the bathroom if they are kept out-of-doors. Tape a 'screen' cut from a mesh bag across it so that they do not fall through the opening.
10. You may put a shallow bin beneath this mesh opening to gather what falls through. 
11. If your doll's pet bunnies live indoors, they will need a kitty litter bin for their relief instead of the built in mesh floor covering. So then you will not need to include it in your own pet hutch.
12. At this point you can tape the four chopsticks to the four corners of the hutch so that it will be on stilts in the doll's garden. Let these attachments dry over night. Keeping a hutch for rabbits lifted off of the ground is important in order to insure that your pets will not have their home flooded with ground water. 
13. Insert Easter grass through the whole of the nesting side of the hutch for the pet rabbit's comfort.
14. Cover the outside walls with masking tape.
15. Decoupage the walls of the rabbit hutch with natural colored papers. You may wish to 'flock' some of the lower walls in the interior with a bit of sawdust to make the habitat look 'cozy.'
16. Carve out a little whole for the bunnies to squeeze through on the interior wall that divides the two main rooms. Have an adult to this using the Xacto knife.
17. Now you may add both the skewer door and 'barred' window to the hutch. The barred window is made using wire that is twisted together to make a criss-cross pattern. Younger children may have more success in bending this together by using chenille stems for the process. Insert the window wire panes through the corrugated holes of the window opening and squeeze a bit of glue between these gaps.
18. I built the door by 'threading' the wooden skewers between a two strips of corrugated cardboard cut-outs, see picture below. Glue these into place between these cardboard grooves and cut the gate to fit the opening of your rabbit hutch.
19. You can make this door open and shut easily be wiring it to one side of the interior hutch wall. 
20. Shape a wire hook for the opposite side of the door and attach this directly to the gate. 
21. Hot glue a button on the wall where the hook meets the hutch front and can be 'hooked' onto the button to keep the door shut.
22. Decoupage the outside walls of the hutch using faux wooden paper planks.
23. Paint the rooftop using dry brush and silver acrylic paints to 'mimic' an old aluminum metal roof if you like.

Left, the masking tape just holds the roof in place until the glue dries. Once it is secure,
 the tape is then removed. Right, see the hole cut at the top so that a pet may be set
down gently inside without it hopping away through the front of the shelter.

Left, see the lining of the shelter has sawdust glued to it's inside walls. Right, there is also
 a window cut into the "hiddey-hole" so that the dolls can view their pets while they sleep.

Left, The bunnies have left their sleeping quarters and are ready to eat, play and explore.
Right, See the rabbit from above through the door in the roof. Just right of him is the hole
he uses to gain access to his sleeping area. The multiple openings of the hutch insure 
your pets will have a nice cross-ventilation. 

Left, one bunny is still in the hutch but his companion is nibbling on straw. The straw 
helps the rabbits to keep their teeth healthy. Right, you can see the backside of the 
rabbit hutch in our garden.

Left, is a view of the hutch from above with the roof door open. Right, you can see a pet
through the bars on the main door. You can also see the Easter grass peeping through
the window panes of the nesting box.

Lauren shares the bunny basics for pet owners.

More Doll Pet Rabbit Crafts:

• DIY a spinning scratch ball for bunnies and cat pets here.