Keeping the Magic Alive: Easter Bunny Helper

Hey everyone! So I recently had the opportunity to volunteer at a local Easter event as the Easter Bunny's helper and I wanted to talk a little bit about my experience. You can find more pictures of my outfit and the Easter Bunny's hutch on my facebook page. Enjoy!

So first of all, let's talk about what I did as an Easter Bunny helper for this event. My main tasks were to decorate the Easter Bunny's area, or hutch as we called it, make sure the Easter Bunny was good to go, and hand out goodie bags to the children. In addition to this, I found myself helping take pictures for families, posing in pictures with the Easter Bunny, and luring shy children over so their parents could take pictures. From the start of the event to the time things started wrapping up, we had an almost constant stream of parents and children coming to take pictures with the Easter Bunny or just say hi. I had a lot of fun, even though it was slightly overwhelming at times. Here's some things I learned from this experience.

#1: A Variety of Reactions
 One of the more notable things I learned was the many different types of reactions children have when they meet a character. Some of the more notable ones were the children who started crying the second their parents tried to let go of them (or get them anywhere close to the Easter Bunny), ones who came right up to the Easter Bunny and gave her a great big hug, ones who were very confused as to what this giant thing holding them was (this was mainly very young children), and the shy ones who needed a little encouraging to come sit on the Bunny's lap. Being dressed in Fairy Kei, I also got to see a side of things someone wearing jeans, a hoodie, and bunny ears would not have. There were a few moments that were very special to me where a little girl would come up to ME and want a picture and hug from ME and not the Easter Bunny. It made me feel like a Disney princess. There were also a lot of little kids who were more willing to come pose for their parents when I beckoned them as opposed to just the Easter Bunny due to me looking like a magical fairy princess as opposed to some giant, furry thing they'd never seen before. I also would occasionally scoop up hesitant children or help parents get their children to look in the direction of the camera by being all sparkly and pastel.

#2: Don't Think About Getting Overwhelmed
 With the large number of children coming through, it would have been very easy to feel overwhelmed. I did, at first, but after a while it became more of a game of luring children to the Easter Bunny, making sure they all got goodie bags, and helping parents take pictures. Everything kinda became a blur because I focused on accomplishing what I was there for and not worrying about everything that was happening. I didn't even notice I was pretty hungry or that there was a DJ right next to us until the line started to disappear. At the beginning of things, I wanted to try and direct people, both to the Bunny as well as how to form the line, but I quickly realized that people would come up on their own and that I was too busy helping IN the hutch to worry about what was going on outside of it.

#3: Only YOU Can Keep Magic Alive
 One of the things I admired the most about the girl portraying the Easter Bunny was her dedication to keeping the magic alive for the children. She avoided talking so kids wouldn't be scared or put off by her raspy smoker's voice. She never took her mask or gloves off and went so far as to have her room mate drive so that she wouldn't have to worry about being seen by a kid with her mask off. I really admire the effort she put in to help bring the Easter Bunny to life for the kids at that event.

#4: Smiling Takes More Energy than Frowing
 I remember back when Toy Story 2 came out, at the end of the film Barbie asked if she could stop smiling and commented that her face hurt. I now know her pain. While frowning may use more facial muscles than smiling, a resting frown or look of disaproval takes a lot less energy than smiling. It got to the point that I was wondering if my smiles looked forced. But I couldn't stop smiling. My face hurt so bad afterwords, but all in all, I had a lot of fun.

I hope you all enjoyed reading about my experience with being an Easter Bunny helper!
Check out my Facebook: facebook.com/CelesteChoCho
Go watch my YouTube: watashiwachocho

Cheap, Cute Room Decor

Hello everyone! Thanks to random inspiration and a day off from work,
I finaly have a new blog post for you today! So without further ado,
let me talk about inexpensive room decor!

So, before I get into how to have a cute room inexpensively, let me
tlk about my room a little bit. Most of my friends are somewhat taken
aback when they walk into my room because when they walk in it doesn't
just feel like a dorm room like everyone else's, it feels like a home.
I'm going to be talking about how I've managed this without spending a
fortune on room decor. First things first:

#1: Use everything
If you're reading this blog, you probably collect cute stuff like me.
I have an ever growing collection of ramune bottles up on top of my
armoires along with cute containers from reed diffusers I've gotten.
Also, I am mildly addicted to blind boxes right now, so anytime I get
a new one, I keep the parts of the box with an interesting design and
arrange them in frames like in the pictures below. I've also done the
same with a cute bag, business cards and notes from online trades and
purchases, and stickers. Even if you don't have cute tags and such,
you can get some really cute wrapping paper from the Dollar Tree or a
similar place and cut out pieces to make into a collage in a frame.
Most of the frames I own are either from the Dollar Tree (everything
is $1) or a Dollar General (everything is reasonably priced, usually
$5 or below for a lot of items). Even though they're kinda boring and
plain, I can use them as-is, or change them up.

 Which brings me to my

next tip:

#2: Paint is your friend
Don't like the color of something? PAINT IT! I personally use acrylic
paint on just about everything I don't like the color on. I have an
earing holder, a frame, a thrifted shelf, and even my corkboard
painted so that they aren't just boring colors. Paint is great because
it's not too expensive, can be used on a lot of items, can be mixed to
make new colors, and is great for personalization since everything you
paint will be one of a kind!

#3: Accessorize your room
Many of us into alternative fashion have a similar problem: Lots of
cute accessories to store. (Even mainstream fashion wearers do, just
usually not as bulky of items.) So here's my third tip for decorating:
Use your accessories as decor. One of the biggest things I've had to
learn about living in a dorm room is to store as many things as
possible vertically since I only have so much floor and dresser top
space. Because of this, a lot of my accessories can be seen hanging on
my walls. Even if you don't have a lot of money, you can still make
cute things for your room. I personally have a cheap belt hanger
holding up all of my collars with a headbow on top, a little ribbon
holder that I got with a bunch of bows at the Dollar General, and a
bunch of stick-on hooks holding my hats up on my walls right now as
well as some other things.

I also have my jewelry displayed or in cute
storage things on top of my dresser, all of which were bought
inexpensively, thrifted, or have  been owned for many years.

I hope you all have fun decorating your rooms! Be sure to check out my
other social media:
Find me on Facebook: facebook.com/CelesteChoCho
Subscribe to my YouTube channel:
WatashiWaChoCho
Check out my shop: animelolitacouture.storenvy.com