This Saturday marks the start of the Chinese New Year, the Year of the Rat, and to celebrate the occasion we decided to make a few little rodents of our own!

In Chinese culture, the Rat is the first of twelve mythical animals, which achieved its prime position by outwitting the rest of the animals.

Seen as a sign of wealth and surplus, people born in this year are thought to be quick thinkers and possess characteristics such as creativity, intelligence, honesty, ambition and generosity.  Recent years of the Rat are: 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008, 2020.

To make our rats –

We used Lutradur 70gsm Black, for the two larger rats, by curling the Lutradur into cone shapes and then trimming the bases at an angle so that they would lean forward. The small white rat was created in the same way, but made out of Evolon. To keep their shape, the cones were stapled and/or glued into position.

We then coloured some Evolon with pink acrylic paint for the ears, paws and tails. By using a soldering iron we were able to melt two small holes in the Lutradur in the position of the ears and by cutting the ears in ‘paddle shapes’, there was enough material to push through and fix on the inside with a blob of glue. The front legs of the largest rat were attached in the same way.

The eyes are simply a combination of small circles of Evolon, stick on gems and black ball point pen. 

Although they attract a lot of negative comments, rats are known to take care of injured and sick rats in their group, have excellent memories and make happy ‘laughter’ sounds when they play!