Bunny keyring: plush rabbits in tulle and lace for bag and keys

Why a bunny keyring makes an easy gift

It solves the awkward present. Small enough not to look extravagant, soft enough to be kept, and there is no size to get right, no colour to match, no guesswork about taste. A niece will clip it to a school bag; a colleague will leave it on her handbag and forget it was a gift at all. The pastel shades suit most people, while the mustard and the turquoise suit someone who likes a bit of noise.

From key ring to bag charm

Hung outside, on the handle or a strap, one of these reads as a bag charm rather than a keyring, and it does the same job as a scarf knot: it breaks up a plain leather bag. Kept inside, it earns its keep differently. Your hand lands on a soft bulk long before it finds a small metal fob at the bottom of a lining.

Heights, from 14 cm to 20 cm

Height is the one thing worth checking before ordering, because photographs flatten it. The 14 cm rabbits sit in a closed hand. The 20 cm ones have a proper tulle skirt and real presence on a handle, which is lovely on a tote and awkward on a small cross-body bag.

Shabby lace or tulle tutu: reading the trim

The tutu versions are the playful ones, with a stiff little skirt, star prints and glitter on the paws. Shabby-chic goes the other way: lace and fabric flowers laid over faded, powdery colour, a knotted ribbon, sometimes a pearly rose. The turquoise rabbit sits outside both camps, with its rhinestone ears and a striped scarf. Same animal, quite different moods.

Keeping the plush soft

These wear at the rubbing points first, so treat them like a soft toy rather than a metal fob. Dust and marks come off with a barely damp cloth, dabbed rather than rubbed across the lace. Dry flat and in the open air. No machine, no hairdryer: heat stiffens the fibres and a drum will tear the trim off. A clothes brush lifts the pile again once it has flattened.

More from the keyring shelf

For other shapes to clip onto a set of keys, the page that gathers everything we hang from a fob is the wider view. If it is the small-gift idea you are after rather than the rabbit itself, our brooches to pin on a coat lapel work the same way.