According to tradition, the Easter bunny left baskets filled with sweet treats for nice children to discover and enjoy on Easter Day. Easter baskets have since been widely used not only to carry candies, toys and other goods but also for collecting Easter eggs. The tradition of giving Easter baskets as gifts supposedly started a thousand of years ago when pagans worshiped Eostre, the Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring and fertility who loved carrying a basket on her arm.
Now that it’s almost time to hide the eggs once more, maybe you can add more fun to the holiday by making homemade Easter baskets with your children. Below are some cool ideas on how you can make your own Easter baskets.
Paper Easter Baskets
What you’ll need:
- 6-inch square sheet of paper or card stock
- Scissors
- Pencil
- Ruler
- Glue or adhesive tape
Instructions:
Divide the 6-inch sheet of paper or card stock into 9 smaller squares using your pencil and ruler. You should have a 3 by 3 grid with each square measuring 2 inches. Make creases by folding and unfolding the paper along the lines. Cut along the two lines going from the top until the point where the lines meet at the center square. Do the same from the bottom. Fold the two middle squares and then fold the right and left sides until the two tips meet.
Glue or tape the folds into place. You should have something that looks like a basket. Cut a thin strip of paper about 6 inches long then glue or tape each end to the tips. This will be your handle.
Easter paper baskets are not quite built for hard labor. You can’t use them to carry hard-boiled eggs. They’re more suited as decorations, especially if you’re having an Easter party.
Felt Flower Easter Baskets
What you’ll need:
- Easter basket
- Felt sheets (different colors)
- Hot glue gun
- Scissors
Instructions:
Cut a two-inch wide strip along the edge of a piece of felt then fold it in half, lengthwise. Glue the bottom together then cut slits along the length of the felt. That’s the side you folded not the one you glued together. Don’t cut all the way through. There should be some space along the bottom.
Roll the felt while applying hot glue along the space you left uncut. Once you reach the end, the end-product should look something like a flower.
Cut two-inch circles using a sheet of felt of a different color. Slowly cut a swirl into the circle. Roll and glue the felt starting from the center of the circle. Glue it at the end. This should resemble a ranunculus flower.
Use green felt for the leaves. Simply cut out leaves of different shapes and sizes to give your Easter baskets variety. Next, simply hot glue your flowers and leaves onto the basket.
Unicorn Easter Baskets
The magical, mythical creatures known as unicorns are quite the hit nowadays. Everywhere you go, you’ll likely see unicorns in different forms. It seems like a good idea then to make Easter baskets that look like these horned creatures.
What you’ll need:
- wicker basket (white)
- Sheets of felt
- Glitter foam
- Gold thread
- Polyfill
- Yarn
- Hot glue gun
- Paper
- Pencil
- Scissors
- Bamboo skewer
- Black marker
Instructions:
Trace the shape of a triangle with a concave bottom on a piece of white paper. This will be your unicorn horn. Trace the inner and outer ear shapes on the paper, as well. You can download a template online if you’re not that good in drawing. Cut out the shapes. Use the triangular shape as guide in cutting the sheet of light blue felt. Cut out the outer ears from a sheet of cream felt and the inner ears from glitter foam.
Next, cut about 20 inches of gold thread. Glue one end to the inner peak of the horn. Apply glue on one edge of the felt horn then roll to turn it into a cone. Put polyfill inside the horn. Use the bamboo skewer to push the polyfill so it reaches the tip of the horn.
After filling the horn with polyfill, inset the skewer to make it more stable. Glue the open end of the horn together to close it. Wrap the golden thread around the horn then glue the end. Glue the pieces of glitter foam on to the cream outer ears.
Finally, attach the horn on the front and center of the wicker basket using hot glue. Follow this with the ears on the opposite sides of the horn. You can add more decorations such as pompoms from yarn. Use a marker to draw the eyes on the side of the basket.
These are just three examples of homemade Easter baskets you can easily make with the young ones at home. Please feel free to share more ideas below. Check out The Gentleman Pirate, as well, if you want to see more arts and crafts projects like these homemade Easter baskets.
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