Do you like to craft your own baskets every year? Maybe you like to make some and give as gifts, or give to your local food bank or Meals on Wheels? Are you looking for some cute ideas to add decorations to your home, or others? Remember, crafting is not only a great way to add color and fun to your home, but also to bring joy and happiness to others while you get to have a great time with your children making things that bring a smile to their face!

You can craft some very simple baskets using a cardboard milk carton, cotton balls and some construction paper or foam. Make sure you rinse out the milk carton very well and let it dry. Glue the cotton balls close together on the outside of the milk carton. Use the construction paper or foam to add the details. You can make a cute bunny or chick basket using this method. To see a picture of one type of basket, you can visit FamilyFun.com. (Easter Bunny Basket http://jas.familyfun.go.com/arts-and-crafts?page=CraftDisplay&craftid=10594)

Another very simple idea for crafting a basket is one I found on MakingFriends.com. (Tissue Paper Box Basket http://www.makingfriends.com/tissuebox_easterbasket.htm) You simply use a square tissue box, add a lace, or other decorative material around the top, attach a handle and you have created a very easy, but cute, Easter basket. This would be a nice idea for a small group project for younger children.

Quilting is something that I absolutely love. I haven’t yet learned how to quilt by hand, but I love looking at the quilts at shows. In addition to the blanket-type quilts, it is amazing some of the other ways quilting is used. I would never have expected seeing a quilted Easter Egg, but there was one that I found! It doesn’t seem difficult to do and I may make it a project for my Brownie troop so we can send them overseas to the soldiers. If we get to make them, I’ll let you know how it goes in the forum. These would be cute put into a homemade basket and given as gifts.

There are some “old-fashioned” type crafts that usually are a big hit with many. These are the eggs that are covered either in thread or in tissue paper. The eggs made from thread are ones that are easy, but messy, to make. You start with a balloon. Take thread, or yarn, and dip it into a glue/water mixture. Squeeze out any excess and wrap it around the balloon. Cover the balloon until you are satisfied with the coverage. Once the thread/yarn is dried, you can pop the balloon and pull it out. Depending on the size, you can use these for centerpieces, hang them for decorations or put them into baskets or onto wreaths. For the tissue paper eggs, you would simply cover Styrofoam eggs with pieces of tissue paper and decoupage them on. If you like, finish them with glitter while still wet. We made these last year and gave them to our local Meals on Wheels and shut-ins. We received many thank you notes for remembering those in our community.

I know this is not strictly a basket or an egg, but it was something that is very cute. It could be a window decoration, or a small door hanging, depending on what size you make it. Please stop by MakingFriends.com and look at the Chick in an Egg sun catcher made from pony beads. This was a craft I felt I needed to share with you since it was so cute!

Please stop by the forum and let me know how your spring time crafting is going. I do really like to hear from my readers.