Growing up, I loved waking up on Easter Sunday to a basket filled with wonderful treats. I never knew what was going to be in my basket, and that was part of the fun. Going through it was magical. I hope that when my kids are my age they have sweet memories of their yearly Easter baskets. Except, their memories will be of DIY Easter baskets.
My mom used to get me store-bought Easter baskets and I am not complaining, not even a little bit. I loved them. The thing is that when I became a mom, I realized that I could get such a bigger bang for my buck if I went the DIY route. I could also personalize them for each child. If you want to make a budget-friendly DIY Easter basket this year, check out the following ideas to get your imagination hoppin’.
Turn an empty gallon milk jug into a cute bunny-shaped basket.
How cute is this bunny rabbit basket fashioned out of a used gallon milk jug? I love that it’s easy to make and reuses something that most parents have on hand. If you want to make more than one, start rinsing out and saving your empties ahead of time.
There are a lot of different ways to make Easter baskets out of empty milk jugs.
Get creative with the way that you cut your empty milk jug. Don’t feel like you have to follow the instructions of any particular tutorial. Just be inspired and have fun. Incorporate ribbons, cotton balls, or any items you already have to give the project personality.
Use boxes of candy to make a basket.
Making the basket out of glued-together candy boxes is genius. So often kids don’t really care about the “basket” part of their Easter basket and then it just lays around collecting dust until you find another use for it or throw it out.
Use a wire basket as a base.
Using a wire basket that you already have or a new one works perfectly. Not only does it function as a great goodies holder for Easter, it can easily be repurposed after the holiday is over. You could use it to hold bath bath bombs, rolled up socks, or any number of things.
Mini baskets made from paper cups are great gifts for a group of kids.
Parents with elementary school aged kids, this is such a great way to give out “baskets” to all the kids in the class. The cost of bringing full-sized baskets to an entire classroom is prohibitive, but if you make tiny ones out of paper cups, it’s totally affordable.
Here's another adorable paper cup option.
This iteration of paper cup baskets is so dandy. It’s giving spring, it’s giving a walk in the park, it’s giving adorable. You could make the baskets ahead of time and then let kids decorate them as they see fit with markers, stickers, and ribbons.
And here's a paper cup bunny version!
This might be my favorite version of a paper cup basket craft. It would be a perfect activity for kids. You could lay out all the supplies and set out an instruction sheet or show the kids how to do it. Each child will have a one of a kind bunny basket that they made themselves.
A pool noodle basket can be made for cheap.
Do you think that when pool noodles were first invented that anyone could have imagined how often they would be used outside a pool? And it’s not just that they are versatile, you can also find them for cheap, which is really nice.
Another pool noodle creation.
You might not be able to make this exact Cookie Monster-inspired creation, but you can use it as inspo to create a monochromatic masterpiece. If you have multiple kids that you are making baskets for, each child could get their own color.
How about a pool noodle and a pool?
A pool noodle + an inflatable pool = wonderful happiness. This is perfect for younger kids who can still fit in a tiny pool. The pool can later be used as an actual pool or a ball pit. You could even fill it with balls to begin with instead of faux grass.
Forget about washing and get to weaving.
Practice your weaving skills and let a laundry basket bring joy for once. You could just leave the laundry basket as is and add the pool noodle to make a basket, but decorating it with ribbon gives it more of a spring vibe and that’s a good thing.
You can also add ears.
I wanted to share this version with you because I love the idea of cutting the pool noodle into three pieces so that you can use two of the pieces to create bunny ears. One thing I would do differently is attach the pool noodle with zip ties instead of just gluing it to the basket.
Bowls can also be turned into bunny-shaped treat holders.
Truth be told, I don’t love the idea of buying plastic bowls just to make this project. I feel like you could create something similar out of repurposed milk jugs or soda bottles, but you do you. I do like the idea of making a bunny-shaped container filled with fun trinkets.
Get them beach ready!
If you’re trying to stay away from candy, this is such a great option. I also feel like with some clever folding, you could find a way to fold the towel so it still looks like a bunny, but has a bottom that holds in the gifts so they don’t fall out. Or you could wrap the towel around a small basket and still get the bunny effect.
Use a paper bag instead of a basket.
I know that a paper bag is not a basket, but they both are meant to hold things, so same difference in a way. Plus, cutting a paper bag and decorating it could not be easier. You could make multiples to hand out at a party or event.
