by Sharon Lai

Created on: March 04, 2009

Easter baskets are often better gifts when they have been personalized; it shows that the thoughtful giver cares enough to send the recipient a part of herself or himself in that personalized Easter basket.

Making your own Easter baskets is fun and easy if you know where to begin.

Get a basket
Do you have any nice baskets, perhaps one left over from a previous season's gift baskets, lying in the house? If not, go to your local craft store and get a raw or plain one. Those made with a darker straw material can lend themselves to classier-looking gift baskets.

It is not much of a problem getting baskets for girls but boys may not appreciate keeping an Easter basket around throughout the year. Any type of storage bin can be filled with hay or tissue and wrapped in cellophane wrap to create a more "boyish" feel.

Alternatively, think out of the box and save some money. You can make pretty baskets from recycling materials in your home; a milk carton or a folded paper plate with holes punched on each sides, dressed up with bright coloured ribbons and cellophane papers makes a cute basket for kids. I did a "paper bag" basket for a dear friend last Easter and she loves it! I simply printed out floral templates and transferred them onto the bag, decorated with some fancy shoelaces instead of those common store-bought decorative ribbons for truly unique "basket".

Filling the basket
Start with a specific theme that unifies the contents in your Easter basket. If your recipient is a wine lover, you might place a nice set of wine glasses and a bottle of their favorite wine in a basket, padded with fluffy napkins at the bottom. A coffee lover will appreciate a coffee themed basket with mugs, some gourmet coffee, and maybe a pack of rich butter cookies.

If you are making one for the kids, surprise them with stickers of their favourite characters and foam figurines integrated into the basket. Other endearing gifts include stuffed animals, hand puppets, little toys, small books, crayons, bubbles, and egg shaped Play Dough.

Decorating Ideas
Easter baskets can be made to look professionally done with a few basic supplies. One very essential tool is your glue gun. You will also need to buy some shrink wrap for baskets or coloured cellophane wrap to cover the baskets with. A curly ribbon cascading down the front can be taped to the outside Easter basket wrap. Be creative, embellish your basket with decorations or images of bunnies, eggs , chicks, tiny flowers or simply add some pretty, foil-wrapped Easter candies. Let your creativity run wild, the ideas are limitless!

Making your own gift basket is an enjoyable and rewarding project for a lazy afternoon; it does not have to be strictly for Easter!

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