Easter Basket tutorial

I know Easter is nearly upon us but my tutorial on Easter baskets is so quick and easy that those who have left it to the last minute (er, who me?!) can run up several of these in a flash!

Here's how to make my Easter basket

Start by cutting a 4"x 5" piece of card stock for the body of the basket and a 1/2"x 4" piece for the handle.

Score along the long edges of the handle for a neat finish and pierce holes in the ends.

Turn the larger piece of card stock 'baskety' by running it through the Big Shot with the Square Lattice embossing folder (Sandwich from bottom: Multipurpose platform open at Tab 1, cutting plate, card stock inside embossing folder, the other cutting plate). I like to make my embossing more subtle by running it through again, this time without the embossing folder (Sandwich from bottom: Multipurpose platform closed at Tab 2, cutting plate, card stock with NO embossing folder, the other cutting plate).

Now it's ready for scoring: Along the long side, score at 1", 2", 3" and 4". Turn the card stock and score at 1 1/2", and 2 1/2".

Flatten all your score lines with a bone folder so your card stock lies neatly and don't worry about flattening your embossing further - it really does look better when it's subtle! Now snip the basket so that it looks like the picture above.

Okay - it's time to assemble the basket! The outside two flaps on each side need to be brought to the centre so that you get a rectangle shape when you look down on your basket from above and so that you start the curve at the base of your basket. Secure the flaps with snail adhesive.

Now take the inner two flaps and pull them in to carry on the curve of the base of your basket. You'll find that two little points stick up over the edge of the basket - snip these off with paper snips.

Finally, pull the central flaps over the others on each side and secure it with Snail. Hmm, it doesn't look very tidy does it? And surely it's not very strong? You're quite right, but it's okay because we're going to disguise the untidiness and hold everything together tightly with brads!

Take the small off-cut of card stock, score it down the centre and cut two circles out of it with a  1 3/8" circle punch. Fold them crisply with a bone folder...

... and position over the flaps on your basket. Pierce or punch a hole through all the layers on each side, add the handle to the inside of the basket and secure everything with a brad.

I think the baskets look lovely lined with tissue, filled with eggs and decorated with a little tag tied to the handle with bakers twine. For younger children, wouldn't it be sweet to pop in a little knitted or sewn rabbit or chick?!

Here's a close up of my little tag.  I started with one of the Lots of Tags dies, folding it and glueing it  closed.  The edges were sponged with Marina Mist ink and I stamped the sentiment from Teeny Tiny Wishes as well as the sweet flower from the Patterned Occasions sale-a-bration set. The flower was centred with a tiny pearl and I doodled some grass with a marker and added a tiny embossed butterfly too. It's fun working in miniature!

Here's what you'll need to make this project
Stamps (for the tag): Teeny Tiny Wishes, Patterned Occasions (Sale-a-bration set, retired)
Ink: Marina Mist plus markers
Card stock: So Saffron plus scraps of Daffodil Delight and Very Vanilla for the tag
Other: Big Shot, Square Lattice embossing folder, Simply Scored, 1 3/8" circle punch, metallic brads, Lucky Limeade bakers twine, Basic pearls, Beautiful Wings embosslits die, Lots of Tags sizzix die, stamp-a-majig
I'D BE DELIGHTED TO ORDER STAMPIN' UP ITEMS FOR YOU AND HAVE THEM DELIVERED STRAIGHT TO YOUR ADDRESS IN THE UK. I'M COMMITTED TO PROVIDING EXCELLENT CUSTOMER SERVICE AND AM ALWAYS HAPPY TO OFFER HELP AND ADVICE. TO PLACE YOUR ORDER, JUST SEND ME AN EMAIL OR GIVE ME A CALL ON 01280 820593.

When my daughter was a baby, I used to sing Kitty in a Basket to her. I'd come across Diana Decker singing the song on a weird CD for infants which included quite a lot of ancient and hilarious songs. They always made me giggle and, when she reached giggling age, they made my daughter giggle too. When the boys came along they loved the songs in their turn and I often think that this CD might have been partially responsible for my children's bizarre senses of humour! Here's the song (being sung by a strange puppet!) in case you're curious.

There won't be a Three Minute Thursday this week, although I do have some little Easter bonnets to show you so do pop back to see those!

Hugs