Easter Craft Roundup: Crafting On A Budget

Spring has sprung and this is the time of year that I start to really get my creative juices flowing.  The colors, scents, and textures of the season are so bright and cheery that I wanted to replicate them to bring a little warmth to our family year round.

I thought about the colors and textures my daughter and I like most and decided on a soft rainbow fleece basket, wax paper bunny and egg banner, confetti dotted wrapping paper, and coffee filter flowers.  With the exception of wax paper I had every single item needed to make these items with some basic art supplies and common pantry items.  If I had to estimate my total material costs for all 4 projects it would be less than $10.  

 

 

Rainbow Fleece Basket:

After turning the house upside down trying to find a container I could use for a basket I finally gave up and decided I would just make one.  I have very little basket weaving experience (maybe one time when I was a kid) but I DO have cooking experience, namely baking.  I've made quite a few lattice crusts for pies over the years and realized that the weaving technique used there can be done with fabric too.  

I found a great tutorial on Pinterest for felt baskets but didn't have enough to make the basket so I improvised.  I had a bunch of super soft fleece available so I sprayed it with starch, ironed the fabric, and let it dry.  The result was fabric stiff enough to hold its form without compromising it's texture.  Perfect!

Here's what you need.

Materials:
1. Fleece (9"x20" piece)
2. Spray starch
3. Iron
4. Cylindrical container (I used a large Clorox wipes container)
5.  Glue gun with glue sticks (probably 3-4 sticks)

Instructions:

Spray the fleece with starch, iron on low temp setting, and allow to dry.  Once it's dry cut the fabric so you have 9 one inch by 20 inch strips and set those aside.  

Grab the big Clorox wipes container (or a container with similar shape) and flip it upside down.

Set 3 strips side-by-side across the top of the upside down container.  

Next, grab another 3 strips of fleece and weave them through in an over-under-over pattern.  To make the base a little sturdier, hot glue the overlapping points together.  Note: Be careful not to glue the fabric to the container.  

Take another strip, hold it up to the top edge of the container's side, and start weaving it through the dangling pieces of felt from the already woven section until all 20 inches have been woven across the side of the container.  Be sure to keep gluing at overlapping points for added durability.

Glue the next strip to the exposed end of your 1st completed side piece and continue weaving and gluing.  Repeat this process with the remaining 3 fabric strips. 

Once the weaving is done, flip the container right side up and carefully separate the woven basket from it. 

Next, grab two of the long pieces of fabric and glue them together to make the handle.  The extra "tabs" of fabric can be folded over and hot glued to the top of the basket to give it a more finished look.

 

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