How to Make a Beautiful DIY Easter Basket from Scraps

By Grandma Sandy | March 26, 2025 |

I was toying with creating an inexpensive DIY Easter basket from scraps as an Easter craft project for kids or something grandparents could make.

What I needed was a readymade base…toilet roll? Paper cup? Then I saw the berry basket on my kitchen counter, in which hollowed-out eggs were drying for cascarones, Mexican confetti eggs.

Two Easter baskets made from throwaway green plastic berry baskets. Just weave cardstock in the holes and add a handle. — **Two DIY Easter baskets made entirely from scraps.**

So, I wove a few strips of leftover cardstock through the basket holes, experimentally…. I thought the green plastic might look cheap.

But as I wove in the strips, the patterned paper softened the plasticky green. I thought the results could be quite beautiful. I kept going.

The Basic DIY Easter Basket

The purple basket below is a basic weave with a twist: two strips one wide (patterned) and one narrow (solid purple), are woven into each row. The purple check wire ribbon is a scrap–it’s the entire length I had in my ribbon bin.

This basket features two strips of cardstock woven in each row: a wide patterned cardstock and a narrow solid cardstock strip. — **Basket has two strips in each row: patterned and purple.**

Materials Needed

1 plastic berry basket
12X12-inch cardstock scraps (see cutting note below)
White school glue (such as Elmer’s)
Decorations such as ribbons, lace, or rickrack scraps (optional)

Cutting Note: You can use solid or patterned cardstock; you can use the same cardstock for weaving every row, or a different pattern for each row. You’ll also need additional cardstock for the basket handle and to line the bottom of the basket.

You need a cardstock scrap that measures 12 inches long. This sheet of cardstock, previously used for a Cricut project, has enough space left to cut strips for the DIY Easter basket. — **Cardstock scrap: I have a space 12 inches long and enough width to cut strips for weaving.**

Tools Needed

Hot glue gun
Ruler
Pencil
Paper cutter or scissors
Bamboo skewer for spreading glue

Make the DIY Easter Basket

Cut the strips: Measure the space between the top and bottom of each basket row and cut 2 cardstock strips to the width, minus about 1/16-inch to give enough space for the weaving. I don’t think berry baskets are standardized, but my bottom strips were a smidge under 3/4-inch. So my 2 strips were 3/4-inch X 12 inches. Each basket row may be different, so you will have to measure each row.

This project is super-easy if you have a paper cutter; but if you don’t just mark your measurement with a pencil and ruler and cut with scissors.

Weave the strips: Start by weaving cardstock strip from one corner of one row. I wove my first row along the bottom. You will have to join a second strip to complete the row.

Berry basket with the first strip of cardstock woven in. — **Weaving the first strip. For a more complex design, you can weave a wide strip and a narrow strip in the same row.**

To join strips use white glue. I like to pour some glue into a lidded plastic takeout sauce cup and I use a bamboo skewer to apply the glue. The skewer is narrow and thin, allowing you to get it into tight spaces and apply the glue with precision. Press the strips together firmly with your fingers until the strips adhere.

After you complete weaving the rows, make the basket handle from a strip of cardstock; glue in place with a glue gun. Trace the bottom of the basket onto a cardstock scrap, cut it out, then fit it in the bottom of the basket to finish.

DIY Easter Basket Variations

You’ll come up with your own ideas, but here are a few.

Paint the Basket

In the basket below, I painted the green basket primed first with gesso, then followed up with acrylic paint. My efforts were pretty uneven, but once the cardstock was woven through, it just looked a little rustic. I’ve never used spray paint for plastic, but that seems the best choice if you want your basket to be more perfectly colored than mine.

For this pink basket, the green plastic basket frame has been painted pink and a strip of cotton lace was glued along the edges. — **A version of the basic basket, with basket frame painted pink and scrap of lace glued on.**

Add Decorations

You may have scraps of lace, rickrack, ribbon, or other trim in your sewing basket. Glue to the basket with your hot glue gun.

Add a sprig of artificial flowers. We have a lot left over from when Miss T and I made fascinators for a tea party.

What to do with Your DIY Easter Basket

Here are some ideas:

Fill it with Easter grass and some Easter candy and gift a child or someone in a nursing home.
Make several baskets and use them to decorate your Easter table. Mound with Easter chocolates and invite guests to help themselves.
Use baskets to create spring bouquets. Insert a small ramekin or custard cup fitted with floral foam into the basket and add fresh flowers.

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