Create an Easter basket your child will treasure long after the edible treats inside are gone. In addition to the traditional straw basket, you can transform all sorts of everyday items -- including plastic supermarket berry baskets and colorful paper bags -- into fanciful Easter baskets.

Tools and Materials
Straw basket
White latex primer
Paint
Paintbrush (unless using spray paint)
Narrow ribbons
Hot-glue gun or floral wire

Classic Child's Easter Basket How-To
1. Paint the basket a color of your choice, but if you are using a brown basket, first spray or brush on white latex primer. When using spray paint, work in a well-ventilated space.

2. Make bows from narrow ribbons, and place them around the basket's edge with a hot-glue gun or with small pieces of floral wire. The basket can serve as a decorative container year-round, so consider using ribbons that will match your child's room.

3. Be sure to include some non-edible goodies, such as crayons, colored pencils, small books, and a stuffed animal.

Tea Party Treats
Filled to overflowing with the essentials for a tea party, mismatched vintage cups and saucers are whimsical "baskets" for someone who loves tea.

Tools and Materials
Vintage teacups
Tea bags
Tea cakes
Chocolate eggs
Pillow Candy

Tea Cup Basket How-To
Fill tea cup with tea bags, tea cakes, petits fours in their paper cups, chocolate eggs wrapped in bright-green foil, and pieces of pillow candy.

Spa in a Basket
This basket bears everything necessary for several good, long soaks.

Tools and Materials
Store-bought straw basket
Hand towels
Egg-shaped soaps
Votive candle
Bath towels
Wooden-handled hairbrush
Assorted lotions
Grape hyacinth

Spa in a Basket How-To
Paint a rectangular straw basket a pretty pastel color and line it with striped hand towels. Then, fill with indulgences: a bowl filled with egg-shaped soaps, a scented votive candle, luxurious bath towels, a wood-handled hairbrush, and lotions and potions of promising extravagance. Include a bouquet of grape hyacinth and a sweet or two to pass the time while the tub is filling.

Gardener's Gift Basket
For your favorite horticulturist, choose a sturdy basket that can have a long life of service in the garden. We decorated ours using a palette of yellows and oranges, inspired by the early-blooming daffodils.

Tools and Materials
Store-bought basket
Ribbon
Easter straw
Tissue paper
Garden clogs
Canvas gloves
Canvas apron
Pruning snips
Pruning shears
Seed packets
Plant labels
Small pot of daffodils
Lemon jelly beans
Decorated eggs

Gardener's Gift Basket How-To
Paint the basket, tie a bow to the base of the handle, then line the bottom with a bed of Easter straw and tissue paper. Add a pair of garden clogs, canvas gloves and aprons, pruning snips and shears, seed packets, and plant labels. Finish with a small pot of daffodils, a bag of lemon jelly beans, and a few decorated eggs.

Miniature Gardens
Head to your local garden center or florist to create these engaging and transplantable Easter greetings.

Tools and Materials
Woven basket
Plastic liner
Potting soil
Moss
African violets
Creeping fig
Creeping ferns
Quail eggs

Miniature Gardens How-To
Line the bottom of a woven basket with a plastic container filled with potting soil. If your basket doesn't have a handle, a length of pliant pussy willow attached to the sides with floral wire makes a fine substitute. The large basket contains some creeping fig and ferns and is filled in with moss. Use an ordinary plant label for your greeting and add another to identify the contents. Fill other baskets with African violets, Irish moss -- any small plant or flower that strikes your fancy. Then hide some quail eggs among the flora.

Decorated Berry Baskets
Brightly colored plastic berry baskets, available at any supermarket, are ideal carriers of Easter tidings.

Tools and Materials
Plastic berry baskets
Pipe cleaners (2 per basket)
Ribbon
Easter grass
Candy eggs, bunnies, jelly beans, or cookies
Small stuffed animal

Decorated Berry Basket How-To
Join two pipe cleaners together end-to-end to make a handle, then hot-glued a bow at the top to hide the twist point. You can dress the basket further by threading narrow ribbon through the slats, using white craft glue or a glue gun to secure the ends. Fill the bottom with Easter grass, then add candy eggs and bunnies, jellybeans, cookies, and maybe a small stuffed animal.

When you finish making your Easter gift baskets, don't forget to rate or comment to let others know what you thought of the craft. Then, share your completed crafts with the group by posting a picture of your finished project on our message boards.