Holiday Planning & Ideas Easter Easter Crafts Easter Baskets How to Make a Woven Easter Basket Craft a beautiful container for your springtime treasures—all you need is a ball of hemp cord, a darning needle, and something easily found in your kitchen. By Martha Stewart Editors Martha Stewart Editors An article attributed to "Martha Stewart Editors" indicates when several writers and editors have contributed to an article over the years. These collaborations allow us to provide you with the most accurate, up-to-date, and comprehensive information available.The Martha Stewart team aims to teach and inspire readers daily with tested-until-perfected recipes, creative DIY projects, and elevated home and entertaining ideas. They are experts in their fields who research, create, and test the best ways to help readers design the life they want. The joy is in the doing. Editorial Guidelines Updated on January 29, 2021 Share Tweet Pin Email Photo: ANNE WEIL This Easter basket idea comes from our contributor Anne Weil. For the weaving mold, she used a cornstarch container readily available from her kitchen, but she says, "you can use anything hard and square like a glass vase, a [food storage container] or the like." Note: If you use a bigger container, you will need more cord. Even better, the gifting possibilities are endless and transcend the season. Her suggestion? "Repurpose it after the special day to hold your favorite plant." What You'll Need Materials Masking tape 3.5-by-3.5-inch square mold Darning needle (Pictured: Lion Brand Large-Eye Blunt Needles; Sizes 13, 14, and 16) 1 ball of hemp cord Craft scissors Instructions Cut 10 bundles of four cords, nine of which measure 25 inches in length each and one bundle measuring 30 inches long (for the basket handle). Tape five of the 25-inch bundles vertically side by side about 1/2-inch apart. You will weave the other five bundles horizontally in an over-under pattern at the mid-point of the vertical cords. Tape these horizontal bundles to the surface as you weave to keep your woven work secured. Weave the 30-inch bundle in the middle of this set of five horizontal bundles, which will eventually become your handle. Move woven area close together, re-taping as necessary so your woven base is tighter. With the remaining hemp cord ball (your working cord), line the end up at the bottom of the horizontal cords so that the tail of the working cord matches the ends on the left. This cord will be your odd single cord which enables a continuous over-under pattern around the basket. Weave the working cord over and under the bundles around the base. When you return to the odd cord go over or under it in the same pattern. As you go around, tighten your woven base even more. After six times around the base, transfer your weaving to the bottom of your mold for help in shaping your woven basket. (Note: It is alright if your base is smaller than the container and the sides tighten around the bottom corners of the mold.) Continue to weave on the mold going over and under the bundles and the single cord as you were before. Tighten the working cord around the mold as you go. You may want to pull on the bundle ends as you weave to straighten and organize the rows of working cords. At the desired height or when you get to the end of your working cord, using a darning needle, bury it down into the weaving at the side of the odd cord, following an over-under pattern. To finish the top, take each bundle of cords and bring it behind the next bundle of cords all the way around the basket. (Note: This is a temporary position, but helps organize the strands for the next step.) When you get back around to where you started, tuck the last bundle through the arc created by the first bundle. For each end of each bundle, use your darning needle to bury the end down into the weaving about three visible rows. Bury all the ends from one bundle one section over from where they are coming from (i.e. not in the adjacent section). If this gets tight and difficult to do, you can go back to your working cord and loosen the weaving for a couple of rows. (Note: Do not bury the ends of the extra-long bundle—these will become your handle. Simply skip this bundle and its respective burying section as you go around.) With the extra long bundle, you will twist the lengths to become the handle. Tuck it aside for now while you finish the sides. Trim the ends about an inch away from where they exit the basket so it's easier to work with it. Then, organize the arcs as desired. When the top of the basket looks how you want, trim away each cord as close to where it exits the basket as possible. Remove the mold. Bring the two ends of your twisted handle through the arc and two ends under one row of the working cord to the inside of the basket. Tie a knot with the ends of your handle on the inside of the basket. Trim all ends.