Easter Baskets: Reused and Recycled
Ranked #12,587 in Holidays & Celebrations, #195,395 overall
Thrift Store Easter Baskets
When my brother and I were little, we set out an Easter basket each year -- the same one year after year. Not so, I've noticed, with many kids -- the use-and-throw-away baskets are just so tempting to today's families: brimming with toys, coloring books, and candy, wrapped with a giant bow. Walking through Walgreen's, I see rows of those cellophane wrapped baskets, calling "Buy me!" But walking through the thrift store, I also see rows of baskets, some unique, many of them of them higher quality than their drugstore counterparts. Why not start with one of those and fill and decorate it yourself -- with items that are reused, consumable, or of lasting value? Yes, you can use the same basket year after year... and it can be one that has already passed through someone else's home.
At the thrift store, you'll find not only Easter baskets but many of the things you need to put inside. Value Village sells bags of used trinkets, dolls, and craft materials. Little children aren't so discerning in the items they use for pretend play. As for older children, they may enjoy refinishing and recreating their goodies: painting wooden cars, dressing up old dolls and restyling their hair.
Need some more tips? Read on...
At the thrift store, you'll find not only Easter baskets but many of the things you need to put inside. Value Village sells bags of used trinkets, dolls, and craft materials. Little children aren't so discerning in the items they use for pretend play. As for older children, they may enjoy refinishing and recreating their goodies: painting wooden cars, dressing up old dolls and restyling their hair.
Need some more tips? Read on...
Easter-Ready
For Girls: Basket-Topping Bow
That Doubles as a Hair Bow
Posies Accessories Big Antique White Hair Bow
Amazon Price: $8.50 (as of 02/16/2012)
Why top your Easter basket with a throw away bow? Buy one that she can wear all year round. This Antique white bow will look nice atop a basket -- and go nicely with Sunday school dresses.
2 good options for Easter Basket grass: Grow you own or shred your own. (Avoid plastic.)
Ideas for 'Green' Easter Baskets
From Around the Web
- The Eco Easter Basket
- Tips for going green this Easter.
- Tree Hugging Family
- From organics to natural dyes -- more tips from 'Tree Hugging Family'.
- Grow Easter Grass
- Plastic Easter grass is not environmentally friendly -- it can also be unsafe for pets and little ones. You can grown grass in paperboard egg cartons.
- Easter Grass in a Basket-Sized Container
- Easter grass tips from E-how.
- Nature Moms
- Natural dyes and natural gifts -- tips from Nature Moms.
- Alternative Easter Baskets
- How about an Easter basket that doubles as a laundry basket?
- Paper Shredder Easter Grass
- Raid your scrap paper for color coordinated 'grass'. Here are step-by-step directions for making it look great.
- natural egg dyeing
- Martha Stewart explains how to dye eggs in 5 colors
A Lasting Easter Basket Gift: Heirloom Seeds
Heirloom Sunflower Seeds Flash Blend Certified Organic
Amazon Price: $2.29 (as of 02/16/2012)
Planting a garden with your kids... an excellent way to reinforce the true meaning of Spring. Heirloom seeds help preserve nature's goodness. Look for Sunflowers and other flowers and herbs that are suited for Spring planting.
Video: Making a Custom Easter Basket
Need some tips on how to pull it all together?
powered by Youtube
Eco-Friendly Kids' Easter Treats
Bulk or Homemade
Find scrumptious candies in the bulk bin at your natural food store... or bake your own treats and mold your own candies. (You might find some good serving and baking ware at your thrift store, too.)
Environmentally Friendly Baking
These cupcakes are green in more ways than one -- you can make some pink or yellow and they'll still be green.
Molds For Making Candies
FIVE PIECE ASSORTMENT Easter Candy Mold
Amazon Price: $2.29 (as of 02/16/2012)
Bunnies, ducks, lambs, eggs... Here's an assortment of classic Easter shapes that you can use year after year.
And What About Marzipan?
Marzipan doesn't even require a mold.
- Ehow -- marzipan eggs
- Directions for making marzipan Easter eggs.
- Modeling with Marzipan?
- How about some marzipam fruits and vegetables?
Searching for Easter Eggs -- Spring 2010
More Easter Crafts From Recycled Materials
A Toy From Simple Paper: The Paper Doll
Some can be printed from your own computer.
Paper Dolls From Recycled Materials
- Green Living
- Go green, go crafty with this activity.
More Thrifty Holiday Ideas
Freecycle
Need a little something to celebrate Easter? Have something to trade? Freecycle is about recycling and reusing things in our communities... all year long.
- Freecycle
- Freecycle is a community-based organization where people post the things they need, and the things they have to give away.
Tips for a Greener Easter?
Or just some thoughts to share?
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MamaRuth
Feb 20, 2011 @ 6:24 pm | delete
- Nice lens. We've always used our baskets from year to year. I enjoy finding the perfect treats and filling the same baskets each year. I loved your idea of including heirloom seeds. Thanks.
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puzzlemaker
Feb 7, 2011 @ 9:12 am | delete
- We have an Easter Basket we've used countless times. It's even been painted over and over and over again. It has such character with a large swooping brim (do you call it a brim?). Anyway, it is a real woven Easter Basket with a nice tall handle from my childhood. Plastic baskets can't compare to it. Fantastic ideas.
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Senora_M
Nov 12, 2010 @ 1:09 pm | delete
- Cool lens. I'll have to remember it when Easter comes around!! :) I'm hoping to get my mom to reuse the eggs she mailed us last year (that we still play with regularly).
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aj2008
Jul 27, 2010 @ 6:02 am | delete
- Thank you for featuring my cupcake lens on this very environmentally freidly Easter lens - lensrolled to some other green lenses of mine :)
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Waxing-Lyrical
Jul 19, 2010 @ 4:43 pm | delete
- Happy next-Easter! Some very cool ideas for going green :)
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Credits
- Easter Basket With Cats
- Flickr Creative Commons -- AlishaV
- Child at gate
- Free Digital Photos
by KarenTBTEN
KarenTBTEN
Hi. I'm a teacher and a writer. One of my passions is stringing words together -- and another is reading them out loud! I enjoy recording audio (publi... more »
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