NEW YORK — With Easter coming up it’s time to start plotting how to best your kid baskets from last year.
NEW YORK — With Easter coming up it’s time to start plotting how to best your kid baskets from last year.
Some ideas:
Get creative with popcorn
Is there anything more versatile than popcorn?
You can chocofy it, caramelize it or dye it in your favorite Easter hues. Try adding jellybeans or other Easter candy for added color, and mini marshmallows for added texture.
There’s no end to the mixes and flavor combinations. This is your chance to get beyond the usual and have some fun. An abundance of recipes already exist on the internet. The site Twosisterscrafting.com used salted sweet cream, primary color jellybeans and pastel sprinkles for an Easter feel.
Make some carrots
Or at least carrot shapes. Look for packs of carrot-shaped cello bags at craft and other stores and have at it. Fill them with Reese’s pieces or fish-shaped crackers for a carrot orange look, or just fill them with anything you want because the carrot shape is still fun for little kids.
Cello-wrapped carrot cargo fits nicely with just about anything else you might want to include in kid Easter baskets. If you’re going for the real-carrot feel, add a little green ribbon at the top.
Ditch the basket
Forget the traditional basket and fill a dump truck, inflatable wading pool or toy shopping cart with gifts and treats. Kids often ditch a basic basket but would have loads of fun with these receptacles as something extra.
A pull wagon would work, or a cartoon- or character-themed bucket filled with matching items.
One creative soul on Pinterest made good use of a clear vinyl rain umbrella, laying down a bed of iridescent plastic Easter grass on the inside and nestling toys and treats on top. Others used baseball caps as the catchall. One twist for what goes inside: Put a chocolate kiss in a plastic egg with a slip of paper that details something you love about the basket recipient, suggests Sherry Richert Belul of the gift site SimplyCelebrate.net.
Lia Griffith, a DIY crafter and designer, made a cute, sturdy Easter basket out of upcycled brown paper grocery bags using a woven design. The project takes four to five bags.