How to Weave an Easter Basket from Recycled Boxes

Diane Gilleland, contributor

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Cardboard packaging lends bold colors and interesting graphics to this basket.

Diane Gilleland

These baskets are simple to make, involving a little weaving and a little gluing.

Diane Gilleland

Since boxes come in all shapes and sizes, you can make baskets in all shapes and sizes. This little one would make a cute party favor.

Diane Gilleland

Cardboard packaging lends bold colors and interesting graphics to this basket.

Photo: Diane Gilleland

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I love looking at product packaging-you can do so many creative things with all those bold graphics. Here, I've cut up some assorted boxes and woven them into baskets for Easter. Once the holiday's over, you could even put them right back into the recycle bin-or use them for organizing.

What you'll need:

• Cardboard food boxes (see notes below)
• Metal ruler
• Pencil
• Scissors
• X-Acto knife
• Cutting surface
• Bone folder
• Tacky glue
• Paper clips

More Easter projects: • Knitting with Buttons: Easter Bonnet • Oeuf Couture: How to Dress an Easter Egg • How to Decorate Easter Eggs Ukrainian Style! • How to Turn a Soda Can into a Spring Flower Brooch

A few notes on cardboard: For the samples shown here, I've used a pizza box, a 12-pack soda box, and a baking mix box. Packaging comes in all shapes and sizes-as long as it's made of chipboard, you can use anything you like. The larger the box you begin with, the larger your finished basket will be. I've made each of these baskets from a single box, but you could certainly combine cardboard from several different boxes if you prefer.

Before you begin this project, make sure your box is nice and clean. Cut the four sides apart, following the fold lines. Cut off any tabs from the top and bottom of the box.

Cut a rectangle that's an odd number of inches wide.

Step 1: Start with the front or back panel of the box. Most weaving projects start with a little math and planning, so let's get that out of the way first.

Measure out a rectangle that's an odd number of inches wide. Then, add 6 inches to that dimension. This will be the length of your rectangle. So, by way of example, my rectangle here is 5 inches wide. Adding 6 inches, I get 11 inches. So I'm cutting a 5-inch x 11-inch rectangle.

Cut a second rectangle to match.

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Comments (13)

EchoLin writes: lovely basket, it reminds me of my childhood when we make something to load our little stuffs
Posted: 10:40 pm on April 10th

Jai writes: Wow! What a great idea! This will be a great craft project to do with the childrens Sunday School class. Every year we give away Easter candy & eggs to the children (in paper bags). With this idea they can make their own baskets, we fill them, & with the economy the way it is, we save a lot of money in the process. Thank you for sharing your talents!
Posted: 2:31 pm on April 6th

radnav writes: Love this basket. I am writting a post on easter crafts. I hope you would not mind me using a picture from the post for the article. I will link back to you and give full credits.

http://houseonashwelllane.blogspot.com/
Posted: 10:45 am on March 11th

clare57 writes: What Fun! Wish I saw this before Easter. But now I am thinking how cute it would be to put a 4 pack of pansies in one as a mother's day present.
Posted: 12:44 pm on May 4th

variation writes: I love recycling/repurposing materials, especially if I can keep them from going to the landfill. Thanks for sharing this tutorial, and I hope others will post their recycled materials craft projects!

;-)
Posted: 2:51 pm on April 23rd

MamiMadeIt writes: Excellent tutorial! Great idea!
Posted: 4:06 am on April 1st

AnnabelleBaskets writes: So cool! I'm going to try this with the kids on Friday since they have the day off.

Thanks for the pattern!
Posted: 6:42 pm on March 31st

zeshuregi writes: very well done,i must try soon,i m also a weaving specialist
Posted: 8:57 am on March 30th

Kkbird writes: This is a terrific idea! I would not have thought of using product packaging, but I will definitely want to try this one out. Great directions too!
Posted: 1:43 am on April 13th

PassiFlora_magazine writes: What a great way to reuse and decorate! Would you be interested in having your project featured at PassiFlora magazine? More details at http://passifloramag.com/2009/04/easter-special/
Posted: 2:18 pm on April 9th

PamHarris writes: I just can't believe how cute these are! Out of boxes. Great idea, Diane.
Posted: 2:48 pm on April 3rd

Maureclaire writes:
Charming ! Love'em !!!
Posted: 2:10 am on April 3rd

LindaPermann writes: this is really cute- i especially love the little rounded tabs on the border.
Posted: 12:53 am on April 3rd

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