Making Easter Baskets Affordable, Unique, and Fun

Every year around this time, our minds turn to pastel-colored grass and chocolate bunnies. Has your basket making gotten into a rut? Perhaps you want to reduce the sugar highs and waste that inevitably come from candy stuffed baskets? Maybe the children have gotten a little older and Easter doesn't hold the shine it used to for them. Even if you're only looking to spend less money on stuff that doesn't seem to last very long, let's explore a few fresh ideas to bring the fun of Easter back for the whole family!

Toys & Games

Step aside, chocolate bunny - there is a new main attraction in this year's Easter basket! Cut down on sweets by making a much-wanted toy or a family game the main attraction. A cute stuffed animal, an awesome toy truck, or a new board game will help fill up a basket in no time. As a bonus, these types of items will last so much longer than the candy ever could and help create lasting memories as well.

Accessories

There are a million and one little accessories that can stuff a basket to brimming in no time. Just take a look around, what your family already has can give you more than enough ideas for any basket size you need. Hair bows, doll clothes, action figures, new Hotwheels for a collection, even shoes and hats for soon-to-be warm months are all fantastic basket stuffers. For older family members, consider items that encourage their hobbies - kitchen tools, books, or a new addition to a collection.

Clothes

A new outfit for Easter is a long-standing tradition for many families. Why not make those cute new clothes a part of the Easter morning fun and wrap them up in the basket? If you're not the "Easter outfit" kind of family, clothes can still be a part of your basket, just find something adorable for the coming warm months and wrap it instead!

Art & Crafts Supplies

One of the best basket fillers you can find is art and crafts supplies. Crayons, colored pencils, paints, markers, clay, brushes - the list goes on and on and on. Toss in a few coloring pages or activity suggestion books, and you not only have a very full basket - you have activities to keep everyone busy as well! If you're not sure what kind of supplies to get, consider getting or making a kit - premade kits and instructions for kits can be found all over the internet!

Reusable Easter Eggs

A favorite way to cut down on costs - and candy - is to make excellent use of plastic Easter eggs. You may want to get a couple of sizes, depending on the type of candy you stuff your baskets with. The goal is to have one or two pieces of candy in each one and have it seem full. For added fun, don't let the family open all the eggs, instead have them pick an egg each time and get a surprise! Be sure to have a place to put the empty eggs, they can be reused every year. Bonus Tip - if you can find the tiny plastic eggs that hold one small candy only, use them as basket filler instead of Easter grass, they will help support larger items better and eliminate waste!

Family Basket

Instead of making individual baskets this year, combine any or all of these ideas into one big basket for the entire family! This can cut down on the amount of waste you have in fake grass as well as cleverly hiding a reduction in the sheer amount of sweets that are being handed out. A family basket also helps introduce younger children to sharing in a way that does not seem like they are losing anything in the process (a major cause of sharing struggles). Make sure to add a little something for the whole family to enjoy together and a special item for each family member!

It doesn't have to cost a lot to bring the fun back into your Easter basket-making. Truly fantastic Easter baskets are also not all about that chocolate bunny. If you really think back to the baskets in your past, what was it about them that made you remember them? A great presentation and a unique item can do so much more than even the most expensive chocolate on earth. And honestly, time with the family is always the most important part of any holiday, so focus on that and your basket will be amazing no matter what you put into it.