Plastic jug Easter basket

by Jennifer

 

Do you love celebrating holidays? 

But ...

Do you hate finding storage space for something that only gets used once a year? (No wonder the Easter bunny is so eager to unload all those eggs!)

Try this super easy way to make Easter baskets out of plastic gallon jugs. Not only is it a fun activity with the kiddos, it's a space-saving solution. Just throw it in the recycling bin when the dust settles from the hunt. I learned this idea from my friend Nora, who made them for her preschool students. We make a new batch every year, and we always get comments at neighborhood egg hunts. I must say, the "wow factor" is extremely high for such a simple project.

Here's how to do it:

First, rinse a plastic jug. Fill jug with hot water up to label line, wait a few minutes, and effortlessly pull label off. Let dry.

These are so foolproof, I generally cut them freehand. For this post I drew on the jug to illustrate the cuts. Cutting the ears away leaves a basket bottom, with the jug handle intact.

 

 Front view (one ear drawn)

 Side view. Line is parallel to handle, following the contours of concave area, then roughly to side seam of jug.

 Back view (both ears drawn)

Use a short blade knife or very sharp scissors to make your first opening, then scissors to complete. Please, please, please -- make sure only an adult does this job!

Bend ears inside out. At this point you've created a lop-eared bunny, and your basket is ready to decorate. If pointed ears are more your thing, follow this extra cut:

Turn your helpers loose to decorate the baskets. You can glue googly eyes and a cottony tail, or thread pipe cleaners for whiskers. (Remove before recycling.) We used permanent markers. Crayons, believe it or not, also work, albeit offering a more subdued palette. 

 Lop-eared bunny basket is on the left. An extra cut provided the different ear shape on the right.