Chesney Mosher, Sophomore
Easter baskets date back to the 7th century. When they first originated, they were traditionally lined with white linen or lace napkins with an added touch of boxwood, which is a typical Easter green. The Easter baskets would contain Easter foods like hot cross buns, eggs, bread, lamb, ham, and salt. These are all foods that would be brought to the church. In the current time, Easter baskets are more fun — filled with candy and games and are mostly given to children.
All children look forward to Easter because of Easter baskets. Typically, Easter baskets are filled with candy and toys for young kids. To make a twist on the traditional basket you could use a toy wagon or truck instead of a basket. You can still fill it up with the ordinary chocolates, candy, and toys, but now your kid would have an additional object to play with. Another great idea for young kids is a scavenger Easter hunt. You can either hide several smaller baskets or hide Easter eggs with clues inside, leading to the main baskets. With this activity, you can make it even more fun and do it outside. What a great surprise it would be to wake up in the morning!
If you have the time during the holiday season, a very personalized and sentimental gift could be a hand-made or woven basket. There are many different types you can make including yarn, rope, raffia, twine, and paper. The steps to make each of these types of baskets are very similar, therefore the steps to making a rope basket can be used for other materials.
The things you'll need for this DIY are rope, yarn, and a crochet tool. You want to start by creating the base of the basket by taking your rope and making a circle out of it. Then proceed to weave the yarn through each gap, going over top of the rope and looping around again. Go to this link for visuals: Woven Basket.
Now you're going to add the walls by making a stack ring that's the same size as the bottom piece. It may be easier if you glue or tie the rope together for the walls before attaching it to the bottom piece. You're going to want to slip the yarn through the rope on the bottom of the wall piece and the outside edge of the bottom piece. After they are tied together, you're going to weave the walls in the same way you wove the bottom. You can add a handle by simply creating a long rectangular shape out of rope and weaving it together. You can then proceed to tie and knot it into the basket. This basket is perfect for all age groups since no one is too young to get an Easter basket.
Even though Easter is still a few weeks away it's never too soon to start making Easter baskets for all ages. Getting baskets that kids can engage in is a great idea and will keep them occupied for hours. An amazing project to keep one busy during the holiday season is making baskets. There are many different materials that can be used, which allows the possibilities to be endless!
Sources: http://ceci-bean.blogspot.com/2013/09/diy-woven-rope-basket.html
https://www.marthastewart.com/1105110/history-easter-baskets-and-all-stuffers
https://whav.net/2018/03/21/easter-bunny-visits-haverhill-for-breakfast-at-marias-on-saturday/
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