Easter Baskets Go Metallic

These premade and do-it-yourself baskets are decorated with copper and gold eggs and grass, as well as a touch of silver.

Basket #1

Made from scratch, this basket is transformed from ordinary to eye-catching when it is created from shiny metallic corrugated cardboard.

Materials:

metallic corrugated cardboard
white glue
craft knife
ruler
pen or pencil

Steps:

1. Draw a square on the wrong side (white side) of the corrugated cardboard. The square will be the bottom of the basket.

2. Determine how high you want the sides to be and draw another square around the first. The distance between the two lines will be the height of the sides. Draw another line 3/4 inch beyond the outside line, all the way around.

3. Draw a line from each corner of the inside square to the corresponding corner on the outside square. Draw another line on each side of this line from the inside corner to the outside edge. The lines should be the same length.

4. Along one of these lines in each corner, draw another line about 1/2" away from the first line and parallel to it. This will become a tab.

5. Cut it out.

6. From another piece of the metallic cardboard, cut four more side pieces. Do not include the extra 3/4 inch along the top edge, and do NOT include the inside triangle or tabs. Cut out.

7. Fold the sides of the basket upward. Fold the corner tabs inside and glue to hold, securing the basket in position.

8. Place the second cutout pieces along each of the four sides. Fold the top edges over and glue to the inside piece to hold.

9. A handle can be added by cutting a long length of the corrugated cardboard, folding it into thirds lengthwise, and gluing to hold.

10. Fill with the metallic grass and more gold- and copper-leafed eggs.

Basket #2

Take an ordinary inexpensive woven Easter basket and make it shine by painting it with one of the new metallic leafing pens from Krylon. Paint it gold or copper, or if you can't make up your mind, use both colors. An easy task, but it's one that takes a bit of time. If you fill your basket with spun copper from the Loose Ends website and some gold- and copper-leafed eggs, however, it will be worth every minute because you will have turned that ordinary looking basket into something spectacular.

Basket #3

If glitzy and shiny is not the look you want and the more traditional is your preference, you can still make a rather dramatic tabletop gathering by using Easter grass, the youngsters' stuffed bunnies and other small animals and some very small fencing. Many craft stores carry miniature fence pieces that you can stain or paint, then glue together and make a fenced-in yard. (The fences come in Popsicle-size sticks and tongue depressor size sticks.) Place this on your tabletop, fill with Easter grass and let the animals in to "feed." Add a few Easter eggs or jelly beans, too.