Build an Easter Basket at Walmart - For a teen!

Easter is on it’s way! We love celebrating the religious and family aspects of the holiday by attending church, reading the story of Jesus’s death and resurrection and sharing a meal together as a family. But we also enjoy the more secular traditions of decorating eggs, getting Easter baskets and indulging in a bit too much candy.

Walmart asked me to “build a basket” with items from the store for the kids in my family. Now Princess is 14, almost 15–and Buddy is 12. Gone are the days when some stickers and a few inexpensive toys would put them over the moon with joy. Teens and tweens are a bit more difficult and can easily become far more expensive. I don’t like “gift inflation”–to me Easter is mostly the religious holiday and the basket and such are a fun little addendum–not a gift giving occasion on par with a birthday. Simple, fun, useful and not too overboard are the way I like to go.

So off I headed into my local Walmart to see what I could come up with. There is a TON of Easter stuff in store this year. A full aisle, both side, was covered just with a variety of baskets, buckets, and other containers to be used as the base for your Easter basket:

It really was an amazing assortment. I like how there are some very classy, more upscale looking options. Several I could see being used for storage or decoration long after Easter is over–I love when items have multiple uses. I chose a square red basket that could be used for storage in my kitchen after it’s done holding candy and such.

Then it was time to fill the basket. I picked up some paper shred for filler–there were a wide variety of options in both paper and plastic, all kinds of colors. Easter Candy was prominently displayed of course. I never knew there were so many types of jelly beans out there! To make putting your baskets together very easy there were sections arranged by color/theme –Love minions? They’ve got it. Batman? Check. Doc McStuffins? Yup. You get the idea.

There were plenty of different plastic eggs to buy and fill as well as toys and even things like nail polish. Don’t feel married to the seasonal aisle though–there are lots of other areas in the store that have great items that work well in baskets. For the young ladies in your life makeup, perfume, hair accessories, and jewelry are things to look at. Pretty pens, Sharpies, and craft supplies work well for either gender. Don’t forget sporting goods or the shoe department for little items as well!

Here’s what I came up with for Princess:

Easter always means chocolate bunnies, so of course she needed one. I also picked up some of the “Nerds” jelly beans. Those things are addictive. Spring is on it’s way, so a new pair of slightly fancy flip flops will not only be appreciate but are useful as well. To finish off I added a small card with a couple of pairs of earrings she would like.

For Buddy’s basket I swapped out a few things:

His flip flops are more masculine–blue of course. Instead of jewelry he gets a set of Sharpies in basic red, black, blue and green. The bunny and candy stay the same.

These are very nice but SANE Easter baskets–a special treat, but not too much. There is one thing I went a bit overboard on–Peeps.

Yankee Bill LOVES Peeps (honestly I think they are a bit gross). This year Peeps is again having 3 different Mystery Flavors for Easter. I couldn’t resist–I had to buy all three to try. Along with the standard yellow ones. I’m sure Yankee bill and the kids will enjoy trying them all out.

Me? I’ll pass.