When I was challenged to come up with a DIY Easter Basket idea for Walmart I had big plans. I thought I’d make my own fabric and clothesline basket~ after all Walmart sells clothesline and fabric. Or I’d buy a basket and dress it up with spray paint and glitter, or foam letters and yarn. . .
Yeah. Well that didn’t happen. Life, as it so often does, got busy. We had Princess’s Birthday. Her Birthday Party. My Birthday, Spring Break. A trip to Grandmas. All within 3 weeks. Just not a lot of crafting time.
So what DID I do?
Well to start with I grew my own Wheatgrass to use in the kids Easter baskets instead of that fake plastic stuff.
Then I headed off to Walmart with my $15 in hand to see what I could do to make a great Easter basket for my kids. I found all sorts of great stuff~let’s face it, Walmart has TONS of great ideas and items for Easter. Candy of course, but over in the seasonal aisles I found the start of the summer outdoor fun items. I picked up a bubble wand, a jump rope and a box of sidewalk chalk-all for about a dollar each.
Now comes the *slightly* DIY part. First, of course, I put the pot of grass into the basket. Next I dug out my clear plastic treat bags that I bought in the cake decorating/party aisle at Walmart during Christmas time. I packaged some of my gingerbread cookies in them-but had plenty left over.
Using these little babies I can turn a couple of bags of candy into enough to fill two Easter Baskets. I was especially excited to find these cool Jet Puffed Marshmallows shaped like bunnies and be able to package them up into separate baggies.
So once my dividing was done. . .
I not only had enough for an Easter basket
I had enough for a second basket with more left over for mom and dad.
Repackaging the candy into smaller bags served two purposes. #1, it saved me money-I was able to buy less candy overall. #2, it automatically kept the amount of candy each kid was receiving under control, while still letting the baskets look full!
How do you help keep Easter Basket costs under control?
Disclosure: This post is part of a campaign I am participating in with the Walmart Moms. Walmart has provided me with compensation and product for this post. My participation is voluntary and opinions, as always are my own.
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My little guy is only 6 months of age, so NO CANDY. I created two new graphic tee shirts for him, which I hand crafted. I used a white hand me down shirt and dressed it up a bit. I also bought practical items he will use in the next couple of months:mum-mum rice cakes, a sippie cup, teething rings, and I got him a frog bunny stuffed animal. Nothing to complicated and I had a great time creating the shirts.
Along with a small amount of candy, my children (who are grown now) received practical items like new toothbrushes, floss, pens or pencils, a pack of fancy panties, bubbles, coloring books, crayons, etc. Similar to what they got in their Christmas stockings! They are now carrying on the tradition with my grandchildren.
I save the colored envelopes that cards are sent in, then I put them through the shredder. Green envelopes from Christmas and /or St. Pat’s Day become grass for Easter baskets. I love to find free samples in my mail box so I visit the ALL YOU site everyday. I put some of the samples in Easter baskets and in Christmas stockings.