This easy DIY craft will transform an Easter basket into a stunning home decor piece! Upcycle an item that would otherwise end up in a landfill and save money in the process! This DIY home decor craft is easy to do with only a few items. See detailed steps below!
Easter, a celebration of renewal and joy, holds a special place in our hearts. Easter is a time for families to gather, sharing laughter, love, and a festive spirit. The tradition of egg hunts, colorful decorations, and delightful treats makes it a fun time for both the young and the young at heart.
While Easter is undoubtedly a joyous occasion, it's important to acknowledge the environmental impact associated with its celebrations. The proliferation of single-use plastic decorations, excess packaging for Easter treats, and the overabundance of Easter baskets contribute significantly to the mounting issue of holiday-related waste.
Every year after Easter is over you will see retail stores still full of Easter baskets. You might even be able to get a really good deal when they go on deep discount! But what would you do with an extra Easter basket? We came up with a great idea to repurpose these baskets to save them from the landfill with this DIY craft and turn it into a useful and beautiful DIY home decor piece.
Recently, I saw a blog post by Little Vintage Cottage (See link below!) where they took a thrift store basket, bleached it to a lighter color, and made a pendant light out of it. Genius and beautiful! I wasn't quite ready to attempt to make a light fixture, but the idea of bleaching the basket stuck with me.
Easter baskets come in a wide range of colors, but if I could bleach out the color I might be left with a neutral woven basket that easily fits in with any existing home decor. Retail stores charge $20 and up for woven baskets, but Easter baskets can be found on sale after the holiday, at thrift stores, or you may even have some extras around your House. That's exactly where I started!
I had this yellow Easter basket hanging around from one of the kids and I thought it would be perfect to try this out on. I started by removing the handle for the basket. This was harder than I thought it would be! Regular scissors didn't work for me. So I had to grab some shears to help.
The yellow color would probably be easy to lift to a neutral tone with minimal bleach. The only problem was, I didn't have any liquid bleach on hand. I did however have this Clorox bathroom cleaner that had bleach in it. I didn't want to go out and buy a bottle of bleach just to try out on this project so I went with the cleaner and, to my surprise, it worked! See the steps below to create your own woven basket decor.
It's important to work in a well-ventilated area and always wear gloves and protective clothing when working with bleach.
I went outside with my basket, the cleaner, and a plastic grocery bag. I sprayed the basket until it was soaked and sudsy on all sides and on the inside. To make sure the bleach had time to work before drying, I wrapped the basket up in a plastic bag and left it outside to soak up the bleach.
After three hours I went back outside and unwrapped the bag. At first, I wasn't sure if it was working. While the basket was still wet it still had a very yellow hue to it. I almost gave up on it but then I noticed as the top was drying the yellowness lightened significantly. You can see the color difference above between wet and dry.
To make sure the basket didn't reek of bleach when I brought it back inside, I soaked the basket with water using my hose. Then I let it air dry overnight.
The next morning I had a much better-looking basket but it was still a little yellow for my liking. Something that probably could have been solved by using liquid bleach instead of a cleaner with bleach, but that's a lesson learned.
Then I remembered I had some Behr white wash wood stain left over from another project. So I followed the instructions and gave the basket a white-washed wood stain.
The final product was more beautiful than I thought it would be!
This basket is perfect as a decor piece, a catch-all for items around the house, or even to use in the bathroom for hand towels. What would you use this basket for? Let us know in the comments below.
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