Make an Easter Basket From Materials Found in the Recycle Bin

Easter has the best candy. And what better excuse to buy some for yourself, than to be already buying some to put in baskets for your friends?

The materials are free and environmentally friendly! You can put them back in the recycle bin when the candy is all gone, or compost them and feed your garden.

You will need:

- scissors
- empty tissue box
- newspaper (I prefer the brightly colored advertisements)
- candy (tragically, this is usually not freely available from the recycle bin)

If you have a choice, pick a box with an interesting pattern, or Easter-appropriate colors, on it.

(I did not originally intend to write this up as an Instructable, so it is going up in an untimely, post-Easter manner, but one of the recipients of the baskets encouraged me. You could even say he egged me on.)

Step 1: Prepare Box for Cutting

Remove the plastic film from the top and cut or tear open the top so you can easily cut into the sides.

You may find it easier to cut through both the cardboard and plastic film, or to cut the cardboard and then pull the plastic off. I prefer the stupid, awkward, and painful method of reaching through the plastic film, into the inside of the box, to pull the plastic off BEFORE I start cutting the box, because this way I get the satisfaction of pulling it off in one piece.

Step 2: Shape the Box

Cut grass shapes (or maybe they're daffodil leaves?) into the sides. Vary the heights and widths a bit to make it more interesting.

If your box has a floral pattern, trim the box away around the flower edges, to highlight the shape. If the pattern wraps onto the TOP of the box, include those parts of the pattern, too, and unbend the cardboard so the flower is flat.

Step 3: Make the Filling

Cut narrow strips from your newspaper, then crumple them up to give them volume and cushioning power.

Step 4: Fill the Basket

Put the crumpled newspaper into the basket, mash it around some to make a nice nest shape, and then place candy and etc. into the bed of newspaper.

Now the basket is ready to be stealthily placed on the desk or chair of the intended recipient. Stealthily because the Easter Chicken (or Bunny, if you prefer tradition) is a rare and never seen beast.