A Tisket A Tasket A Crafty Goodwill Basket
I enjoy taking dowdy or otherwise unloved items and giving them a second life. So when the good people at Goodwill Industries of The Columbia Willamette asked me if I'd fancy up an Easter basket for a local TV segment, I was happy to say yes.
Luckily, Goodwill is rich with choices. I'm not a particularly skilled artist, but this $4.99 sewing basket caught my eye, as I figured I could paint over the pattern and use the surface as a blank canvas.
I knew the basket would be going to a five-year-old boy, so I didn't want to create anything too frilly.
My first stop was to a local paint shop where I picked up a pot of $4 sample paint.
I then taped up the surrounding wood trim and gave it three thin coats of paint.
I really liked the cheerfulness of the bright blue.
Again, I'm not a skilled artisté, so I created a template for an upper case D for the boy whose same starts with the letter.
Good plan, right?
I was quite please with the result . . . until I realized that I'd been so focused on centering the letter that I didn't notice that I'd painted it upside down!
Luckily my mother is a genius, and suggested that I flip it around and turn it into a lower-case d.
Whew . . . an acceptable work around! I also added tiny painted eggs, as well as some bunny heads to complete the transformation from fuddy-duddy sewing basket to cutesy-wutesy Easter basket.
I love your inspired Easter Basket. I always bought good sturdy baskets for Easter that could be used for other purposes throughout the year. We used the same baskets over and over again and I have to admit I never gave them any special treatment except for some fresh "Easter" grass to nestle the eggs in. Thanks for sharing your cute craft project.
That is adorable!
I love what you did with the Easter Basket. But suggestion, you should have put a design under the letter "d" so it will look more cooler. 😀
More power!
I love what you did with the Easter Basket. But suggestion, you should have put a design under the letter "d" so it will look more cooler. 😀
More power!
Yeah, lots of ways it could have been better. Dammit Jim, I'm a nurse, not an artist!
What a great project! You are blessed to have an ingenious mother. Once again, I am struck by how neat and clean your Goodwill store is.
So cute and you have plenty of the blue paint left for a future project. I love that he will have a nice durable storage basket to use in the future instead one of the cheap flimsy ones.
I alas am not "crafty" but I have created many a gift basket using Goodwill baskets and grocery store treats!
Streaming live today on KATU.com Afternoon Live ( 3pm to 4pm), little Dillinger will be sporting your sweet sweet craft project. Katy, you are adored!
Your idea of "not skilled" is not in the same time zone as mine! This looks amazing, and your painting skills are far beyond what I attempted in the past!
What kind of paint did you use for material?
Regular wall paint for the background, and acrylic paint for the details.
A wonderful Easter basket. I’m sure it will be used for years to come.
Very good idea. Some dollar stores sell small plastic bottles of acrylic craft paints for about a dollar apiece, and I have seen bags of assorted partial bottles at thrift stores. I have a small collection in colours I can mix for touching up all kinds of things, including an epoxy filled chip in the ceramic floor tile of our entryway. The paints come in hundreds of colours and finishes, including pearlized and opalescent. They go a very long way.
We had a few bottles of paint from when my kids did art at home, so I just made do with what I already had on hand.
That looks great! I am terrible at crafts...sigh
Well done! I think you're very crafty! It looks great...
He will get a lot of use out of that basket
Those bunnies are so cute! Well done Katy!
What a cute idea! I totally check out the thrift store any time we need something crafty. I used the thrift store when decorating the walls in my office. It's a great place to find photo frames in particular.
Beautiful job! I'm sure the little boy will love it and use it for a long time. It looks like a great container for matchbox cars or plastic animals/dinosaurs.
Yes, I agree Christine. The baskets can used for so many things in a child's room. We put Barbie clothes, Legos, Baseball cards, Playdough containers, and much more in them. Sturdy baskets are organizational tools for any room.
I wanted to make something that could be used past Easter.
I fet like singing, I love you, a bushel and a peck, when I read your title!
Great job, that's really cute and Mom saved the day!
I love to use Goodwill baskets, or others I might have around the house for gift projects.
Well done, Katy!!
It looks great! If you wanted to keep the capital D, I wonder whether the top could have been removed from the hinges, flipped, and reattached. Usually, the nail holes are small to unnoticeable.
The original D looked fine, I thought! Dillinger is quite an unusual name...