Paper Power: Make a Basket from Paper Strips

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First, the easiest thing to do is to tuck things into the weavers all around, like lollipops for a party-girl basket. Plastic forks or spoons spray-painted a fun color would complete a picnic basket. Or try weaving strips of wrapping paper or ribbon around the basket. This gives the illusion of paint without painting.

However you use your baskets, I can almost guarantee that once you start making them, you'll never seem to have enough on hand, and you'll never ask for "plastic" again.

When browsing through those slick decorating magazines, one thing you see over and over are these little wooden shapes strung on raffia and hanging from just about everything. Bunnies and ducks and hearts everywhere! Well, you don't need to be machine-shop savvy, or even spend a dime. You don't need to look any farther than your children's breakfast. Not the cereal, but the boxes they come in. Simply use a cookie cutter to trace the shapes onto the cardboard, cut out, punch holes with a hole punch, glue three or four together for strength and thickness, and paint. String on a piece of raffia or ribbon, and you have the same look for free. If you have a bit of wire, just wind it around and around a pencil, then slide it off and attach it to the painted shape for a nifty tree decoration. You can layer these and add bits of ribbon and lace or buttons to decorate. If you wish, you may paint on a coat or two of gesso, sanding between coats, before painting.

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