Frugal Easter Baskets
From: Lisa
I washed and dried some milk jugs. Then I peeled off the label, cut a jagged line into the jug, and cut around the front and sides about two inches or so from the top. This way you have an opening in the front of the milk jug. Then I made tissue paper flowers and put them around the top of the jug. I took left over stickers that I had and stuck them all over the jug.
I will fill the jugs with shredded newspaper and fill them with Easter treats. The jugs already look very beautiful and what an eye-pleasing treat it will be when it’s filled! I have already gone to the dollar store and found some great deals!
I’m able to fill those beautiful and FREE jugs with many beautiful Easter treats!!!!!
By the way, instead of real flowers for my table this year my children and I are going to make tissue paper flowers. I found a pack of 30 tissue papers for ….a buck!
You can decorate these jugs in many different ways. Our kids use the same bucket each year and just set it out for the Easter bunny to fill. If you do it this way, you could have the kids decorate their own.
-Jill
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Photo By: Tom Ray
i love to shop at the dollar tree for easter basket goodies and for christmas stocking fillers– i have been doing it for years — also for alot of school supplies — love that for a buck stuff — mommasunflower
great idea to use for a basket.. a milk jug! .. it’s big and sturdy too …
and i love the tissue paper flowers .. great idea ..
at my sister’s wedding, for the decorations of the tables, her sis in law made the most beautiful flower arrangements using the tissue papers .. it was in basically the colors of our dresses but a deeper color.. (i wore light pink and my sister wore light blue and of course the bride wore white . so arlene (her name) made the arrangements a darker pink and darker blue with white “flowers” .. and green to represent the leaves .. it was really pretty) .. nad they were a nice size too ..
i remember one time when i was little . it was my mom’s birthday and i didnt have any money to get her a present but she used to buy these colored tissues (green, pink, blue and yellow) .. well i made this huge bouquet of “flowers” out of the tissues .. it was really pretty ..
i also love the $1 store .. lots of great buys! ..
thanks for sharing :D
You can usually find easter baskets at thrift stores for next to nothing and you have the benefit of recycling them..I got my kid’s baskets there and saved them along with the plastic eggs after they emptied them.
i have a ??? .. how does one make those jiggly jello eggs using those plastic (open in the middle) eggs .? ..
i knew a woman (we worked together) and she would make those all of the time using those colored eggs that twisted (or pulled) open ..
she told me how but for the life of me, i could never get it to work right ..
hehehehehe .. and i feel kinda silly asking but i thought why not ask ..
is there special plastic eggs that u use instead of those ones i got at the dollar store? ..
just curious..
and maybe i tickled some funny bones today too . ehhee :D ..
I have a mold to make them. It pops together and has a hole in the top to pour in the mix. There is a recipe also if you want to make different kinds of eggs.
I ahve used milk jugs as Easter baskets myself. But I measured a lkine on the jug just under the handle. I cut along that line. Then I cut two slits in the jug near the top edge on each side and ran ribbon through the slits for handles.
Rose, those are called Jello Jiggler Eggs. I haven’t seen the egg molds in stores for awhile. There is a special recipe for the Jigglers. It used to be on Jello boxes. Not sure if it still is.
after looking this up on the internet .. i think u may need special molds but i can be wrong .. not sure bc well i havent seen any of these types of molds in the stores ..
Rose, I just looked on EBay and you can buy the molds there.
They wouldn’t be 3-dimensional, but you make gelatin jigglers in Easter shapes by pouring your gelatin in a rimmed cookie sheet or 9 X 13 pan and cutting the shapes with deep cookie cutters. Generally a month before Easter Jello puts out the molds for the 3-dimensional eggs, but they tend to go fast.
As for using plastic eggs-to-fill as a mold, you would need to oil them well, just like any mold, but you also need an opening to pour the liquid gelatin in. The plastic these eggs are made of is very brittle and not very friendly to being trimmed with scissors. A dremel type tool maybe? Then use a tiny funnel?
thanks angie, thats what i thought .. and they are really cute too ..
you may be able to get jiggle egg molds from the Jelllo company. We made them. Once. And never bothered again.
You can also make egg shapes from Rice Krispie treats. You can fill the insides and decorate the outside and dip them in chocolate as well.
I forgot about this :) We stumbled on using the milk jug baskets for easter egg hunts, because they are deep enough to hold a fair amount and easy to hold for small hands if you leave the handle on. We only used them one year, because I discovered that Grandma felt it was a tradition to get new-to-her and the kids-baskets each year, rather than home made.
But they also work great for totes for adults – paint brushes, garden tools, gloves, wipes. You can also line one with a nest of walmart bags in bags in bags in bags, or non-leaking bags if needed, and you have an instant icky/sticky catcher. Tie the top bag shut, dispose of it, and you have a clean mess catcher tote again.
Attach a sturdy braid or easy on the skin rope, and you have a hands free tote (wear over your shoulder, or across one shoulder and under the other arm). Add stickers or some kind of decoration, and it makes it easier for a child to go grab the right one for you too:)
School bus on its way home…Happy Easter everyone!
Busy Beek thanks for the ideas. For those of you who want more ideas on milk jugs check out our post.
Rose, funny I would tumble upon your Jello egg question today! I made the Jello eggs, using the Jello egg molds, yesterday, as well a the Jello jellybeans ~ the jellybeans are my favorite!
this is a link to Kraft foods’ product page. The first item is the Egg mold. I am intrigued by the football mold now!
http://store.ya-ecom.com/kraftcornerstore/_e/dept/01-001/Molds_Cutters_for_all_Occasions.htm
Have a wonder-filled day!
thanks andrea.. i will have to check this out :D