easter basket

Happy Tuesday! I hope you are enjoying the Easter themed week at Lemon Tree...

My son didn't have his own Easter basket yet. This is only his 2nd Easter so I think he is okay, but I was determined to get him one this year. His big sister has one that we bought on clearance at Target a few years ago. I love it and have searched for a boy version to no avail. I decided to take matters into my own hands with Avery's basket as my inspiration...

I bought some hard felt pieces at Hobby Lobby, large white ric-rac and some big brown wooden buttons. I also used some scrap brown fabric, tacky glue, and white embroidery thread...

{Warning: I am a total sewing rookie.}

I started by cutting one of the blue pieces the size I wanted for the body of the basket. I used Avery's basket as a guide. I kept the length of the felt piece as is and cut about 4 inches off the top to make it approximately 18 x 8"...

Next, I used my iron-on transfer paper (Avery brand) to print and iron Tyson's name on a piece of white scrap fabric I had lying around. I then hand stitched the white piece of fabric to the brown piece that would be around the middle of the basket...

I then laid the large white ric-rac down on the edges of the brown fabric and pinned it to keep it in place. Don't forget to put the ends together making sure the ric-rac and fabric line up before you sew. (I forgot this step so my basket looks crazy from the back. Oops. You live, you learn, right?) I took it to the machine and stitched along the middle of the ric-rac...

There was extra fabric on either end of the felt so I cut it down a little and then glued it around to the other side of the felt to keep it in place...

I then began hand-stitching the open ends of the basket together...

So, I had me a little cylinder of sorts. I used the open bottom as a pattern and drew a circle on my felt for the bottom of the basket...

I popped the circle in place and began hand-stitching the bottom to the body of the basket...

It was now time for a strap. I cut strips out of my piece of hard white felt about 1 1/2 inches wide and 18 inches long. I rounded both ends of the felt and pinned the strap in place...

I sewed the buttons on each side to complete the basket. They turned out to be my favorite part...

Now the little man finally has an Easter basket of his very own...

And he is already loving it...

I am linking this Easter project to these parties this week. You will definitely want to check them out. You are sure to be inspired! See you next Tuesday!