Easter Baskets: A Symbol

Easter Baskets: A symbol

In Poland and other Eastern European countries religious people would take their Easter baskets to church to be blessed the Saturday before Easter. In these baskets, we would put in a bit of the food for our dinner on Easter Sunday, when we would break fast and abstinence. These baskets represented what we were grateful for, both from nature and from God.

We would use our regular baskets that were around the house as decorations or holding bins. Good spring-cleaning of those things). First, we would line the baskets with our finest linens. Arranging our items in the baskets would be next. Here we place our colored eggs, bread, sausage, salt, butter, cheese and of course a sweet or two; the basic sustenance of life. Most items would have double symbolism --one from nature and one with religious meaning. These simple baskets helped us as children focus on the meaning of Easter. These were opportunities for families to work together, share and pray together: To be thankful for what we have.

Easter is a very religious holiday. Though many of the traditions surrounding it may be based on some pagan traditions they have been appropriated and transformed into the Christian tradition. So it doesn’t surprise me much that it has been appropriated by commercial culture in return. However, as it has been appropriated by the consumer culture, there has been a 180 transformation. The Easter Basket of my youth, which focused on gifts from nature and God, the things of life sustaining value has been transformed to items made of items of limited use, excess and extra packaging.

There are some lessons here to be learned for celebrating Easter with baskets that are more in tuned with living a more sustainable life.

Try using baskets you already have: You may just reuse baskets from previous years. A simple ribbon or flower can add that extra zing you are looking for. If you do not already have some baskets from previous Easters, just look around your house. Is there a gift bag stashed somewhere waiting for its next use? Is there a basket holding something else that can do double duty just for a bit?

Remember, this could be a good time to do some spring-cleaning to clear some stuff out. After Easter week they can go back to do the job you first intended for them. If you don’t have baskets, consider multiple uses when you go to purchase this year’s baskets. What will they function as after the holiday? Really, the kids won’t notice.

Ok, you are not Polish, Eastern European, or have no ability or desire to take a basket full of food to a church for a blessing. You are looking for something that is just fun. Well, here are some ideas that can be inexpensive, made of found and reused items from around the house.

The Easter Pail:

A regular sand pail can be adorned with stickers or flowers for the holiday. Afterwards, the pail itself has an extra long life than one of those plastic baskets: Great for sandboxes and the beach.

The Berry Basket’s second life:

What You'll Need: Fabric or ribbon, Scissors, construction paper, Stapler, tissue paper and The Berry Basket.

(The kids would love doing this project as well.)

Step 1: Cut several strips of fabric or ribbon as wide as the openings in your basket. Weave the strips in and out of the slots around the basket. Tie each strip in a knot and trim the excess. You may also wrap the top edge of the basket with some ribbon.

Step 2: To make a handle, cut a 1-inch-wide strip of construction paper. Secure 1 end of the strip to each side of the basket with a stapler. If you want, use a strip of fabric or ribbon to tie a bow around the handle. (You can also use braided pipe cleaners or even just the ribbon for the handle if you don’t mind the handle not standing up)

Step 3: Line your basket with tissue paper or fabric.

The Paper Bag Bunny Basket:
I found this one at http://tipjunkie.blogspot.com/2009/03/homemade-easter-baskets-paper-baskets.html with a few tweaks here and there, it is even easier and the supplies more easily obtained. Number one tweak, skip the plastic grass.

This bunny basket is so simple. Feel free to make changes taking into account what supplies you have on hand.

Materials:
    * 1 paper lunch sack.
    * Pencil.
    * Scissors.
    * One small pink pompom (or 1/2 cotton ball).
    * Magic markers.
    * Pipe cleaner, yarn or string.
    * Cotton ball.

Lay the paper bag flat with the glued sides down. Sketch a pair of rabbit ears on the top half (open end) of the bag. Cut the ears out, leaving the front and back ears attached to the bag. Cut the sides of the bag even with the bottom of the ears that should be about 4 inches from the bottom fold. Decorate the bag with a bunny face and finish with a small pink pompom nose. Use the pipe cleaner to make whiskers and the cotton ball for the tail. Glue the tops of the front and back ears together.

The Plain Paper Bag Basket:

Just take any size paper bag and fold or roll down the top to the height you prefer. Decorate it any way with anything you want. Only your creativity can limit what this simple bag can turn into.

Choices:

You have a variety of choices when it comes to baskets. You can reuse past baskets, make some new one's, change a berry basket or tissue box into an Easter basket or one of those old gift bags. You can decorate to your heart's content. So make your choice.

What can you fill these baskets with for that special basket hunt? What surprises can be awaiting your children? What activities can you do with your children to fill out these creations? Well that’s coming up next, so check back soon!