How-To: Make Baskets out of Peat Pots

It never fails, this time of year, my mind turns to Spring and Garden-inspired decor. Even with Easter decorations, I prefer some "realistic" bunnies and pretty baskets to decorate my home. (My kids TOTALLY disagree so it's a mash up).  I picked up some Peat Pots to start a gardening project, and it struck me that they would make pretty, natural-looking baskets, and you could decorate them in almost any style. So I gave it a try, and here's what I came up with:

Get some Peat Pots. They come in a variety of styles - round and square, connected together like egg cartons, etc. It doesn't really matter which style you use. For my project, I used square, individual peat pots. But a set of twelve connected could make a pretty centerpiece.

Using a hole punch, punch a hole in 2 opposing sides. This will serve to anchor your handle.

I chose to use ribbon for my handles. You can use pipe cleaners, lace, or some other material. My only suggestion is that whatever you choose has some weight to it so your handle will "stand up". I used a heavy grosgrain ribbon I had on-hand.

Attach your handle to your pot. In this case, I threaded the ribbon to the inside and tied a knot on the inside of the pot. I did the same on the opposite side.

That's pretty much it for the basic basket - a bucket and a handle. You can add grass, or some other filler to make them look festive. They would be adorable filled with jelly beans. You can also chose to leave them as they are, or to embellish them. I embellished mine.

I dug out some paper flowers, buttons and brads to fancy up my baskets with. You could also attach metal initials, balsa wood pieces, silk flowers, or even paint the peat pots or mod-podge paper on the outsides. . .I'm picturing one with sheet music on the outside or vintage book pages. . .

For one of my baskets, I adhered Washi Tape along the bottom. The Washi Tape didn't want to stick, so I added some extra adhesive.

The baskets are small, but perfect to display a treasure, a special egg or yummy treat.

catch you soon -