Do-it-yourself Easter basket

IT’S nearly Easter – yay! That means it’s time for easter hunts, egg painting, chocolate eating and lots of fun and laughs.

This fun idea can be given as a gift.

What you will need:

Wicker basket with a handle; A pretty, tall plant with a drip tray; (preferably white flowers and a creeper – we used white Gaura) Pretty, colourful plants (we used pink Gypsophila); Weed barrier cloth; Potting mix; Colourfully wrapped Easter eggs / egg toys; Acrylic paints in various colours; Paint brush; Some rubber gloves (optional); and Some water to rinse hands

How it’s done

FIRST, lay some newspaper on a table (or on the ground). Acrylic paint is easy to wash off and safe for kiddies, so gloves are totally up to you.

Get your kids to start off by painting their first layer of their favourite colours on each of the eggs and laying them very carefully on the piece of newspaper.

While the first layer of paint dries on each of the eggs, cut the weed barrier cloth to fit the size of the basket and place the drip tray on top of it inside the basket.

Let your kids fill the basket with potting mix, stopping a few centimetres before the rim of the basket. Then let them plant the Gaura in the middle, making sure the roots are nicely covered. Place the rest of the plants around the centre plant, to make a pretty display. Give your plants a bit of water.

Now comes the egg-citing bit! Let your kids lay the eggs around the plants so that they are visible. Then get the paintbrush again and get your kids to paint patterns on the eggs, ensuring they don’t get soil on the paint brushes.

Tie a bow around the top of the basket handle and put your Easter egg basket somewhere that everyone can see, or give it to your kids to give to friends as an Easter gift.