Looking for easy ideas on how to decorate a basket? Here’s a simple project with step-by-step instructions.

I just finished the CUTEST EASIEST SIMPLEST project with this basket.

After I was done (and made four more baskets because I kept getting more ideas to use this technique), Whitney came home for a concert and walked in through the back door.

I think she squealed when she saw the baskets.

I say “think” because I’m not really sure what a squeal sounds like.

Eeeeek?

Urrrrk?

Aweokeki?

Suffice it to say it was a sound of awe and amazement and joy.

“You made those?” she said. “Those are the cutest baskets I’ve ever seen.”

I love that girl.

She truly knows how to appreciate a craft project.

Want to decorate a basket in under 30 minutes? Here’s the project and the step-by-step.

The cutest, right?

And when I show you how easy this is to make, you might just decide that we need to be friends forever.

But wait?

I didn’t stop with flowers.

Why?

When you could make these.

I made words on the baskets.

These are planter baskets, so I used BLOOM and GROW, and there’s a larger one that says GLOW & GROW.

I think I’m going to make a few more for my laundry room with words like STUFF and NEST and HOME and COFFEE.

Let me share the how-to (and a few tips I learned along the way).

Supplies:

basket (I already had this one, but I found one that’s super similar)

macrame cord 5 mm

low-temp glue gun (more on this later)

low-temp glue sticks

chalk

scissors

1. Sketch design with chalk

Plan out your design for your basket.

You can see a similar basket here.

I knew I wanted flowers with swirls, so I just looked at flower patterns and sketched them.

The amazing thing about chalk? If you made the design and don’t like it?

You can just erase it and start over.

You could also print out a pattern on paper and use white carbon paper to trace it onto your basket with a pencil.

//macrame cord 5 mm //

2. Use macrame cord

I used this cord.

You can see it here.

I like the 5 mm width because it really stands out on the basket and it’s firm enough to form shapes and letters easily.

It comes in tons of other colors, too.

3. Trace the leaves with glue

I used a low-temp glue gun for this project.

I found out about low-temp glue guns and low-temp glue years ago.

For a project like this, it’s so much better. Trace one leaf at a time so the glue doesn’t have time to dry.

You can see the glue gun here.

And these low-temp glue sticks here.

4. Wind the cord in a petal

Cut your cord before you put the glue on the basket.

After you apply the glue, follow the line of glue with the cord.

It should form a flower petal like this.

5. Repeat for the other four petals

Follow the exact steps for each of the other flower petals.

It’s easier if you cut out all the pieces of yarn in advance, so that all the petals are the same size.

Now it’s time for the center and the swirls.

6. Add the swirls

I sketched out the swirls coming out from the center of the flower.

Add the glue line and the cord in the same way.

Start from the swirl and work towards the center.

7. Create center swirl

Start swirling the yarn in a circular pattern.

Keep adding the yarn around the center of the petals and the ends of the swirls until you have a large enough circle that covers everything.

Add a drop of glue and tuck the end under the medallion.

Complete all the steps for the second flower.

 

It’s such an easy BUDGET project.

And now? You’ll never look at baskets the same way again.

So what do you think?

Was it “squeal” worthy?

I have to let Whitney know. 🙂

PS Here are some other storage basket options that would work perfectly for this project.

You can see them all here.

disclosure: affiliate links are used in this post.

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