Milk jugs, made from thick durable plastic, is often recycled as water containers or multi-purpose receptacles. You can up the ante on creativity and use the milk jug to create a basket. The jug’s plain appearance makes it fun to stylize. In addition, its durability ensures you that your creation will last for several years with proper care. So why not let your creativity loose on such a versatile material?
An Easter Theme is Perfect
Placing an Easter theme on your gallon jug basket adds another use to your creation. On regular occasions, you can use it to carry various household items, but during Easter, it can be used as an Easter basket. Just add a few embellishments turn a simple milk jug into an ornamental Easter item. You can even design the basket to look like the Easter Bunny if you choose.
Gallon Milk Jug Easter Basket
Stylizing a milk jug is not easy, given its durability. You will need an extra-sharp pair of scissors or a cutter to cut through its frame. When placing decorations, you must have a heavy-duty hole punch and a stapler, so the beads, yarn and other small items can be affixed. Just apply much precision when creating the basket and you’ll eventually arrive at a fine finished product.
Materials Used:
milk jug bunny basket
gallon milk jug
hole punch
sharp and sturdy scissors
heavy duty stapler
tape
colored beads
yarn
sewing needle
sewing thread
Procedure:
Cut the milk jug four inches from the bottom. Make sure to cut carefully, so the edges are straight. Fixing cutting errors is not easy, given the jug’s sturdy frame.
Once done, cut out the basket’s handle from the discarded top and middle portions of the jug. The handle should be long enough to stretch beyond the width of the basket.
Staple the ends of the handle to the opposite edges of the basket. If the stapler can’t penetrate the jug’s surface, punch on both sides of each handle. Tie a piece of yarn into the holes.
Get the hole punch and bore holes on the basket’s outer edge. The holes should be an inch apart.
Insert the yarn through the holes.
Tape the ends of the yarn together.
Fit the beads onto the yarn then sew them in place. Continue until the outer edge is filled with colorful beads.
Remove the tape then stitch a bead onto the ends of the yarn, joining them together.
With the basket completed, you can either use it either as a prop for Easter or a household decoration. The beads make the basket look elegant. You can place fake fruits inside and set it at the center of the dining table. You can also use it to carry Easter eggs with a matching Easter Bunny costume, which the kids will surely love. Clearly, the gallon milk jug easter basket is a useful and stylish container. (For other Easter basket ideas, learn how to make a candy-free Easter basket)
Gallon Milk Jug Easter Bunny Basket
This version of the milk jug basket is specifically made as an Easter decoration. The Easter Bunny design appeals to kids, as they are primed for their favorite event of the occasion - The Easter Egg Hunt. Making the basket’s Easter Bunny design may be slightly more complex than the beaded basket, but with some creativity and craft-making skills, you won’t have any trouble building the basket.
Materials Used:
easter bunny milk jug basket
gallon milk jug
scissors
black and red markers
2 sheets of 8 x 10 inches white felt paper
4 x 4 inches pink felt paper
2 sheets of black felt paper
2 sheets of pink felt paper
fabric starch
glue gun and glue sticks
pencil
black yarn
Procedure:
Except for the handle, cut off the jug’s top portion, including the spout.
Sketch the bunny ears on the two sheets of pink felt paper. Ideally, the length of each ear should span the entire sheet.
Cut out the bunny ears then soak them in fabric starch. Let starch settle until the ears harden.
Once both ears are dry, glue them on the opposite sides of the jug’s top portion. Remember, the front side of the basket is the jug’s handle.
Cut out a circle from both sheets of white felt paper then glue them onto the handle’s opposite sides.
Once done, cut two smaller circles from the pieces of black felt paper, which will be the bunny’s irises.
Glue the irises onto the white circles on the bunny’s face.
Create eyelashes or eyebrows by gluing pieces of black yarn atop the bunny’s eyes.
Cut a fairly large triangle from the pink felt paper then glue it to the handle, slightly lower than the eyes.
Draw the bunny’s mouth beneath the nose and handle using the markers.
Cut two small square pieces from your supply of white felt paper to form the bunny’s front teeth.
Glue the teeth inside the mouth.
Draw a small portion of the tongue beneath the teeth using your red marker.
If you find the bunny design too plain, you can add additional designs using felt paper, the glue gun and your markers. You can even paint the basket so its hue matches the color combinations and patterns of the Easter eggs.
Fluffy Bunny Basket
The fluffy bunny basket gives a hint of realism to the milk jug’s design. By using dozens of cotton balls, an actual rabbit’s fluffy coat is nicely replicated. As for the bunny’s face, you can use felt paper, a black marker and some yarn. This version of the Easter bunny basket does not only stand as an Easter prop, it can also be used as a decoration in your kid’s bedroom.
Materials Used:
gallon milk jug
cotton balls
pink food coloring
water
scissors
two sheets of white felt paper
two sheets of black felt paper
glue gun and glue sticks
black marker
black yarn
mixing bowl
Procedure:
Sketch the face of the bunny on the bottom part of the milk jug. The bottom of the handle is your point of reference, since opposite it is the location of the bunny’s nose.
Except for the handle, cut the top and middle portions of the jug. Leave portions of the front part for the bunny’s ears. Just shape them properly with a pair of scissors.
Cut two circles from the sheets of felt paper.
Glue the circles right above the nose, based on your sketch.
Cut two smaller circles from your supply of black felt paper then stick them inside the two white circles.
Cut strips of black yarn and glue them right above the eyes.
Glue black yarn below the nose to form the bunny’s lips.
Mix water and pink food coloring until the color settles.
Dip the several cotton balls in the solution then wait for them to dry.
Once the pink cotton balls dry, glue them onto the outline of the bunny’s nose.
Cover the entire frame, except for the facial features, with white cotton balls. Use your glue gun to attach them to the surface.
This gallon jug basket is clearly more tedious to do than the other two. At the price of losing a few aesthetic points, you can simplify the procedure by using cotton balls to create the bunny’s facial features. Just dip them in the appropriate food coloring then stick them to the milk jug. As for the lips, you can just draw them on the cotton balls using your black marker.
A Jug Basket of Ideas
The gallon jug basket is a creative individual’s playground. The Easter Bunny and the Easter basket are just two of the thousands of ideas that can be applied on the container. After making any of the three variations of the basket, you can explore on other possibilities and ideas for creations. Just think of yourself as a sculptor conceptualizing his or her next marvelous piece. For more information regarding this article, read 14 neat uses for milk jugs.