Easter Baskets Ideas Crafts and Greeting Cards

Easter crafting is by nature, a shared event. Families decorating eggs, cookies and their home. From the greeting cards, baskets and gifts, to the decorations and food. Even as, my children are far from young, I love to celebrate the Easter holiday and spring.

DIY Easter crafting (publishing soon) greeting cards and spring style gift tags are all inexpensive to make.

Use paper and flower decorations in place of ribbons for a Spring look. Sewing stuffed animals or clothes for Barbie are bonus gifts to put in baskets. Glue seed beads on a styrofoam egg, till fully covered. Choose solid colors, multicolored or create a design, like a tulip. Use mini wooden shapes and glue the seed beads on to decorate those, place on a wooden stick and you just made your own container decoration, like a florist.

Filling a basket is a joy, but can be budget to extravagant. Choose your options according to interest, taste and cost, keep in mind not to overwhelm a child with too many things.

Consider toys, puppets, wallets, purses, handcrafted items, cash and coins inside the plastic Easter eggs.

The ideas are covered by boys, girls, teens and baby baskets.

1. Hotwheels

2. Movies

3. Barbie or Littlest Pet Shop animals.

4. Dollar toys

5. Outdoor toys

6. Coloring books with crayons

7. Mini games - travel games and card games

8. Small children's books

9. Small boxes of Legos that are projects like buildings, cars, mini figures.

10. Kites

11. Stickers

12. Shaped chalkboards from craft stores.

Adding a few toys in a basket allows parents to reduce the candy content in a basket. It also elevates the excitement level for a child. I put Hotwheels in my son's basket yearly. Even as an 18 year old, he would take vintage ones even now! Girls that enjoy dolls still find Barbie is the perfect gift in the basket. You don't have to buy the most expensive, Even a single Barbie, and maybe an outfit will do. If you can sew or knit a fashionable outfit, this is the time to craft one for a child. My daughter loved the Littlest Petshop animals. They are the perfect size for baskets.

Dollar toys fill the basket quickly and on a controlled budget. Puzzles, simple games, tops, yo-yos. Small stuffed animals fit right in and look festive at the same time.

Active children prefer outdoor toys. Balls, bats, kites, chalk, bubbles and any sports items.

A classic toy, coloring books and crayons. I love those paint with water, coloring books too. Any of the Crayola, or no mess packs, are impressive too and they are so brightly packaged.

Since a full size board game won't fit in a basket, mini travel games are a congenial addition. It can be your secret weapon to peace and quiet during car rides too.

Children learn so much from reading, add a book or a short set of books. Bunny theme is satisfying, when you can.

Mini lego sets are another educational toy and a bit more cost effective than an expensive large set.

Spring is ideal for kites, so adding a festive kite will set the wind in their sails.

Stickers are so versatile. Kids can decorate toys, folders, cards, Easter eggs. Shaped chalk boards are fun and useful for kids.

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Healthy snack ideas.

1. apple chips
2. trail mix
3. nuts, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds
4. chocolate covered fruits
5. raisins
6. trail bars

Follow the link for the apple chips recipe or purchase a ready-made bag from the grocery store. The nice thing about healthy, is finding them all in one store. Easy shopping. You can still add a sweet treat in with the healthy foods and a stuffed bunny, just like in the video.

1. Music CDs or iTunes gift card

2. Nail polish or any little makeup items for girls

3. CASH

4. Wallets or purses

5. Pack of "get out of chores free" cards

6. Fast food gift cards and coupons

7. Posters

8. Teen series books, magazines or exceedingly trendy looking blank journals

9. Favorite snacks

10. Mini Zen garden or Japanese Rock Garden

With music CD's, make sure it is one they want and not duplicating what they already have in their stockpile. The nice benefit to iTunes cards is their ability to choose the songs they want.

Most teen girls wear makeup, so any will add to their collection. Notice that some only wear lip gloss, or eye shadows. They don't necessarily cover their face entirely. Just buy the items you know they use every day.

Cash is the always a top option for teens. Anytime you are unsure, go with cash. Couple that with a new wallet or new purse.

What is one thing kids hate to do? Chores! Why not make a coupon book of Get out of doing "dishes, trash, laundry, dusting." Keep the book short and sweet. You don't want them getting out of too many things when it comes to helping around the house.

Fast food gift cards and coupons help teens that head out on the road. My son eats at Dennys and Pizza Street. I remember surviving between Taco Bell and McDonalds at the age of 16.

Posters still honor any teens room, representing what they love. People places or things, color their rooms with poster images.

There is endless, majorly invigorating book series for teenagers. Find out which ones they want to read and get them started on the hottest teen novels. Magazines are more suitable for the ones that specialize in their interests like gaming, photography, health, crafting or teen advice. Others enjoy writing, so a blank journal is the best gift.

Don't forget their favorite snacks, candy and cookies. They like the food items the best and it is apart of Easter.

Mini Zen gardens have a calming affect, develop focus and is fun to rake the sand into ripples and hills while varying the rocks in different locations.