Why not think outside of the box…er, um…basket this year and create a unique Easter basket using only a beach towel and pool noodle? My kids are gearing up for another spring and summer in the pool and at the beach, and this is a perfect opportunity for me to sneak in some new essentials that I will be purchasing anyway and make the kiddos super excited about it. I can throw a new swimsuit, flip flops, goggles and water guns in the awesome basket and they are pretty well set for long days in the water. My baskets cost me less than $7 each, and they’ll get used over and over again.
Supplies:
Beach Towel of choice
Pool Noodle (I got mine at my dollar store)
Ribbon
Start by folding the sides of your towel in about six inches on each side. Now fold the towel in thirds, bringing the sides into the middle, as seen in steps 2 and 3 above. If you’ve got a helping hand, now is the time to call them in. Otherwise, feel free to use your fuzzy slipper covered foot to hold one end of the noodle where you want it to be while you work on the other end. Wrap the ends of the towel around the pool noodle, making sure that you have enough space to tie a ribbon around it. Tie the ribbon tightly and repeat on the opposite side.
I used a coordinating ribbon to tie my towel onto the noodle, but chose to add a fun pink ribbon for my daughters baskets for a bit more pizzazz. The basket is pretty sturdy, but I would wait to fill it with heavy items until it is situated where you want it. It held a lot more than I had expected! I actually had to run out and buy a bit more candy to fill it all up. Remember that it can be as shallow or as deep as you would like by adjusting the amount of towel that you folded over in step 1. For a deeper basket, fold less over. For a more shallow basket, fold more.
My kids will love these baskets and will get tons of use out of each part. Nothing like killing two birds with one stone!
Linked at Practically Functional, Serenity Now, Pink Little Notebook and Design Dining Diapers
Very cute, I’ve never seen anything like that before!! This would be perfect for me to to do for our kids since we’ll be on a cruise on Easter!
Melissa@TheHappierHomemaker recently posted…Healthy Cake Batter Smoothie
Love it Melissa! You can try to rival those fun towel animals!
What an awesome idea! Yep, look out boys, Mama’s gonna get her craft on 😉
Keep the great ideas coming!!
Thanks so much, Annalise! Hope the boys love them!
This is such a unique and fabulous idea!!!! LOVE IT!!
Thank you Renee!
Thanks so much for sharing your project on our #PARABlogCrew link party. Lovely take on a easter basket!
Sabrina @ Pink Little Notebook recently posted…ORC Week 2: A Sophisticated Ensuite in the Making
Thanks Sabrina!
This is absolutely adorable! I am doing an ‘outside fun’ themed basket so this is perfect. Thank you for sharing!
That sounds like it will be a perfect fit, Wende!
Has anyone have luck doing this I sure can’t.
Which step seems to be giving you trouble, Karen?
Im having trouble with step 5. Tying the ribbon and then what? My sides aren’t up like yours…. Please help!! I love this idea of a basket!!
Hi Monica, for step 5, make sure that you are pulling the towel higher on the outside of the pool noodle and wrapping your ribbon tightly around that part. If you can see the pictures of mine, you’ll notice that the ribbon really only wraps around that part of the towel. You may have to move the towel around a little bit to figure out how it works best for you. Hope this helps, but please let me know if you need more help.
I too am having trouble with the fifth step, but I REALLY would love to make these for my nieces who are tweens. Is there any way you can screen shot the steps of how you actually wrap and tie the towels around the base of the noodle? Thanks so much for sharing and giving of your time.
these instructions are not helpful at all, i cannot figure out how you’ve wrapped the towel around. should of added a step by step of you wrapping it so we know how to do it. mine does not turn out like yours at all.
Jessica recently posted…Easy Way to Make Your Guest Feel Welcome
Oh Jessica, so sorry that you are having trouble! The hardest part of being a blogger is trying to take photos while your hands are full or you are in the process of making something. There aren’t a lot of viable options.
My corners were loose so the sides fell a little bit but I was able to tighten it up by safety pinning the 4 corners and then covered them up with balloon ribbon. 🙂 thanks for the great idea!!
I’m still having problems with step 5…….is there a YouTube video of this?
How do I get the sides to come up? What am I doing wrong? The sides lay flat.
Are you able to make a video tutorial? I just cant figure out the last step. My sides don’t come up.
Tristen recently posted…Gift Filled Ornaments – Perfect for Classmates!
Tristen, I will try to make a video and post it this week as others seem to be having difficulty with this step as well.
Thank you so much!
Any luck with the video? I have all the supplies but can’t get the sides to stay up. Please advise!!!
I agree that I can’t get this to fold up right. The sides won’t stay up. I have tried several different ways. If anyone has figured it out please let me know. Cute idea and I have already bought all the stuff.
Did she get back to you in how to actually wrap the noodle I can’t get mine to stay? Side fall down !!
Thank you
I’m having trouble as well, can you make a video please!!
Can someone please help me out? I can’t for the life of me figure out how to put up the sides. The steps lack detail.
Tristen recently posted…Gift Filled Ornaments – Perfect for Classmates!
Could you possibly do a video? This is such a cute and practical idea, but I can’t get the towel right.
So after two days I finally figured out how to do.step 5 and make it look good. After pulling up the middle over lap the ends like ur wrapping present then tie ur ribbon. I thought you all would like to know before easter. 🙂