The Anatomy of a Basket

I have been working on getting baskets together for my fundraisers (my church fundraiser and my family's MDA fundraiser in Galatia, Illinois) which are 9/18 and 9/25. 

I love putting baskets together for those events for the silent auctions, so I thought I might show some of my handiwork.

The first thing I do to get ready is to find my willing assistant...here mine is meowing at me about how I won't let him in the house and how he doesn't want me to take pictures, he just wants me to hold him (or something similar!).

This basket is one of my favorites of the ones I have made...it is a spa type basket.  I had a basket that was just plain wicker color that I had gotten with some goodies in it.  And I had a can of spray paint in the garage that I had bought for half price at WalMart.

So, of course, I spray painted it and just love the color...a shade

lighter than robin egg

blue. 

I found a journal with a bird's nest full of robin eggs on the cover and so naturally the felted birds nest with eggs was the perfect addition. 

I usually start with an inspiration for theme and color...my inspiration for this basket was a set of washcloths (nice thick spa type washcloths that I found last summer at Kohl's) in shades of blues and white.  I used white paper shred for adding some fluff to the bottom of the basket and I added a pack of coastal blue glass marbly thingies to give it more coastal charm!

I found this little sea turtle at a yard sale for 25 cents. 

I found some tea light holders in shades of blue and clear at Dollar Tree. 

I added some Mary Kay Coconut Lime lotion, body spray and shower gel and a cute cosmetic bag that came with the Mary Kay things. (I am a MK consultant so these were half price for me).  That added a pop of green so I also added a green shower puff and then for good measure added two more in white and blue.

I don't use the puffs that come in gift sets I receive so I save them to use for basket building.  They help hold the items in place and they also provide some buffering in the event travel is involved.

I also added some tea light candles in waterfall scent and a large powder puff (it is the white chenille-looking item behind the lotion). 

And I will wrap it in cellophane to keep it all together and keep things from wandering off during the silent auction.

Some groupings I don't put in baskets...

This baby quilt that I made and the burp cloths, t shirts and socks would be lost in a basket, so I just used the quilt as a background and arranged the other items on top.

I slid the stack into a cello bag and folded the ends over and taped on the back of the package.

You can still see the quilt and it is flat, easy to transport and takes up little room.