Paper Shaker-style Easter Basket

Scroll down to the previous post if you want to enter my contest for the blog candy shown on March 31, 2010.
The first time I saw this style of paper basket on Camille's blog, ( http://captureaheart-cami.blogspot.com/). I thought that it looked like a Shaker basket (the Amish type not one that has something shaking in it). It sort of looks like a variation of the one Joy (Joy of Crafting) had on her blog site. Anyway, Camille had a link on her site that let me connect to Dawn's blog,(http://whimsiedoodles.blogspot.com/2010/03/tuesday-tutorial.html ) which gave me the how-to measurements and directions for the basket. I loved Camille's baskets but I decided to try the original two-handled style. Instead of covering the center joint with a paper circle, I used a punched paper flower (another one covers the back) on one basket and put a sparkly foam bunny (Nicole Crafts stickers from Ben Franklin Crafts) on the other. (I sprinkled some glitter on the back of the bunny's head so it wouldn't be sticky.) The brads on both baskets allow for the handles to move as they would on a real split wood Shaker egg basket. If you need a quick goodie Easter basket, this is the project for you. You can make two baskets from one 12x12 double sided cardstock or four if you cut the handles from some other paper. I used American Crafts (Letterbox) for both baskets and embossed the cardstock with a flower design before folding the pink basket. (Click on the photo for a close-up.) With the Martha Stewart scoring board and Tim Holtz ruler, this project was a snap to make. Give it a try. You can easily make enough baskets for a whole group in just a few hours. Hurry you only have until April 3rd to enter the contest!