Spring 2012 I was back home.
Since Easter was around the corner,
Making an Easter Basket was on the agenda.
How to make an Easter basket?
My cousin Denise has a shop/studio where pink, lace, frill, and girly-girly delights reigns. It is the perfect place if you want to create something full of sugar sweet happiness.
Denise's collects vintage pretty this, pretty that. Dollhouse wonderland, Little girl's dreams layers and layers of silk satin ribbons...whip cream...lollipops...sparkles...
The other day my two cousins, Denise and Renee, had my nieces and I over to make an Easter Basket out of a yogurt cup.
After spending the afternoon cutting vintage wallpaper, sewing crepe paper into ribbon garlands, hot gluing ribbons...yogurt cups, which are plentiful in France, will never look the same.
The first thing Denise and Renee had us do was pick out which wallpapered design we liked the best. Which wasn't easy considering the variety of vintage papers they had available for us to use.
What you need:
1 yogurt cup
10 x 6 inch piece of pretty paper, preferably floral
Several yards of crepe paper
Several yards of ribbon
Four or five fabric flowers
A pipe cleaner
A sewing machine to sew the garland
A glue gun
Stick glue
A scissor
The next step after wallpapering the yogurt cup was to attach the crepe paper garland (which was sewn down the middle, then gathered to create a ruffle) around the top and bottom part of the yogurt cup with the help of a glue gun.
Above you can see a pipe cleaner. My cousin Denise had sparkling pipe cleaners (Because girls who love pink usually love sparkles too!) and we glued part of the garland to the pipe cleaner to make the handle for the Easter basket.
The circle piece of wallpaper was glued to the bottom of the yogurt cup.
The garland can be trimmed if need be.
When the garland is attached wait for the glue to dry before adding the ribbon. The ribbon is glued in the shape of hills and valleys, a rippled effect.
My nieces were wide eyed happy, wanting to swallow everything up in one big delicious gulp.
Each niece selected the bits and pieces for their Easter baskets from the delightful multitudes offered to them. No two baskets were alike. It made me smile to see how pink took on many shades: A rose is a rose is a rose, but a pink Easter Basket can be pink in five different ways.
What pleasure it is to enter a place where the inner child rules, where little girls can be girls and grown women can entertain children in an old fashion way.
When the Easter Baskets were sitting pretty, I lifted my camera to take a photo of each one, when suddenly I had an idea- Since my cousin Denise has a vast collection of vintage ball gowns and shoes, why not do an Easter Parade! Or at least a photo shot with each niece dressed up with their Easter Basket in hand?!
Of course I didn't need to pull any arms to agree.
In a few days I will show you the results.
"Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose
Loveliness extreme.
Extra gaiters,
Loveliness extreme.
Sweetest ice-cream..."
From Gertrude Stein's poem Sacred Emily, written in 1913.
If you would like a packet to make your own Easter Basket
please contact my cousin Denise for the details at:
Main Street
Willows, California
