This Friday, April 22 is Earth Day! As a part of the B Kind 2 Earth Day project with Nickelodeon, the National Wildlife Federation, and TheMotherhood.com, I pledged to do something to help the planet for Earth Day.
When thinking of what I could so, I remembered that: Earth Day at the start of Easter weekend
and I am craft blogger who loves to share tutorials and idea. I should obviously play to my strengths.
I created an Earth friendly Easter craft that you can do too! I mod-podged old ice cream buckets and turned them into Easter baskets for my kids. I had planned to do this for about a week and then I got a call that the family easter egg hunt and been pushed up and I only had about 3 hours to get everything I wanted to do done. This craft is quick and practical, I love it.
I used Fabric but you could easily use paper if that is what you have on hand. My directions will refer to how to do this project with fabric.

Supplies:
Clean and empty Ice Cream bucket with a handle
Mod Podge
Fabric
Hot Glue Gun
Ribbon/Trim optional

Steps:

1. Measure the height of your ice cream bucket. The two I used were 4 inches and 6 inches. Cut a strip of fabric 1 inch taller than the height of your basket. That way you can fold over the raw edges. You could also use ribbon to cover any raw edges and skip the extra length.
2. Apply Mod Podge to the bucket in small increments, about 2-3″ at a time. Avoid putting Mod Podge about 1/2″ from the bottom. You will be gluing the bottom later.
3. Fold over the top of the fabric 1/2″ and place it flush against the top lip of the bucket. Smooth the material out as you lay it down. I pushed any air bubbles towards the side and bottom.
4. Make your way all the way around the bucket applying Mod Podge, folding down the fabric 1/2″, and smoothing down the material.
5. When you get all the way around, cut your fabric so that it overlaps slightly and gives you 1/2″ to fold under the raw edges.
6. Now to take care of the bottom edge. Fold the raw edge of the material under and secure it to the bucket with hot glue. It might not look perfect right now, but once you add some embellishments, they will cover any imperfections.
7. Apply 1-2 top coats of Mod Podge to the material. I used glitter Mod Podge. I love the effect.
8. When the Mod Podge has dried, apply any trim or ribbon that you like. Between the five different baskets I made, I used ric-rac, ruffle trim, and this yellow flower felt “ribbon.”

I loved this project, for several reasons.

1. I think they are pretty darn cute!
2. I had almost everything on hand. I did purchase the Easter fabric but that was it. I loved that I got to do a little stash busting as well as recycling.
3. I got to have a discussion with my kids about recycling. We recycle everyday but I don’t often stop to explain why it is important. It was fun show them how an old ice cream bucket was now a cool Easter basket.

I made three baskets for our family Easter egg hunt then came back and made two more so I could get some process pictures.
I upped the ante on my daughters outfit took some of the leftover material and appliqued it onto a shirt I got at the thrift store. She looked so cute and I kind of loved that she matched her Easter basket.
Here is my son, daughter, and niece after the Easter egg hunt. If you can believe it, that is only half of their haul! See those adorable ruffle fabric skirts? I used the 5 minute skirt tutorial over at Sugar Bee crafts. I was able to score the ruffle fabric for $5/yd on clearance at Joanns. I made both skirts with 1/2 yard which means each skirt cost me $1.25. Yippee!
For a lot more ideas on ways you can get involved, check out the B Kind 2 Earth Day page on Facebook.