Basically you get a cardboard box like a shoebox or a box some food came in, something like that, or make a box out of cardboard and duct tape. Then for the handle cut some newspaper pages into strips. I can get 3 strips to one page. Then tape 3-5 strips together at the top. Next, take 3 bundles of strips together and braid them. Then duct tape both ends so they stay together.

Next, poke holes in the ends of your baskets. Stick a duct-taped end of yoru newspaper braid in each hole. Apply more tape so the ends are secure in the hole.

Now decorate your box. I put a photo of the child on both sides of the box, and their name in big letters. I either print up the name or draw it, depends on if I have ink in my printer that Easter, ha. You can also use stickers, draw pictures, glue on pics from magazines of stuff they like, whatever. Be creative.

Then fill the box with fake grass, real grass, newspaper grass, whatever you have available. Some years we had leftover fake grass so I used that, some years I used real grass. Since it’s snowing outside this year I think I’ll make fake grass out of newspaper. I just color a big sheet of newspaper with green crayon, then cut it up into strips. Ooooooh, I just remembered Mercury Man’s shredder!! So I will just run the newspaper through that, I won’t color it with crayon though.

Next add some hard-boiled decorated eggs, candy, homemade cookies, sticker sheets, whatever you do for your kids. I usually do mostly candy but also stocking stuffer kind of stuff.

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and after! Ta Da!

OMG it looks so much better! I also added a big dark green track mat to go on the floor in front of it later. The back porch looks so much nicer now.

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In addition to being wonderful and kind and patient, my mom also made us some rocking clothes. I’ve posted a few blogs about my making clothes, I make skirts and shirts and quilts and stuff. I get it from my mom, she taught me to sew when I was a kid and she used to not only make quilts and jumpers a lot but also made us easter dresses every year! for the longest time, up until I was about 12. Here is a pic of some dresses she made for Easter one year:

I am in the front on the left, next to me is my youngest sister and right behind us are 2 of my other sisters. Behind them are 4 of my cousins, who are my mom’s twin sister’s kids. My aunt also made their Easter dresses. I am sitting here in awe at the detail, and how much effort she must have put into it. I remember she would stay up late at night for weeks before easter to get our dresses done, but I didn’t realize when I was a kid how. much. work. this must have been. My mom is awesome!

Here’s a holiday dress I made for my daughter Iyende when she was 4, trying to emulate my mom. The ruffles were pre-made and I just sewed them on, and the bow I just sewed on in the middles and tied it after sewing. the top was from a t-shirt with sleeves, I just cut the sleeves down and added the skirt. You can’t see in this pic but the skirt also had the ruffles on it. The dress was ankle length. She loved it!:

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My shirt, front pic:

It took me about a week working on it off and on in 15 minute bursts. In total I’d say about 2 hours. I decided to forego the neck strap and added a horizontal panel between the top and bottom. All I need to do now is wash it and iron it! The materials:

I had this purple swatch of fabric that was originally a matching head wrap for this dress my mom got for my daughter about 8, 9 years ago. It got a big rip in it. I kept it because it’s so pretty and I’d knew I could use it for something:

This is it coming together. The yellow fabric is from a sweat shirt I got when I was working sorting boxes at UPS, it got heavily stained on the arms and bottom. The light blue fabric is from an old suit jacket I had that got a big rip down the back. The blue fabric is from a pair of pants from when my youngest was a baby. The back of one leg got a big bleach splash so I kept it to make something out of it. The white fabric is from an old sweater that got a hole in it. The white fabric is from an old sweater that got a hole in it. The back ties/sashes are from some material I had left over from a head wrap I made.

This was a button-up sweater that I had for years that I just got tired of. I cut out the back and front to use for one of my quilts. This is what was left, and I kept it intending to use the buttons for something. Glad I didnt cut them off because I was able to use the front panel for my shirt!

Shirt all laid out, ready to sew:

First I sewed the long panels together then set that piece aside. then I sewed the button panel to the yellow fabric. Then I sewed the long panels to the button/yellow fabric. Then I sewed the top part of the yellow fabric down in blue and purple thread. Oh yeah I sewed all by hand. My seams are way crooked, but I like the way it looks:

Side view:

Back view, on the back I may sew down the ties, make them look neater. On the next shirt like this I do I’ll work on making the top panel lie a little flatter in the back:

But since I mostly wear my hair down you can’t even see the back, just the lower ties/bows hanging down. My daughter being silly while Brian tries to take a back pic. Check out her hair! This is usually how she wears her mohawk, either out or in a puff or in cornrows:

Back pic with hair down:

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The front panel is from an old jean dress I had. It got stained in the front with grape juice so I cut the stained part out. I’m using most of the cloth from the dress for this skirt, but the top part I’m turning into a tank top with beads on the fringe. I’ll post that soon as I finish it. I will probably add a back panel to this skirt; I don’t usually do a skirt with a split but I’ve been feeling sassy lately. I will also add some cowrie shells down the front.

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