Free Craft Instructions: May Baskets from Recycled Greeting Cards

May baskets are often handed out in celebration of spring at the beginning of May. They can be filled with flowers, a nice plant for the garden, or even spring themed baked treats or candies.

This method of making a May basket will provide a nice container for the treats that can be recycled later and will cost you nothing to put together.

You will need:
Four greeting cards the same size
1/8 inch hole punch
Yarn or twine
Yarn needle or crochet hook
Ribbon for a handle (optional)

Begin by cutting the fronts of the cards from the backs neatly. Reserve one card back to serve as the basket bottom.

Hold the card fronts, right sides facing out, adjacent sides together, with all the edges neatly aligned, and punch holes about ½ inch apart along one edge. Repeat this procedure with each set of card fronts, until they're all punched with holes along the sides.

Either single crochet or whip stitch each side to the next until you have a row of cards attached to each other. Then cut the reserved card back into a square to fit the bottom of the basket, and hold it in place, punching around its four sides and the corresponding bottom edges of the sides of the basket too. After all these holes have been punched, either crochet or whip stitch the bottom of the basket in place.

Sew, or crochet, the last basket corner, and then punch holes evenly around the top edges of the basket sides. Use the same technique for attaching the pieces, and add a decorative trim to the top edge of the basket.

If you'd like to add a ribbon handle to the basket, punch two holes vertically on the side of the box. Thread the end of the ribbon out of the box and back into it from top to bottom on each side, and tie a large overhand knot in at the end of the ribbon to hold it inside the box.

Line the basket with tissue paper, fill it with Easter grass or paper shreds, or use a pretty hanky to line the basket. If you'd like to use it to hold a bouquet, a jelly jar half full of water would work very well inside the basket to keep the flowers fresh. The basket is now ready to be filled and hung from door knobs or porch railings to share flowers and treats with neighbors and friends.