Handmade Baskets

Today I'm sharing how I made baskets out of newspaper. Legit baskets! Out of paper!

I'd seen this project a long time ago on Pinterest and lockdown finally gave me the opportunity to try it out.

I looked at a few different tutorials and I suggest you do the same if you want expert advice! This is the tutorial that I followed. It's just pictures so there were some bits I had to figured out for myself.

I started by ripping sheets of newspaper in half along the long side, and then rolling them at an angle into long tubes, secured with a bit of Pritt stick at the ends. One end will be wider than the other and that's meant to happen and will be useful later.

Once you have a bunch of tubes you need to sandwich them between two pieces of cardboard with a lot of PVA glue, which will be the base of the basket. You need an odd number of tubes +1 around the edge so the weaving works. I learnt this by having an even number in my first attempt which messed up my over/unders. The +1 is the tube you start off weaving with.

Once the glue is dry fold the tubes up and secure them to a box with pegs. It helps to choose your box first and then cut the cardboard bases to fit it.

Then get your weave on, starting with the extra tube you stuck in the base. When the tube you're weaving with gets too short, stick the thin end of a new tube into the end of the first tube.

When you've reached your desired height, fold and tuck the ends of the tubes in a way that I can't explain but you might be able to see in the picture. Now would be a good time to check those other tutorials online.

Then there's some more folding and tucking to finish the top.

I then painted my baskets white with house hold emulsion, but most paints will do; acrylic, pre-mixed bottle paint etc.

I decorated one of my baskets by painting a gradient/ombre effect using turquoise paint mixed with different amounts of white.

For the other basket I managed to sew a lining which fits inside.

And that's it! I now consider myself a basketeer!

I can't wait to make more in all different shapes and sizes. I never need to buy a basket again!