Easter is just around the corner, and juuuuust in case you need a little last-minute handmade gift inspiration, I’ve got you covered today! We’ve got a basket, a gift box, and a 3D egg tag to talk about, so let’s hop to it. (Pardon the Easter pun – I couldn’t resist!)
I’ve talked about this before, but one of my favorite things about the Essentials by Ellen line is that the items are typically extremely versatile, beyond the seasons they’re released. It may not be strawberry season quite yet, but the whole handmade ensemble you see in these photos starts with the Berry Basket die. It was released last spring, and by giving it a simple little extension – a handle made with white cardstock – it can be transformed into an Easter basket. (If you’ve never assembled the Berry Basket before, you’ll find a video tutorial here.)
To attach the handle, I cut a 1″-thick, 11″-long strip of cardstock with my paper trimmer, then punched holes in either end with a needle. I did the same half way along opposite sides of the berry basket, then used mini brads to attach the handle to the basket. Voila – a handle that easily moves back and forth to make way for goodies inside!
To dress things up for Easter, I used the Essentials by Ellen Elegant Eggs hot foil stamps, along with the Essential Eggs Nesting Dies to create a bunch of purple and champagne-foiled eggs. I’ve been really into purple lately, so my ink palette was Catherine Pooler Lilac, Sugared Lavender, and Royal Treatment. When it came to applying the ink, I used sweeping motions from the bottom and sides of each egg to create what looks like natural shadows, giving each egg some visual depth. Then, since spring isn’t spring without some bright greenery, I die cut and stamped a few leaves from the Painted Florals set, layering those behind a cluster of 3 eggs, and adhering it onto the front of the basket.
Moving on to the next part: a little gift box to hold chocolate mini eggs, sweets, or whatever other treats you’d like to hide inside. Thankfully the Essentials by Ellen Two-in-One box requires just two A2 panels to make, so before die cutting, I used the Marble Hot Foil Stamp to create the marble pattern you see on the box. While I was at it, I reverse-foiled my leftovers using the Press Plate (because I don’t like to waste foil, especially Champagne foil!) and set that aside for a component of the 3rd project, but we’ll get there in a moment. With the 2 pieces of my box cut out, I assembled it with some double-sided tape, leaving the flaps on the top end un-adhered for easy opening.
The box stays shut nicely on its own, but in order to add a pop of color, I made a band to go around the widest part of the box using some 1/8″-wide strips in various shades of green and purple. I adhered the strips to a strip of white printer paper trimmed to 1/2″ wide (the same width as the 4 thinner strips combined) so that it would slide on and off the box easily, and covered the seam with two of my leftover eggs and stamped leaves.
Moving on to the 3rd and final project: a 3D egg shaped tag made with one of the Essential Eggs Nesting Dies! This was super simple and easy to put together, and I’ll be sharing a reel in my Instagram feed today to show you the process. In a nutshell, I cut out 16 eggs (4 from each of 4 shades of purple), and used an Essentials Rectangle for Stitching Die to cut a dotted line up the center of each. Once all the eggs had this line cut, I used a needle and embroidery floss to stitch from the bottom to the top, attaching a mini tag and leaving a small loop before stitching back down to the bottom and tying off the thread. (That mini tag, by the way, was cut from my reverse-foiled piece of cardstock that I made with the Press Plate earlier.) After bending and fanning out the egg halves around the center seam, I poked a piece of ribbon through that top loop. I used that to tie a bow, attaching the 3D egg tag to the basket’s handle.
This was such a fun 3-part project to make, and I’m looking forward to gifting it to a friend at Easter with a few surprises inside. Stay tuned for another 3D project coming up soon, and in the meantime, a list of all the products used here is below. I hope you’ve been having fun working on Easter cards and crafts too, and that you have a wonderful week!
Products
- Essentials by Ellen Elegant Eggs Hot Foil Stamps
- Essentials by Ellen Berry Basket
- Essentials by Ellen Marble Hot Foil Plate
- Essentials by Ellen Press Plate
- Essentials by Ellen Mini Tags
- Essentials by Ellen Painted Florals Stamps
- Essentials by Ellen Painted Florals Die Set
- Essentials by Ellen Essential Eggs Nesting Dies
- Essentials by Ellen Essential Rectangles for Stitching
- Essentials by Ellen Two in One Box
- Catherine Pooler Lilac Ink
- Catherine Pooler Sugared Lavender Ink
- Catherine Pooler Royal Treatment Ink
- Concord & 9th Sprout Ink
- Concord & 9th Parsley Ink
- Concord & 9th Evergreen Ink
- Pinkfresh Studio Warm Buff Ink
- Concord & 9th Sprout Cardstock
- Concord & 9th Parsley Cardstock
- Concord & 9th Evergreen Cardstock
- Spellbinders Glimmer Foil in Champagne
- DMC Embroidery Floss, Light Grape
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