Make a Paper Basket

Paper baskets are useful around the house and make great gifts. They can be made using materials you already have and are a fun and easy craft for any age. Develop your basket-weaving skills and experiment with the shape, size, colors, and appearance of your baskets to add another level of creativity.

Steps

Simple Construction Paper Basket

1. Prepare strips of paper to weave your basket. Use three sheets of 8.5" x 11" construction paper. On the sheet of paper to become the base of your basket, draw a horizontal line {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} from the top and another one {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} from the bottom. These lines will help when laying out the base. Then cut the paper lengthwise into strips .5" wide.
   • Choose one sheet of a neutral color of construction paper like brown, black, or white. This will be the base of your basket. The other two sheets can be any color of your choice. This will form the decorative sides of your basket.
2. Weave the base of your basket. Lay out 8 strips of paper (the color you've chosen as the base) next to each other so that the lines on each strip are face up and form one continuous line. Starting at the top line, weave another strip of the same color through the strips you've laid out, over one strip and under the next. Center the strip horizontally with respect to the strips you laid out. Using another strip of the same color, weave it through the strips in the opposite way from the first one, so that this one will go underneath the strips that the first one you weaved went on top of. Then slide the strips together, making sure the edges line up.
   • Repeat with a total of eight strips.
   • The finished base should have a 4" x 4" woven square that fits just inside the lines you drew on each strip. In other words, you should have a square that has eight strips sticking evenly out 3.5" on each side.
3. Fold up the strips sticking out the sides of the basket. Each side should come up to the same height.
   • It can be helpful to put a 4" x 4" box or block of wood in the center of your basket and fold the strips up against this block. This will make the next steps easier.
4. Weave a strip of colored paper between the now vertical strips of the base, folding it to fit around the corner of the basket.
   • You will need to use approximately one and a half strips to make it all the way around the basket. You can simply tape or glue the two pieces together. Try to place the connection so that it comes on the inside of the basket and is hidden by a strip from the base. This will give your basket a clean, seamless look.
   • Weave the strip all the way around the basket. When the two ends meet, tape or glue them together, hiding the tape in the same way.
5. Repeat the above step with another strip of the same color. Make sure to alternate between going under and on top of strips, so that you create a checkerboard pattern with the strips from the base.
   • Keep repeating until you reach the top.
6. Finish and polish off your basket. Tape or glue the ends of the base strips to the top woven strip. Then tape or glue a slightly wider strip of the base color to the top of the basket on the inside, laying it on top of the vertical strips. Add a similar panel on the outside of the basket, securing it to the inside one as well as the outside of the basket.
   • If you want to add a handle, simply tape or glue each end of a long strip of paper to opposite sides of the basket before you add the top panel.
7. Done

Circular Newspaper Basket

1. Roll newspaper into tubes. First, cut a sheet of newspaper into quarters vertically - this does not have to be precise. Then place a wooden skewer at one corner of a sheet of paper. Place it at a slight angle so that the rolled tube you will end up with is longer than the sheet of paper itself. Then roll the paper around the dowel, making sure to keep it tight. Once you have finished rolling, put a drop of glue on the last corner to hold the roll together.
   • You will need many tubes of paper, so repeat this process for each.
   • In place of a wooden skewer, you can use a thin knitting needle, a 3mm dowel, or anything similarly long, narrow, and round.
2. Use a circular piece of cardboard to form the base. This can be as large or small as you want your basket to be. Glue paper tubes to the cardboard so that they radiate away from the center in rays. Make sure to use an odd number of tubes for this.
   • You will need to use more rays for larger bases. The closer together the rays are, the tighter your weave will be.
3. Use a second piece of cardboard, identical to the first, to finish the base. Glue this piece of cardboard to the first so that the paper tubes are firmly pressed between the two pieces.
   • Leave a heavy weight on top of the base while it dries to make sure that everything is nice and secure.
4. Fold the rays up and begin weaving. Fold a new paper tube over one of the rays and glue the folded end to the working end. Then weave the tube in and out of the rays, over one and under the next. Make sure it sits snug as far down as possible - at first on the base, and later, on top of previously woven tubes.
   • As you weave, the rolled tubes will flatten out. This will make your basket stronger.
5. When you come to the end of one tube, attach it to the next one by sliding its end inside the next tube. This will essentially make one long tube that will form your whole basket.
6. Continue weaving until you near the top of the rays or reach the desired height of your basket. When you're ready to stop weaving, fold the end of the tube you're weaving with over a ray and glue it to itself.
7. Fold over the rays to finish the basket. Cut each ray about an inch past the top of the basket. Then:
   • For each ray that stands on the outside (the last tube you wove past the ray went to the inside of the ray), fold the end over the basket and glue it to the inside of the basket. Use a clothespin to hold it in place while the glue dries.
   • For each ray that stands on the inside (the last tube you wove went outside the ray), fold the end over the basket. Instead of gluing these to the outside, tuck the end inside the woven basket at the second row from the top, securing it in a way that makes it fit into the weave of the basket.
8. Done

Things You'll Need

• Construction paper or newspaper
• Tape or glue
• Scissors
• Cardboard for a base
• Narrow wooden dowel

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Sources and Citations

• Videos provided by Sarah J (Pugdemonium)

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