Like Valentine's boxes and gift-wrapping, the internet has turned decorating Easter baskets into an art form. Yet, there aren't any fancy folding techniques you need to learn when you're making your own Easter grass at home. Take advantage of all the wonderful materials you've already got and churn out one beautiful basket using these sustainable methods. All it takes is a few extra hours of prep work, but you'll end up with a beautiful hand-crafted basket anybody will love.
Environmentally Friendly DIY Easter Grass
Celebrate sustainably this Easter by making your own Easter grass out of recyclable materials. You can find many of them laying around the house, and you can reuse your custom grass year after year. See just how many different ways you can make your own Easter grass today.
Sustainable Materials for Easter Grass
Instead of going out and buying a new bag of plastic Easter grass, look around your house and see what you've got lying around. Chances are, there's a plethora of stuff you can use to make your own Easter grass that won't hurt the environment.
- Paper bags
- Takeout bags
- Tissue paper
- Wrapping paper
- Craft paper
- Construction paper
- Shredded wood
- Shredded junk mail
- Aluminum foil
How to Make Your Own Easter Grass
If you've got a pair of scissors in a drawer somewhere, you can make your own Easter grass. Yes, it's that simple.
- Take whatever material you want to use and mark ⅛" lines across the entire bottom.
- To get your material crimpy, fold it from the top down. To accordion pleat your grass, fold away from you and then, on the next one, fold towards you. Do this until you reach the end.
- Using scissors (or a rotary cutter for faster slices), cut the material along those ⅛" lines into strips.
- Continue measuring and cutting until you have a good amount.
- Toss them into your Easter baskets and fluff them up using your fingers for maximum volume.
How to Make Edible Easter Grass
One of the greatest marvels of the modern age is that you can make almost anything edible, and that includes Easter grass. Incredibly, there's more than one way to make edible Easter grass, but the easiest way even non-cooks can master it is by buying wafer paper and following the DIY grass folding and cutting method above.
Cut the Grass Out Entirely
If you're not in the mood to break out the scissors and cut a ton of tiny pieces of paper, you can take a different approach. Cut the grass out entirely, and use fabric instead. You can fold or drape the fabric at the bottom of the basket to create a colorful filler for your candy and gifts to sit on. We suggest sticking with satin fabrics since they reflect the light really well or floral prints since they'll help embrace that springtime feel.
Cute Ways to Customize Your Easter Grass
Of course, an Easter basket wouldn't be quite right without its grass, but you don't have to stick to the same boring green grass of old. Instead, add some pizazz to your crafty grass with these cute customization ideas.
- Use pattern-cutting scissors when cutting your grass out. Custom craft scissors with blades shaped into unique patterns will create super funky Easter grass.
- Make Easter grass snakes with googly eyes. Gluing hundreds of googly eyes to your DIY Easter grass will make an Easter basket your kids won't forget.
- Hide a single golden strand in your kids' baskets. Tell them whoever can find the hidden grass will get the special golden Easter egg, which you can fill with some cash or special candy.
What to Do With Your Old Easter Grass
Now that Easter's over, you're probably wondering what to do with all the old Easter grass your kids plucked their goodies out of. Paper products can be put in your recycling or stored for next year.
If you've bought bags of the stretchy, plastic grass, recycling's not an option for you. Instead, try packing it up and using it again. Or you can call around to the schools, churches, community centers, or shelters in your area to see if they'd take your donations. Remember - never put plastic grass in the trash if you can help it, as it's not biodegradable.
Make Easter Your Own This Year
From paper Easter grass to edible kinds, you can get really creative when making your own. Not only will you get to bring your ideal basket to life, but you'll also get to teach your kids that you don't have to buy everything to decorate for a festive holiday. Show them that handmade things can be just as cool as store-bought.
