Cheap Wire Baskets You Can Make Yourself

Baskets tend to be expensive whether they’re Easter baskets or household baskets. They’re so handy, though, that most homes have several. Since they come in varieties from wicker to wire and small to large, each individual one can be very unique – especially if you make them yourself.

When you start with metal rings it’s very easy to make various baskets. Instead of the metal rings you can also use crafting wire, shaped into a circle. The metallic rings, made for creating dream catchers and other crafts, are very cheap and come in many sizes. Small sizes can cost about a quarter and large sizes, under a buck.

Start with two or three wires or rings to make any basket. If making your own wire rings, use stiff wire that won’t easily bend or several layers of more pliable wires. The amount of rings or wires you use, and what size each one is, makes all the difference in how your basket will look when completed.

Choose what will become the outside of the basket. Two easy supplies to work with are wooden craft sticks (popsicle sticks) or shish kabob sticks, also found at craft stores. Either one comes in large packs that are very cheap, and a few go a long way.

Use an old pair of scissors to trim the sticks to the proper sizes throughout the project. Set one ring down on the table and cover with the sticks. Use contact cement for the best results. After the ring is covered, align a couple of craft sticks, or several of the shish kabob sticks, in a row on the table and glue the ring to them, at the bottom edge. The sticks will become the sides of the basket while the ring will be the bottom.

After getting the bottom ring glued in, select the next ring and place it about halfway up the sticks; glue into place. At the end of the sticks glue one more ring. After you have a couple of sticks attached to all three rings you can stand the basket upright to make it easier to attach the rest of the sticks.

The initial design is the same for all the baskets you make. Attach a craft stick to only two rings – one small and one large – for a tapered look to the basket. Or, use three small rings, all the same size, to make a cylindrical design for holding pencils and markers.

It’s not necessary to completely cover the rings with the wooden sticks. Make a design that allows a strip of wood, then an open strip, to make a basket that is great for stacking towels in the kitchen or hairbrushes in the bathroom. Use a small, then medium, then large ring to make a basket that is fabulous for holding silk flowers. Turn the popsicle sticks on their sides before gluing them on for a very impressive look to your simple basket.

Since the rings come in all sizes, and the shish kabob sticks come in lengths that can be cut to suit any basket-making project, you can make huge baskets or teeny-tiny ones. They make great gifts and fabulous home decor.

You don’t have to use the sticks to cover the outside of your basket. Cover the rings in long seashells, strips of Fun Foam, twigs, plastic canvas, wire, painted cardboard strips, painted strips of plastic, and other items. Look around your local craft store for more outside covering ideas for your baskets. This project is fun, easy and best of all, cheap!