Sweetheart Baskets

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A Halloween inspired St. Valentine’s Day Project! Halloween is one of my daughters favorite holidays, and one of our favorite books is Stephen Brown’s book Glitterville’s Handmade Halloween (affiliate link). We were flipping through the book and saw the Cellophane Fancies project. My daughter thought they were so cute so we decided to simplify them up and add a Valentines twist, thus these little sweet heart baskets were born.

Sweet Heart Basket Supplies:

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This list contains affiliate links.

• Cardboard Tube
  
• Small Piece of Flat Cardboard
  
• Paint
• Paint Brush
  
• Pipe Cleaner
• Clear Cellophane (I used pink so you can see the steps easier, but use clear if you want to see the colors you paint onto the basket base)
• Curling Ribbon
  
• Candy
  
• Adhesive Dots
  
• White Glue
  
• Scissors

Make It:

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1. CUT the card board tube into approximately 3/4 inch sections.

2. PAINT the outside of the tubes. Start with a solid color, then add details – stripes, dots, hearts etc.

3. GLUE the cardboard tube section to a piece of flat cardboard and let dry completely. You may want to place a heavy book on the top of them to make sure they stick to the cardboard.

4. CUT around the bottom of the cardboard, once the glue is completely dry.

While your tube sections are being glued to the cardboard you can prepare the following in steps 5-8

5. FOLD the pipe cleaner in half.

6. BEND the ends of the pipe cleaner down to form a ‘M’ shape.

7. CONNECT the two sides in the middle to create a heart, then twist to secure it in place.

8. TWIST the rest of the pipe cleaner together like the picture in step 8 below.

9. TRACE a circle approx. 8 inches in diameter onto the cellophane. I placed a small plate on the cellophane, traced it with a Sharpie, then cut it out.

10. TWIST the bottom of the heart shaped pipe cleaner to form a “S” or “O” shape. Add the adhesive dot to the bottom then stick it in the middle of your sweet heart basket.

11. PLACE the sweet heart basket in the middle of your cellophane and carefully mound the candies in around the pipe cleaner. Use the candies to make the pipe cleaner stand up straight.

12. PULL the cellophane up and around the pipe cleaner stem and secure with curling ribbon. Have fun layering different colored and textured ribbons.

DISCUSS: How special handmade gifts can be.

Extend It – Flamingo Sweetheart Basket:

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Flamingo Sweetheart Basket Supplies:

• 1 x Pink Pipe Cleaner
  
• 1 x Pink Feather
  
• 2 x Small Googly Eyes
  
• Black Paint

A. FOLD an additional pipe cleaner around the bump of the heart to create the neck.

B. MAKE a “S” shape with the pipe cleaner, then trim off the excess pipe cleaner.

C. PAINT the tip of the “S” shaped pipe cleaner black, for the beak.

D. CUT a small piece of pipe cleaner and wrap it around the feather to the other end of the heart to make the flamingo tail. Glue on the googly eyes.

DISCUSS:What other heart animals can you make?