Have you seen the various sizes and shapes of paper mache boxes at a craft store? They have round ones, square ones, flower shapes, star shapes and more. The ordinary paper mache boxes are not at all expensive; generally under five bucks for any size, and you can use any one of them to make a gorgeous flower girl basket that will soon become a keepsake!
No matter what size or shape of basket you choose you’ll start by removing the lid. You’ll need a handle for the basket and that is easily made by cutting a piece of wired ribbon. Choose satin ribbon, velvet, white, gold or silver – whatever you want. You have many choices of ribbon which will enhance the overall appearance of the finished flower girl basket. Cut the length you want it to be according to the type of handle you want to give the basket. Make one handle by simply gluing the ends of the ribbon to the inside of the box. Another is to cut the ribbon extra long, tie the ends in a bow, and the flower girl will carry the basket by the bow. Whatever type of handle you want, cut the ribbon, then set it aside for now.
Cut a large circle, square or other shape of cloth and lay it in the paper mache box. Glue it to the bottom of the box then pull the edges up to the top of the basket. Pull the edges of the cloth over the edges of the box and glue very close to the top. Just inside the top, cut a slit on each side, and insert the ribbon ends. Apply a little glue inside the slits to secure the handle.
Decorate the basket with any number of choices. It’s easy to decoupage fabric or paper to the basket, paint it, or choose another technique. One look that’s easy to accomplish is to simply brush on glitter-glue. This creates a really glitzy look without spending much money at all. You can glue the lid to the bottom of the box, if you want, and that will give the finished basket a different look than if you don’t.
Another easy way to cover the paper mache box is to simply glue artificial leaves and flowers all over it. Hot glue works to quickly attach floral pieces as well as lace, strands of fake pearls, fake jewels or other embellishments. The flowers can be attached to the handle, as well, or it can be left as-is.
The paper mache flower girl basket is really simple to make if you choose a square, oval or round shape. Shapes like hearts or stars can be a little more difficult as far as the inside lining goes. No matter what shape you use, and how you decorate it, the flower girl basket will be gorgeous!
Reference:
- Paper mache boxes here: www.michaels.com
