How To Make A Cute Easter Basket On A Budget (Without Overspending)

If you’re looking for some other frugal ways to enjoy the holiday, making dessert at home is a great one. Get some ideas with our Easy Easter Dessert Recipes.

Before You Buy Anything, Check This First:

Check your pantry for snacks you can repackage. Sure, grabbing a chocolate bar that’s already in the pantry can feel like cheating. But, take that chocolate and wrap it in paper to make it look like a bunny, like our Easter bunny chocolate bar post, and the snack suddenly feels brand new and perfect for a basket filler — and didn’t cost you anything.

Look at the toys you already have at home. This works much better for younger kids rather than older ones who have a mental inventory of all their stuff. But, if you have any unused or forgotten toys, add them to the basket. Your kids will get new surprises that cost nothing.

Check your craft room for supplies you can turn into DIY kits. You don’t want to just take your kids’ markers and stick them into the basket.

Instead, draw (or print) a bunny template on printer paper. Then, go through the craft supplies and look for items to decorate the bunny with (googly eyes, cotton balls, pompoms, etc.). Stick them all in a bag, call it a “Build Your Own Bunny Kit,” and it’s perfect — and free.

Upcycle Or DIY Easter Baskets

If you make Easter baskets for your kids every year, you can keep reusing each child’s Easter basket annually. That will save you money because you only have to buy one once.

But, if you’re having guests for Easter, or you don’t have baskets from last year, you can make an upcycled Easter basket from items that you might already be throwing away.

Every year, I save a couple 8 oz. plastic mushroom containers, wash them really well, and use them as Easter baskets. When they’re done, they can be recycled.

You can also turn empty cereal boxes into Easter baskets. With a little creativity, anything can be turned into a basket.

And, if you have last-minute company, just grab some paper bags and turn them into a paper bag bunny. Since you probably already have these at home, it’s the perfect no-cost solution.

Frugal tip: If you don’t already have baskets and aren’t up for a DIY project, you can purchase reusable Easter baskets online and use them every year. Be sure to check the size, though. Smaller baskets need less items to feel full, which will save you more in the long run.

Reuse Paper Shred Or Make Your Easter Grass

Paper shred is really cheap at the local dollar store. But it’s free if you get it in packages you order during the year (which I get a lot of). So, any time you get something with paper shred, save it in a bag in your gift closet.

Then, when you’re making Easter baskets, instead of buying Easter grass, just go into your bag in the closet and grab some paper shred. It looks so similar to Easter grass that your kids won’t know the difference and your baskets will still be super cute.

If you don’t get any paper shred during the year, grab a couple pieces of colorful paper (like construction paper, card stock, or scrapbook paper) and run it through your paper shredder for easy homemade Easter grass that’s so much cheaper than any you’d buy in store.

Pick Up Some Free Candy

If you’re shopping at the last minute, you’re at the mercy of what stores have left in stock and have to pay whatever the Easter candy costs.

But, if you plan ahead a little, you can save some money and grab free or cheap candy. In year’s past, we’ve found offers for free Nerds at Circle K, Flipz bars for a quarter, and free Snickers at Walmart. Any time we find these deals at the drugstores or grocery stores, we post them on our social media pages. So, definitely follow us.

Set the free candy aside as you “buy” it, making sure not to eat it, and you’ll be able to fill those Easter baskets for a fraction of the cost.

Reuse Plastic Eggs

If you have Easter eggs left over from last year, or if you went to a local egg hunt this year and collected plastic eggs, don’t throw them away. Reuse them. That saves you from having to buy plastic eggs. 

Fill them with jelly beans or small candies. Then, have an Easter egg hunt at home or you can use them in your Easter baskets this year. 

If you really need to stretch your budget, put one small piece of candy in each egg, then put them in the Easter basket. Doing it that way will take up more space than just putting candy in there, making the basket look fuller.

Plus, kids will love the surprise of opening the eggs to find candy. So, more eggs means more surprises, which is more fun.

Frugal tip: If you don’t have any leftover eggs, you can buy cheap plastic Easter eggs in bulk on Amazon this year, then reuse them next year.

Add Some Non-Candy Easter Basket Stuffers

Easter baskets don’t have to be filled solely with candy. You can stick in some toys and other items that take up some space.

The age of your recipient will determine what type of toys to add to the basket. For a young child, art supplies like sidewalk chalk are great. So are Easter books. Anything to keep them off tablets and away from the television.

For an older kids, like your teens with a new car, towels for washing the car and Rain-X for the windshield are helpful.

For your mom, think about her hobbies. If she likes gardening, go with gardening gloves.

Small gifts take up a lot of space in an Easter basket, but not in your gift closet. So, while you’re out doing your regular shopping during the year, check out the Target dollar spot or clearance aisles of your local stores for cheap Easter basket filler ideas. You can pick up inexpensive items during the year, then use them to fill Easter baskets.

And by that logic, you actually end up spending less on the Easter basket than if you filled it with a bunch of last-minute toys from your local Dollar Tree.

Frugal tip: If you need help coming up with fun ideas, we have a great list of Non-Candy Easter Basket Fillers For Kids. 

Avoid Pre-Packaged Easter Baskets

It’s so easy to grab an Easter basket off a store shelf and be done. But those pre-packaged Easter baskets are so expensive because they charge for convenience.

You can, however, use those for inspiration.

Take a peek inside to see what the basket is filled with to get some great ideas for your kids. Maybe it’s sports equipment like a soccer ball. Or maybe it’s a stuffed animal. Take notes of what you like about the basket and what drew you to look at it in the first place.

Then, head around the store and pick up those items. Assembling a similar basket yourself will be a lot cheaper than purchasing it already made.

Shop After-Easter Sales

When Easter ends, stores want Easter merchandise off the shelves as quickly as possible. So the day after, Easter items are on clearance. Usually, items start at 50% off and go as high as 95% off. The biggest the discount now, the bigger the savings for next year.

Some stores even start sales before the holiday. Easter items are 40% off at Hobby Lobby nearly a month before the holiday. So you can still shop there and fill your baskets at a discount.

When the sales are huge, like 75% to 90%, pick up small, non-perishable items for next year’s baskets. Don’t pick up clearance chocolate for next year (but, definitely pick it up for yourself), but toys, coloring books, and other small Easter basket fillers are worth grabbing at a discount.

Then, next year, your future self will be able to put together heavily discounted Easter baskets.

How to Make a Cheap Easter Basket Look More Expensive:

The reason pre-packed baskets are so appealing is because everything is one color. So, to make your DIY basket look more expensive, stick to a color theme. This is really easy if you have multiple kids.

Pick a color for each kid, then, buy or make paper shred in that color. Separate the plastic eggs into piles that match those color and buy candies that match too.

Also, make sure to limit clutter. If you’re trying to add a bunch of items to make it look filled, that sometimes comes across cheap looking. So, instead, add a few nicer items rather than a lot of cheap ones.

And, try to avoid plastic (besides the eggs). Plastic toys scream cheap, dollar store purchases. Wooden or fabric items make the Easter basket feel more high-end.

These little choices help to really make the basket look and feel expensive while still sticking to your budget.

More Easter Basket Ideas:

Need a little more help putting together a great Easter basket? We have a few more posts that can help.

Check out our Fun Easter Basket Ideas For Teens, Fun Easter Basket Ideas For Adults, and Non-Candy Easter Basket Fillers For Kids lists for creative ideas.