Frugal Easter Basket Ideas!

Let’s talk cheap Easter Baskets ideas! I have to admit that I love celebrating holidays with goodies for the kids, but I loathe spending tons of cash.  To combat this I am a big planner, as in I plan for my holidays up to a year in advance and yes my Easter Baskets are already done.

 

Of course MY advance holiday planning doesn’t really help any procrastinators out there…. so I decided to do a little retail therapy and browse for some cheap Easter Basket ideas for you!

Hopefully these ideas can inspire you to put together a cute little Easter Basket on the cheap!  

 

The Easter Basket

I am a firm believer in reusing the same basket over and over again. 

Seriously how many Easter Baskets do you really need… 

However baskets do get lost, destroyed or outgrown…

You can only use that Elmo Easter Basket for so long… A 10 year might protest slightly. :-)

 

 

I found these  ideas in the dollar section Target: Cute totes that work for older boys and girls.  I love

the “Where the Wild Things Are” themed goodies!

 

I also found lots of choices at the Dollar Tree (where everything is $1 or less). 

Here are traditional style Easter baskets, plus some great sand pails that can be used at the beach or park later!

 

 

They also had a selection of “basket” ideas for older kids, including sports themed baskets and cute totes.

 

 

Speaking of $1. I found similar basket ideas at the 99 Cent Only Store as well.

 

For those wanting to splurge a bit, I found these more expensive ideas at Target.  I think you could justify these baskets if you could repurpose them after Easter, perhaps for school supplies or toy storage. 

 

And if you want to be a planner for next year, watch Target for their after Easter clearance, I have seen the cute $10 plush baskets at 90% off.  Seriously only $1! I snagged several of those one time to use for baby shower gifts.

Easter Grass

I am not a fan of Easter Grass.  It’s messy and not really reusable.

 

I think gift bag shred is a much better choice.  You can use it for the Easter basket and then salvage it to use later in a birthday day gift bag!   

 

Here is selection of boy, girl and neutral gift bag shred at the 99 Cent Only Store.

Plus if you are a frugal type you might already have some gift bag shred in your gift wrapping supplies at home!  I know I try to salvage it from gifts our families receive when possible.

 

If you do insist on Easter grass, keep it under $1.  Albertsons has it on sale for $0.79 this week and CVS will have it free after Extra Care Bucks next week!

 

Easter Candy

There are lots of cheap Easter Candy ideas out there.  Keep you eye out for store sales and/or coupons you can use.

There are $1/2 Mars candy coupons that work well on the snickers egg singles.  This works out to free snickers eggs at Fry’s or Walgreens (where they are $0.29 this week). 

There were also $0.50/2 Cadbury Eggs or Reese’s Eggs coupons available within the past month at Circle K stores, this also resulted in free candy when the coupons doubled at grocery stores. 

My thoughts are to keep candy limited (this isn’t Halloween), be open to the kind of candy you buy and watch for sales/coupons!

 

Easter Basket Goodies

The 99 Cent Only Store has a huge selection of goodies that would work for Easter Baskets.  And of course everything is $1! 

 

Lots of art supplies and stickers!

 

Even cute Disney themed art supplies.  And speaking of Disney… they had lots of Disney themed toys as well.

 

You could easily theme your basket to Mickey Mouse, Disney Princesses or Cars for example.

  

I also found some fun, simple toys like wood puzzles, cars and bubbles.

 

I also saw a wide variety of goodies in the dollar section at Target including: bubbles, socks, chap stick, stickers, art supplies, flip flops, hair accessories and  journals.

I love hitting Target for their after holiday and BIG TOY clearances each year.  I buy in advance so I am prepared for both birthdays and holidays.  I realize that not everyone buys well in advance like I do, but Target has great clearance year around.

 

I found a couple cool clearance ideas for Easter baskets just this week. 

There were cool art kits in the greeting card section. The projects included paper dolls, race cars, and light switch covers and more!

And I found a huge selection of silly bands at 50% off in the toy section. I think these are big with tweens?  I am not sure… My oldest is only 3 1/2. :-)

Dollar Tree also had some cute ideas: Easter egg chalk, bubbles, jump ropes, puzzles, fireman hats, and splash balls.

 

The $5 Easter Basket Solution:

I think with a little bargain shopping and recycling you can put together a  $5 Easter Basket easily!

Easter Basket $0- $1

Easter Grass $0 - $1

Candy $0-$1

Goodies $2-$5

Total Cost $2-$5

 

What tips do you have to keep Easter Baskets costs low?  I would love to hear what you put in your kiddo’s Easter Basket!