Easter baskets?

[SaintsManiac]

If it doesn’t fit in the basket that means it’s just “too much.”

I usually do a mix of candy and small things like socks, mini figures, a book, etc.

It gets tougher as they get older. I’m doing more candy this year, since an 8 year old isn’t really into the dollar store type things anymore.

I got an L.O.L. Surprise thing that I still don’t understand, kitty headband, Peep plush to clip on her backpack, chocolate bunny, Reese’s eggs, and a couple of other Hershey Easter candy varieties. If I can find some plastics eggs around here I will put some change in them.

My family does a big Easter event with egg hunt, so it’s basically a second basket.

 

[amberpi]

If it doesn’t fit in the basket that means it’s just “too much.”

Hangs head in shame...I bought big gift bags because I thought the baskets were too small. In all fairness, a lot of their Easter stuff is clothes and shoes; etc.

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

small lego kit, a stuffed bunny, a couple of books, and some candy.

 

[DisLiss]

First, yes, both grandmothers give my kids treats for valentines & Easter.

Second, we have hosted a Easter egg hunt & luncheon for nearly 2 decades now and there is a lot of candy found on that day. So I try to put less candy and more other stuff in their baskets. Now I'm no Lily Longtooth. I'm not banning Easter basket treats, LOL! They do still get some candy. I tend to sprinkle some loose candy in the basket, then tuck in a few packaged candies. I have some old wire & plastic baskets from the 60s/70s that are pretty small, so you can fill them, but there still isn't actually much in them. Works great at masking how little candy they're getting. Ha! But they also get non-candy snacks, little toys/novelties, books, art supplies, outdoor items like bubbles, chalk, yard games, things like that. And typically some new summer shirt, outfit, bathing suit, etc.

 

[DisLiss]

Hangs head in shame...I bought big gift bags because I thought the baskets were too small. In all fairness, a lot of their Easter stuff is clothes and shoes; etc.

You don't need to defend your choices based on someone else's opinion. Baskets come in all sizes. Some are barely big enough to hold anything. My mom is a "keeper". So when I moved into my own place she presented me with an Easter basket I made in kindergarten, LOL.....it was made out of an individual sized milk carton we saved and washed out from our snack at school. As a kid I put it out every year. Once you put grass in it you could basically sprinkle a handful of jelly beans in there and that was it. If Mom hadn't put stuff outside my "basket", I wouldn't have gotten anything!

 

[SaintsManiac]

Hangs head in shame...I bought big gift bags because I thought the baskets were too small. In all fairness, a lot of their Easter stuff is clothes and shoes; etc.

That’s just how I do it. I only have one child and she gets plenty all year long lol

 

[tcufrog]

My kids' birthdays are pretty close to Easter so I got them pretty small baskets years ago. So far I've gotten them each an Easter Lego Brickheadz. DS8 is getting a few blind bags and they are both getting some trading card booster packs for the card games they are into. They will probably also get a little bit of candy. There probably won't get anything else. They definitely won't get slime!!!! A few years ago DS8 got an Easter egg filled with slime which he proceeded to stick on the dog's fur. It was very difficult to get if off poor Abbie. Luckily, my DH is an engineer who is experienced with solvents so he kept trying different ones until one worked. That poor dog was stuck in the laundry room sink for more than an hour. Slime is now banned from our house.

 

[quandrea]

Hangs head in shame...I bought big gift bags because I thought the baskets were too small. In all fairness, a lot of their Easter stuff is clothes and shoes; etc.

I use bags too! Mostly so I don’t have to fuss with that grass and wrapping the baskets in cellophane. I’m seriously challenged that way. Skipping ropes were mentioned. I may add those. They need them for swimming anyway.

 

[tcufrog]

I don't use fake grass or wrap the bags in cellophane. The kids would care less so why bother?

 

[SaintsManiac]

Can’t have grass in our baskets due to having cats. We just set the items in it without.

 

[aprilgail]

I try not to go too crazy with too much high value stuff in the baskets... there's three of them and that could get too crazy too fast (have you seen the latest Target commercial with the freaking Nintendo Switch in the Easter basket? Hey kids, here's your $350 Easter basket...). But some examples of various things we've done over the years...

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When my daughter was little she got a Playstation in her Easter Basket- every year she would get a video game or two in her basket, some gift cards and since I worked at a chocolate factory part time for many years and still got a discount she always was loaded with chocolate- one year she got a 3 foot tall chocolate semi solid bunny(not hollow and not solid but like 3/4 solid with a small hollow in the middle)- that bunny lasted for months-had to be 10 pounds! LOL. She was an only child so she got loaded up for every occasion, also she was the only grandchild, only niece and only kid on the block that was not a teen so she also got for every holiday from 3/4 neighbors!

ETA- I just realized that I DID buy my daughter a Nintendo switch this year for Easter! I gave it to her last week when she was home from college for my birthday, had totally forgotten about that- I got her a switch and a game for it, but no basket this year.

 

[wenrob]

Hangs head in shame...I bought big gift bags because I thought the baskets were too small. In all fairness, a lot of their Easter stuff is clothes and shoes; etc.

Eh, no shame. Do what makes you happy. I asked my oldest (full grown and can buy whatever she wants) if she wanted me to stop and she said, “I know making them makes you happy Mama.” So she’s getting one. No shame in my Easter game.

 

[firefly_ris]

When my daughter was little she got a Playstation in her Easter Basket- every year she would get a video game or two in her basket, some gift cards and since I worked at a chocolate factory part time for many years and still got a discount she always was loaded with chocolate- one year she got a 3 foot tall chocolate semi solid bunny(not hollow and not solid but like 3/4 solid with a small hollow in the middle)- that bunny lasted for months-had to be 10 pounds! LOL. She was an only child so she got loaded up for every occasion, also she was the only grandchild, only niece and only kid on the block that was not a teen so she also got for every holiday from 3/4 neighbors!

I probably got more than the average as well since I was also an only, and on my dad's side the only grandchild, and on my mom's side only 1 of 2. My parents were/are also much more well off than I am, ha. I didn't get video game systems for Easter but I did get a Nintendo and Super Nintendo for Christmas. Buying everything times 3 it gets a lot less easy (not just presents of course... clothes, extracurriculars, etc). So as a result my kids don't get what I did, but I gotta keep that food on the table, lol. They did all get Disney World tickets for Christmas so that should count for like the next 3 holidays, right...?

 

[disneychrista]

Easter Baskets were always mostly candy with a few small toys.

 

[wenrob]

My kids' birthdays are pretty close to Easter so I got them pretty small baskets years ago. So far I've gotten them each an Easter Lego Brickheadz. DS8 is getting a few blind bags and they are both getting some trading card booster packs for the card games they are into. They will probably also get a little bit of candy. There probably won't get anything else. They definitely won't get slime!!!! A few years ago DS8 got an Easter egg filled with slime which he proceeded to stick on the dog's fur. It was very difficult to get if off poor Abbie. Luckily, my DH is an engineer who is experienced with solvents so he kept trying different ones until one worked. That poor dog was stuck in the laundry room sink for more than an hour. Slime is now banned from our house.

What did he use? My kids got slime stuck in a blanket my grandmother made my oldest. I have yet to figure out a way to get it out.

 

[hereyago]

Ok how many want to own up to eating the candy you were putting in the basket?
Peeps are so good lol.

And yes I bought some for me, but I ate those lol

 

[tarheelmjfan]

DS is 27. I've used the same basket all of his life. The paint is fading, but it's special to us. I plan to fill it for him, as long as I'm alive. The contents have evolved over the years. We went from kid's candy & toys to adult snacks, flip flops, sunglasses, beach towels, gifts cards, etc. Our tradition is that the Easter Bunny brings one expensive gift (Video games, Iphone, Theme Park season ticket, concert ticket, etc. Whatever he's into at the time.) The basket contents are from DH & me. My advice is to go crazy on the cheap toys & candy now. It gets much more expensive as they get older.

 

[neverlandsky]

Teens in braces so doing peeps, Reese’s eggs, mini Cadbury eggs, & chocolate marshmallow eggs. Oldest 15, is getting $20. Youngest 13, a choker along with that this is the last year for receiving a stuffed bunny.

No more egg hunts or dying eggs.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Hangs head in shame...I bought big gift bags because I thought the baskets were too small. In all fairness, a lot of their Easter stuff is clothes and shoes; etc.

Don't hang your head in shame. Do what I did. Buy the biggest basket you can find. That's one of the reasons I continued to use the same basket, then it became tradition.

 

[LongLiveRafiki]

If it doesn’t fit in the basket that means it’s just “too much.”

Ha! Two years ago, DS's Easter basket was a large cylindrical laundry hamper and DD's was a 2 foot woven basket for her art supplies. Both were needed so it made sense to make them their Easter baskets.

I do some practical things that I know they're going to use like sunglasses, bathing suit, socks, or sandals. I also usually throw in some summer fun items like sidewalk chalk, bubbles, kite, or water balloons. They might get 1 or 2 novelty candy items like a candy fan or Japanese candy, and a small stuffed animal or toy. Maybe a book or movie.

For their egg hunt, I put some chocolate coins and gummies, but try to do non-candy items too like tattoos, nail polish, coins, finger lights, small cars/trains or army guys. I haven't bought anything yet for this year, but we are moving in June, so I really don't want to get anything that will just end up as clutter. We'll see how it goes.