A Basket Makeover

Yeah, weird title, right? Who makes over baskets? Well, I do, apparently. But you see, I have this china cabinet in the dining room. It always had a couple baskets on top of it that were perfect for storing table linens. I stole them when I gave my kitchen island that makeover – remember that?

So the china cabinet has looked nekkid ever since. It’s kinda hard to find that size basket, believe it or not. Finally, I spotted some dark ones at Michaels – wasn’t sure about the dark finish, but the size was perfect and so was the price – 50% off from $25! Two baskets for $25? I’ll take it. I thought about maybe fixing them up…and I finally did last weekend.

Here’s what they looked like before:

Yeah, wasn’t vibing with me, either. Granted, this is a horrible phone pic, but you get the idea.

You can see them in the way back of this photo of my DIY paper leaf garland:

If you saw them in person, you’d know what I mean when I say they stuck out like a sore thumb. They were just lacking something…

I had an idea.

What if I took out my craft paint in different tans and whites and creams and sorta lightly brushed some on there, to give them some dimension? Make them pop a little?

And what if I took these wooden tag thingys I got at Hobby Lobby forever ago and never used, and created some cute tags to spruce them up?

Right?!!

Here’s how it all went down…

As you can see, I used black paint for the tags – was going to do chalkboard paint, but I was out. I decided I’m never going to erase these so let’s just make it easy and fake it. Once the black paint dried, I stenciled (AGAIN, I used the Hobby Lobby Rustic Alphabet Letters that I use CONSTANTLY) in white paint, the numbers 1 and 2. No reason or significance, just thought it’d be cute. Then I painted the border with some blue sample paint I had laying around. This is Sherwin Williams Rain, with a bunch of white mixed in to lighten it up.

To attach them onto the basket, I strung a piece of jute through and knotted it on the back, like this:

Safety pinned it onto the liner and we’re done!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the interest now. So much more personality than those plain dark, dreary baskets;)

Now I have one-of-a-kind baskets, for an awesome price, and I love ’em!

Let this be a lesson, friends. I know I sound like a broken record, but if you spot something that is a great deal, and could work with a little creativity, go for it. Especially in a case like this, where I was having a hard time finding something that perfect in size.

And another lesson: even baskets can get a makeover;)