The Ideal Easter Basket

Sunday is Easter, and if you need a few ideas for filling those baskets with goodies that last longer than chocolate, we can help.

If your kid loves coloring books but you'd prefer a bit more creativity, Rosie Flo and Johnny Joe provide the perfect solution. Rosie Flo was created by illustrator Roz Streeten, after many hours of collaborative drawing with her young daughter. Roz drew elaborate dresses and costumes while her daughter filled in the heads, arms, and legs.

Roz has now published a number of different themes, from animals to travel to kitchen. Most recently, she has created Johnny Joe, whose adventures will appeal to boys and girls alike. We have seven different titles available - stop by to see which one your child would enjoy most.

Rosie Flo Coloring Book, $8.99

Johnny Joe Coloring Book, $8.99

Johnny Joe Sample Spread

Rosie Flo Sample Spread

These beautiful wooden tops, made in Japan, nestle perfectly in the grass of a basket. There are ten different styles, so stop by to do a side-by-side spinning comparison...
 

Japanese Tops, $8 each

One sure sign of spring is the appearance of slugs. While you may not like them in your garden, here's a cuddly one that will look great in an Easter basket. Kristin Loffer Theiss makes an array of beautiful plush toys, including these sweet slugs. As she is a fabric aficionado, Kristin always finds incredible (often vintage) fabrics to use in her creations. The slugs pictured below feature Marimekko fabrics from Finland.
 

Plush Slugs by kltworks, $25

Kids can create thousands of different dinosaurs or robots using these clever stencil kits. Choose a body type, then add horns, tails, spikes, and more. These will be played with long after all the Easter eggs are gone...

 

Dinobox Stencil Set, $10

Robobox Stencil Set, $10

 

Here's a great way to creatively reuse things you would normally recycle or discard. Based in Australia, Makedo creates ingenious sets of connectors that allow you to build all sorts of sculptures, contraptions, structures - your imagination is the only limit. Watch the video below to get an idea of the possibilities. We have Free Play sets ($22) in stock as well as Robot or Flower kits ($12). All are nicely sized for a basket.

 

 

For the youngest in your midst, consider this set of stroller cards from Museum of Modern Art. Five brightly colored, tactile flash cards connected by a ring will keep your little one occupied while on-the-go.

MoMA Stroller Cards, $9.99

Also for the wee ones, these two board books by Seattle collage artist Kate Endle make us think of spring:

What is Green? $8.95

Who Hoo Are You? $8.95

If you have a budding photographer in your household, the KOLA camera accessory is a great choice. A set of colored gels to hold over your camera's lens or flash, use them with your digital or phone camera to create different optical effects.

KOLA Camera Gels, $13.50

There you have just a few ideas for an Easter basket that goes far beyond jellybeans. As always, there are more possibilities we can help you with in the shop, so call (360-752-5522) or email (info@anidealshop.com) if you need further inspiration.