Fall DIY Project: Greet Trick-or-Treaters With a Dip-Dyed Basket

Whether you need a classy trick-or-treat basket, a place to keep candy on your doorstep for neighborhood kids or simply a festive touch for your fireplace hearth, try this simple and easy DIY project. It’s a fun way to spice up old baskets in your home or add a personal touch to new ones you’ve found.

If you’re like me, you’ve got plenty of old baskets and half-filled paint cans collecting dust in closets and storage. That makes gathering the supplies both easy and inexpensive.


Materials
BasketPlastic bucket large enough to hold your basketWater-based latex paint (I went with a white semigloss)Plastic bagGarbage bag, cardboard and tacks or other pieces to make a drying rack (instructions follow)



1. Fill the plastic bucket with paint. Semigloss paint is preferable for woven baskets. I poured in an entire half-pint can of exterior semigloss white paint (interior will work just as well). The basket absorbed approximately one-fourth of the can.


2. To fashion a place for the project to dry, I laid out a large (30-gallon) trash bag and placed the bucket holding the paint on it, leaving enough room on one side to place the drying rack. I then made a small drying rack by cutting a piece of cardboard the same size as the basket and placing tacks on the corners and on a few other places on the cardboard.


The idea is to avoid having the basket too close to the ground or have too many points touching the ground while drying. Old cookie racks or metal trivets would also work.


3. Place your basket in the paint and carefully push it down.


4. Once all the sides are covered to your desired height, lift the basket out of the paint and let the paint drip back in the bucket. Carefully place the basket on your drying rack.


5. The paint I used took about five hours to dry to touch, but it’s best to let the basket sit overnight so it dries completely.


Fill it with candy and set it out on Halloween night. Use prepackaged or wrapped snacks — avoid any candy or food that is not covered, such as candy corn or apples. Afterward, you can bring the basket indoors to store magazines.


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