Pat's Challenge

Pat's 19th Scrapbook Cafe challenge this week was " - to recycle something quick, easy, functional and cheap for an outdoor picnic or get together! I'm sure with summer ahead of us we will all be having many more picnics and cookouts!" Well from the beginning I thought I am in a dilemma. Our basement flooded years ago, and my picnic basket was one of the many items ruined. So I thought well why not make a new basket to carry odds and ends in to carry to a picnic. Most of our food, I will take in a cooler. I started with a medium size basket that I use to keep extra towels in. This size basket is very easy for one person to carry, or two little picnickers. I lined it with some cotton fabric, that my husbands deceased mother had in her quilting tub, so it gave me a good feeling to use this piece of cloth. After cutting the cloth to fit, I used Beacon fabric tac to attach the cloth to the basket. I then used some 1 1/2 lime green sheer ribbon around the inside edges, I tied a bow in one corner, and finished it off with flowers space around all 4 sides. As I said earlier this little basket is to carry odds and ends in. I recycled a baby wipe cylinder canister to store plastic grocery bags in, so you can always have an easy way to clean up your trash. I'm sorry but do not know the name of the coordinating papers I used to cover these alterables. I covered a little first aid kit, a sewing kit, and a bread crumb canister for the silverware. The container for the paper napkins, is a container that blueberries came in. I just added the same color of sheer ribbon bow to the top, that I used in the corner of the basket. Two different size nut cans were also papered. They could be used to transport the salt and pepper shakers, or maybe a can opener, matches, bug repellent, things like that. I embellished the sheer green ribbon on the basket itself, with little flowers and added little flocked dots to the center of them. I forgot to get the photo of the little table cloth that would fit in in the basket, you could also include a blanket to spread on the ground to sit on. As you can see there is room for lots of things, even the plates and cups. Since I saw Pat's altered carrier for her orange crush she has had me "hankering" for some myself. Is "hankering" even a real word? I was not as elaborate in decorating mine as she was, but it was a last minute thought. Of course I had to open up one of the sodas, so I would have enough strength to complete the challenge. *wink*wink*The only thing I purchased to complete this project was the orange crush, and green ribbon, I have a lot of ribbon, but didn't have anything in the green colored , that matches the papers. A footnote to Pat. My DH wanted me to give Pat a message that was "thanks for the challenge, now Shelia expects him to take her on a picnic." The first picture is of the basket, and unfinished containers that I started with. The rest of the photos show how they pack into the basket for easy transportation. The trash bags, you can just pull them out of the top of the canister, through the little slots in the top The plastic silverware fits perfectly in one, made from the breadcrumb container and the napkins are easy accessible in their see thru container. No first aid kit is worth anything if there is no bug repellent and band aids. Finally what is a picnic without flowers. It is just a little bud vase with some tacky glue squirted into the bottom of it, and then flowers placed down in it. It will not come all apart like that. Thanks for looking. And yes, DH, I am expecting to you to take me on a picnic.