A Tisket, A Tasket...

I decorated some baskets!  And a wreath, if we're going to be picky.  What does a lazy, sunny Sunday with the girls equal? An arts and crafts bonanza! Well, for most of us, anyways...

Some of us were obviously out later than others (and you know it weren't me cuz my definition of a late night means staying up past 10:00pm.)

Anyways, here's what we created in between watching movies like The Sweetest Thing and Pirates of the Carribbean and lazing on the couch/bed.

From left to right, that is the card basket, a random wreath for decor and a bathroom basket.

The card basket was definitely the most fun to make.  I started with this super-simple basket my mom had lying around the house leftover from a holiday floral arrangement.  I know a blank canvas when I see one and I snatched it up and took it home, ready to make it over...

After several false starts and varying opinions, a consensus was finally reached about the best way to dress up my basket.  I took some lovely blue grosgrain ribbon I found while digging through the dollar bin at Michael's (yeah, you know what I'm talkin' 'bout, love me that dollar bin!) and started threading it through the side of the basket.

Once I got all the way through one side, I anchored the insides of the weaved ribbon with healthy doses of hot glue and here it is:

Remember my super-easy paper flowers? Well, I finally got to put some of those to use.  I hot-glued a few randos about the basket to add some "flair." Looked like this when I was done...

And finally, I threaded the bottom with an ivory grosgrain ribbon to prevent the cards from falling out, again securing the bottom with a hot glue gun.

I may add a small sign that simply says "cards" to the basket but I'm not sure if it's necessary or not.

I was on such a roll with my paper flower-prettifying, I couldn't stop with just the basket.  I busted out this random wreath I got at (where else?) Michael's for about $3.50 and hot-glued a bunch more.

No idea what we'll use this for but I think it's so pretty, it will have to incorporated somewhere in the decor.

And finally, finally, we reached the end of our creativity and I kept the decorations on the bathroom basket simple and sweet: two bows, one on either side and a sign that says "Help yourself!"

Imagine this filled with everything you might want in a bathroom basket...

And one more shot, for good measure (notice the wreath is lying down this time.)

*All are personal photos

It was so nice to have my girlfriends over to craft, I'm used to just keeping myself occupied during the week.  Making it a social event definitely upped the fun factor. And I trust their opinions and taste-level way more than my own, so I like to think these all came out way better than if I had done it myself.

A few minor details I'd like your opinions on:

1.  Should I add a sign to the card basket or leave it as is? Will guests know what it's for without a sign?

2.  Do you like the wreath hanging vertically or laying horizontally (potentially around a large candle in a holder?)