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How to Make Milk Jug Easter Baskets

Looking for a cute craft to do with your kids? Make these Milk Jug Easter Baskets! There are so many ways for them to get creative and put their own spin on these milk carton Easter bunny baskets!

gallon milk jug turned into a bunny easter basket

I first made these Milk Jug Easter Baskets with my girls back in 2013. I’ve kept some of the photos in this post because honestly, it’s just too cute to see how “creative” they were – you can see those at the bottom of the post!

Fast forward 8 years and their Milk Jug Easter Baskets look quite different. But that’s the fun of this little craft project – it doesn’t matter how they turn out!

As long as your child is having doing a creative process, then it’s a WIN!

This craft was actually inspired by an annual project that we did at the childcare center I owned years ago. Our preschool teacher always asked parents to bring a milk jug for the kiddos to make these adorable bunny Easter baskets.

bunny easter basket milk jug with cotton balls and eyes and ears

It was always a hit with the kids, so I knew my kids would like to make them too. The fun thing is – now I know all ages enjoy this Easter craft! Sophia enjoyed it at age 2.5 and had just as much fun now as a 10.5 year old!

Milk Jug Easter Basket Supplies

  • 1 gallon milk jug for each child
  • cotton balls
  • glue
  • white construction paper or cardstock
  • pink crayon
  • large and small craft pom poms
  • large googly eyes
  • pipe cleaners
craft supplies on table

There really is some much variation you can do with these. You can swap construction paper for craft foam or pipe cleaners for ribbon. You can make eyes out of felt or use googly eyes like we did. The best thing to do is use the craft supplies you have on hand!

How to Make Easter Baskets Out of Milk Cartons

You can find the full tutorial at the end of this post, but in this section I’ll share process photos and extra tips on how to make this Easter bunny milk jug craft.

how to make easter baskets from milk jugs with process photos

First, make sure to start with a clean and dry gallon milk jug. The style of jug doesn’t matter too much – we had 2 different ones from 2 different stores.

The first step is to draw out where you will cut the jug. I used a washable marker to do this so I could simply wipe it off after cutting.

hand holding plastic milk jug with orange marker template drawn

There’s some variation to these bunny milk jugs, but I find this design more fun for the kids. It’s a little different than what the girls did when they were little.

I basically trace around the front edges of the jug, where the handle is. Then, cut a large part of it out with a box cutter. It’s going to look rough at first, but once some is removed, it’s so easy to cut the milk jug plastic with scissors.

milk jug cut

Go along your lines and trim it up. Make sure your cuts are smooth or you could get a scratch from the plastic.

trimming milk jug with scissors

You’re left with the handle and the bottom half of the jug.

side view of cut milk jug

Now is a good time to really wipe out the milk jug and make sure it is totally clean and dry.

Next, I also do this part as it’s a little hard to do. I punch holes in the top center of the back of the jug and the very top center above the handle. This is for your Easter basket handle.

making a hole in top of milk jug

For the handle, we used pipe cleaners. The girls decided to make them fancier by braiding 3 colors together. You simply slide your pipe cleaners in from front to back, with the holes you made.

inserting pipe cleaner as handle to easter basket milk jug

The next step is to start gluing cotton balls onto the bottom of your bunny baskets. The girls glued them all around the front and back. We used Elmer’s Glue-All for this step as it really holds well to the cotton balls and milk jugs.

gluing cotton balls onto plastic milk jug

Both girls wanted a bushy bunny tail and glued a large craft pom pom for the tail.

back view of milk jug easter basket with cotton balls and pom pom tail

It looks like a lot of cotton balls and it is! These were from the Dollar Tree. They used 1.5 bags which was about 150 cotton balls to make 2 of these milk jug Easter baskets.

A bunny can’t be an Easter bunny without whiskers! The whiskers are pipe cleaners wrapped around the handle – that’s why we keep that cute handle in place!

milk jug with cotton balls and pipe cleaners for bunny whiskers

You can add a craft pom pom nose, if you want!

hand putting a pom pom nose on milk jug easter basket with cotton balls

Next, they made their bunny’s ears. You can do this out of craft foam, felt, or really anything! The girls both used white copy paper and colored the inside with a pink crayon.

child hand drawing pink bunny ears

They glued them to the inside of the jug. Sophia had the fun idea to roll the paper so the bunny’s ears were extra floppy!

child hands rolling paper for bunny ears

Next, the girls added googly eyes. Again, you could really make eyes out of anything – construction paper, foam, felt.

child hands putting googly eyes on easter basket bunny

That’s it! Bunnies are complete, but now it’s time to turn them into Easter baskets. We picked up some Easter grass and plastic eggs from Dollar Tree.

adding easter grass to easter basket

The girls like to have Easter egg hunts for days leading up to Easter and even after, so they are definitely going to be using their baskets for those at-home hunts.

Sophia and Moreaya both decided to add some extra touches to their milk jug Easter baskets. Both added eyelashes and Sophia even added a bow for her girl bunny.

They even attached a cute carrot and Easter bowtie and egg, made out of construction paper. I’ll say it again – let your kids’ imaginations run with this fun Easter craft!

All in, this took the girls about 1.5 hours to make. Gluing those cotton balls on is definitely the most tedious part, but it was a great way for them to keep busy.

Do you upcycle or re-purpose products? We do quite a bit because it’s a great way to live a green-er life.

I try to find a “re-purpose” for just about everything that I have to dispose of and it’s definitely been passed on to the girls because Moreaya can always “use” anything we think we need to throw away.

easter bunny baskets made out of milk jug craft

Plus, when I upcycle products, like this Easter Bunny Basket from the Milk Container, I can let the girls play with it until it just can’t be played with anymore. It’s nice knowing that they can have fun with a project that literally costs pennies to make – and not worry if something gets broken or damaged!

How to Make Milk Jug Easter Baskets

How to Make Milk Jug Easter Baskets

Make your own Easter Basket from a gallon milk jug! With just a few cuts and craft supplies, you can make this milk jug easter basket!

Prep Time 15 minutes
Active Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 45 minutes
Estimated Cost $5

Materials

  • Gallon Milk Jug [1 per child]
  • Cotton Balls
  • Glue
  • White Construction Paper or Cardstock
  • Pink Crayon
  • Large and Small Craft Pom Pom
  • Large Googly Eyes
  • Pipe Cleaners

Tools

  • Scissors
  • Box Cutter
  • Hole Punch

Instructions

  1. Wash a gallon milk jug and let thoroughly dry.
  2. Trace your cutting pattern onto the jug with a washable marker. See pictures for how to cut.
  3. Cut with a box cutter, then trim around lines with scissors.
  4. Punch a hole in the top center of the back and top of handle. This creates a hole for your pipe cleaner handle.
  5. Place pipe cleaner through both holes. Wrap around itself to secure handle.
  6. Glue cotton balls to bottom half of milk jug easter basket.
  7. Add a large craft pom pom to back for a fuzzy bunny tail.
  8. Wrap pipe cleaners around front handle to make bunny whiskers.
  9. Glue a small craft pom pom above pipe cleaners for a nose.
  10. Draw and cut out bunny ears. Color inside pink.
  11. Glue ears to the inside of milk jug.
  12. Add extra decorations, if you choose - eyelashes, hair bow, carrot, and easter egg!
  13. Fill your basket with Easter grass and Easter eggs!

Notes

Most of the craft supplies can be switched out for whatever you have on hand!

Recommended Products

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Want to see the cute milk jug Easter baskets made by 1 and 2 year olds? Here’s some of the old photos from 2013 when they first did this project:

decoratingbunny2
upcycledbunnybasket

This post was originally published in March 2013.

Like I said before, cheap, re-purposed crafts are great for the environment, but they also give children a sense of ownership and pride. So, whether your children are 2 or 10, they’ll love making these milk jug Easter baskets!

Looking for more Easter crafts and fun activities? Check these out!

Amber Ludwig

Tuesday 21st of June 2016

Omgosh I totally did this in school as a kid!! Loved it!! Thanks for bringing back a classic!! I had totally forgotten about it!! My kiddo would adore it!

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Cat

Wednesday 20th of March 2013

I love cheap and repurposed crafts and we need easter baskets by next weekend. Thanks for sharing! Please link up to my linky as well! http://thinkingoutsidethesandbox.ca/spring-break-begins/

Lindsey

Wednesday 20th of March 2013

Awesome! These are so fun and a quick craft, for sure! Thanks - I linked up!

Cecile

Tuesday 19th of March 2013

These are so cute! I am going to save my milk containers now!

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