Making a Grown-Up Easter Basket

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You may say that no one needs a grown-up easter basket because we’re grown-ups, right? I couldn’t agree with you less!

One thing I believe strongly in is family traditions, especially when it comes to holiday traditions. In the springtime (hello, spring!), that means Easter and it means a lot of Easter traditions that involve a lot of teamwork between me and the Easter bunny.

For example…

The night before Easter, we set out carrots for the Easter bunny. He always eats part of the carrot (we can see his teeth marks in the carrot!) and leaves a note with his pawprint.

We leave out the same Easter baskets every year and the Easter bunny fills them with a few trinkets and candy. LOTS of candy.

We hide the little foil-wrapped chocolate eggs all over the inside of the house for an indoor Easter egg hunt that challenging even for the older kids. The fun is trying to remember where exactly I helped the Easter bunny hide them.

And inevitably, there is a lovely Easter dinner. If we host at our house, there’s sure to be a delicious ham, scalloped potatoes, and probably cherry pie – all things I love. If it’s not at our house, it’s probably at my sister-in-law’s house, a beautiful home situated among horse country in upstate New York.

She does an amazing, Martha Stewart-like job of preparing a gourmet meal and making it look effortless. The adults are greeted with a glass of champagne and the kids are sent into the backyard for an Easter egg hunt of epic proportions. The White House has nothing on her.

Since it’s Easter and she’s hosting dinner this year, we should, of course, bring a hostess gift. And maybe you’re in the same situation. If so, I can show you exactly what to bring with the help of Russell Stover.

Do grown-ups really need an Easter basket full of candy? Yes. Because it not only reminds us of our youth, everyone loves a little candy once in a while. We will, however, make the candy more of an accent. So let’s get started.

Start with a reusable basket that isn’t designed for Easter.

This oval shaped basket screams, “REUSE ME!” and no one will feel awkward at having to have a lime green and pink basket lying around the house. You can pick up inexpensive stores like Marshalls and Michaels Craft Stores.

Fill it with upscale grass.

Wait – did I just say “upscale grass”? Yes, I did. All I mean by that is avoid the plastic cellophane green grass that you usually find in kids baskets. Try something like lavender in paper grass or even raffia.

Add non-candy treats

The idea is think Spring, think Easter, but still add some grown-up fun. I’ve added three floral-themed writing notebooks, a copper bubble wand kit (make your own shapes!), and some stronger bubbles in the form of Champagne.

If you’re making an Easter basket for a teen, skip the Champagne and add in a gift card.

Add a stuffed animal.

This is a carry-over from my mother’s own traditions. Every year, we got a stuffed animal (usually a bunny). When I was at Epcot a few weeks ago, I fell in love with this little duck I found in the Japanese pavilion. It turns out it’s actually a canary named Kiiroitori from the Rilakkuma line of characters. I just call him Ducky but I think even teens would find him cool.

Accent with Russell Stover candy.

Because you’re never too old for a little chocolate! I kept it simple with some of the new Russell Stover Easter candy but you can add in whatever candies are your favorite (hey – it’s a great way to introduce them and share them with you!).

Admit it. You want your very own grown-up Easter basket. If you don’t have any company coming over and you don’t think anyone is going to wow you with a grown-up Easter basket, I’m going to let you in on a little secret. Every year, the Easter bunny leaves a basket for my son but he also leaves one for me!

Enjoy your chocolate!