Trash to Treasure Picnic Basket

trash to treasure project

This picnic basket wasn’t exactly trash, although it should have been! The straps were hanging on by a thread and sections of the bottom were broken.

We have a local thrift store that takes donations even though they are a privately funded shop. The prices are amazing so I love to shop there.

There is a video towards the bottom of the post if you prefer to watch this makeover!

Use the links below to purchase some of the supplies for this project! You are helping to support this blog and all the free tutorials we offer here! Thanks so much!😊

list of supplies:

• Fluff Chalk Mineral Paint
• Drop Cloth Chalk Mineral Paint
• chip brush
• Scrubby Soap
• Big Mama’s Butta
• E6000 Glue
• small clamps
• Thrifted Basket: shop your local thrift store!
• Faux Lavender Bunches
• Grainsack Fabric or ribbon

picnic basket upcyle

When I brought this dusty, broken but adorable picnic basket home, I repaired the straps. They were hanging on by a thread. E6000 is my go-to glue for repairs like this.

I added a dollop of glue behind each of the straps where they were attached. A squeeze clamp held it tightly overnight which was long enough for the glue to set.

The gingham check fabric was adorable but dry-rooted. My scissors came in handy to clip off the nylon thread that was used to attach the lining. Then the basket needed a good vacuuming! It wa so dusty!

I wanted to lighten up the look of this picnic basket so I pulled out my light-colored paints. The first coat is Dixie Belle Chalk Mineral Paint in Fluff. It’s a nice white. My chip brush was the perfect tool to apply the paint.

paint a picnic basket

When the first coat was dry, I used a dry brush technique to apply the slightly darker paint called Drop Cloth. I wanted to knock off some of the white and a dry brush technique is an easy way to do this. I didn’t coat it heavily – just enough to skim over the surface of the picnic basket.

faux grain sack stripe

Grain sacks are such a popular vintage farmhouse home decor piece. Finding and purchasing them can be pricey. And you certainly won’t find a grain sack striped picnic basket!

Let’s just paint a faux grain sack stripe on this vintage picnic basket! The stripe is already on the basket that I am using, but if your basket doesn’t have a design that you can follow, just use painter’s tape to mask off the area.

In The Navy chalk mineral paint is a gorgeous deep navy that looks perfect with the light neutral shades of white that I chose for this trash to treasure upcycle.

Dixie Belle | Suzanne’s Garden

The pleather straps on the picnic basket were dull. So I grabbed some brown shoe polish from my hubby’s shoe polishing basket in our bathroom and applied it to the strap. It darkened it just enough!

Then I used Big Mama’s Butta in Suzanne’s Garden to the entire basket. It brought the scent of spring into my craft room and office!

trash to treasure picnic basket

Doesn’t this basket look like it came from a high-end boutique?? It’s lovely hanging in my dining room but eventually, it will be hanging on our front door.

easy spring decor

I might even add a couple of tall cups with water for fresh flowers when the time is right. Can’t you see it filled with fresh zinnias from the garden?

more inspiring posts!

Here are more upcycling projects just for you! See the projects by visiting my blog at REINVENTEDDELAWARE.COM

Purchase supplies for this project by clicking HERE.

I hope you enjoyed this project! I sure did 🙂 Start looking for a basket at your local thrift stores so that you can do this project for yourself. Easy projects like this are good for the soul 🙂

YouTube video

Here is a video for you – some of us like to watch the before and after take place before our eyes – you’ll enjoy this video, I am sure!

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