Cheerleaders Delight Gift Basket

by Mary
(Palm Coast, FL USA)

My grand daughter's birthday is in December and I try to come up with a gift each year that is different than her Christmas presents. She is a cheerleader and loves it so I decided to make a very special basket for her.

Who did you make it for?
My grand daughter for her 8th birthday

What's in it?
Some favorite things she likes such as lip gloss, fingernail polish, colored pencils, notebook, markers and eraser.

I also made special little gifts such as a shadow box (you can find these at Dollar Tree), barrette (project at www.craftingtales.com), door hanger and a pencil roll up tote. I also decorated a Pringles can (which has a necklace in it) and covered the notebook to make it a little extra special.

Cheerleader gift basket contents

Cheerleader barrette

Decorated notebook journal

Door hanger (left) and decorated Pringles can with necklace (right)

Shadow box

Pencil roll-up tote

What did you use for the basket/container and wrapping?
The basket is a plastic 1 quart utility bucket with a wired handle. I've described how I made it below in more detail in case anyone else would like to try making something similar.

How I made the basket

Materials
- 1 quart plastic utility bucket (I found mine at WalMart)
- Thick Cardboard (a discarded box works great)
- Felt in colors of your choice
- Photo copy of cheerleader's face
- Yarn for pom poms and ponytails
- Double backed tape
- Needle and thread
- Goodies to fill your basket

Body and face
The total height of my cheerleader is 12". Cut out pattern for cardboard body (see link below) and trace onto cardboard, making sure you leave 3" below the dotted line on the pattern. When you sew on the outfit to this cardboard body, you will notice that the cardboard body is longer at bottom. This exposed length is what you will tape to the inside of the bucket.

Choose a photo that has a nice full face view. Resize so the face will fit on the cardboard face. Make it slightly larger so it covers the cardboard. Put aside for now.

Download the body template and hair and clothing template

Clothing and hair
Cut 2 outfit pieces from felt using pattern (above), in a color to match your cheerleader's outfit. Take one outfit piece and sew on any trims to match actual outfit. You do not have to copy every detail. Mine had many stripes which would be impossible to make on such a smaller piece but all you need to do is resemble the actual outfit. Sew these things onto one outfit piece.

Put cardboard body in place between the outfit pieces and whip stitch the edges closed. LEAVE SLEEVES OPEN so you can insert arms later. This is a little like playing with paper dolls! Choose the color felt that best represents the real hair color. If blond, use yellow felt. Trace just the head on to felt for hair and cut at neck where dotted line is indicated. Glue this to the back of the head on your cardboard body. Cut hair pattern out, trace onto cardboard, and cut out.

Use the same pattern and cut 2 from hair color felt, making it slightly larger than the pattern. Sandwich the cardboard hair piece between the felt hair pieces and whip stitch closed but do not sew the pony tails. Stop sewing where it is indicated on pattern that ribbon will be tied. Choose your yarn or ribbon colors and tie where indicated on pattern, just where you would on a real head. Snip ponytails into strips to look like hair.

Use double backed tape and put several strips on the back of your photo face. Adhere photo to face on cardboard body. Flip body over and glue ponytail hair piece in place.See photo below of back view for placement.

Arms
Cut 4 strips from white felt 11" long and 2" wide. Take 2 and sew short ends together so that you will have a 22" strip. Repeat for other 2 strips. Take 2 pipe cleaners and twist ends together to make a long one. Repeat with other 2. Now take those two long ones and twist them together down the entire length. Turn ends to form a small loop so no sharp edges are exposed. Lay length of pipe cleaner between your 2 long white strips and fold over to make a 1" strip. Pin edges. Whip stitch all sides closed. Take one end and slip inside one sleeve opening. Continue sliding it through and out the other sleeve. Make sure both arms are equal length, then sew sleeve openings closed to hold arms in place.

Pom-poms
To make pom poms, choose your yarn colors. Cut a bunch of pieces about 4" long. Tie a piece of yarn around this bundle in the center. Knot well. Spread out the yarn to form a ball and trim any ends needed. Sew each pom pom to the end of each arm.

Decorations
Decorate the plastic bucket any way you like. I chose to use gold yarn and cut pieces about 10" long. I looped each onto the wire handle until I had it completely covered. I trimmed all the ends. I then used plastic hanging letters (you can find these in WalMart) and threaded them onto a pipe cleaner. Mine say "GO MUSTANGS" for the team she cheers for. I attached the beads by twisting the ends of the pipe cleaner onto the handle.
Tape the bottom of the cheerleader to the inside of the bucket. Fill the bucket with little goodies and you will have one happy cheerleader!



Anything else you'd like to share about your gift basket?
You can make this for any child by using the cardboard pattern and changing how you decorate the outfit. Turn the shirt into a jersey for a football player or into a simple dress or shirt. let your imagination run wild and you will have a cute basket to give as a gift.

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Check out more of Mary's craft ideas on her website www.craftingtales.com
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