Ruby's First Easter Basket

A couple of weeks ago a sad realization hit me.  Easter is Ruby's last "first" holiday!  While it's kind of sad that my baby girl is growing up, it also kind of got me excited about Easter.  Really excited!  I was determined to make her first Easter and last first holiday fantastic.

So, of course, I turned to Pinterest for some basket inspiration.  While there is a lot there, most of it is geared toward older kids.  So, what do you put in the Easter basket of an almost-one year old?  Let me show you!

Obviously, you've got to start with the basics.  A basket.  Easter grass.  And Easter eggs.  When I was growing up, we got a new basket every year.  While that was cool, I really wanted Ruby to have a personalized basket.  And personalized baskets aren't super cheap, so this will be her basket every year. I bought a plain white basket at Michael's, and ordered a personalized liner from Etsy seller LeeLynn Crafts. 

I love it!  There were about a billion fabric choices, and then I got to pick the ribbon and embroidery color and font.  The quality is fantastic, it shipped out fast, and the seller posts her finished work on her Facebook page, so if you're looking, you can catch a little sneak preview of your liner before it even gets to you!  Love.  I can't wait to pull this out every year when I go to play Easter bunny.

For my eggs and grass, I turned to my go-to: Target.  Since Ruby is a girl, I bought the "girly" packs (pinks, purple, yellow, and orange) of small and large eggs.  And I chose yellow grass to coordinate with her basket.

But what to fill the basket with?  I obviously wasn't going to give an 11-month old Easter candy.  Here's what I came up with:

1.) Ruby doesn't eat much in the way of "processed" food.  I make her baby food, or she eats what we eat.  But as a treat, I got her Annie's Cheddar Bunnies.  They don't have too many ingredients, and they're organic, and she'll get a kick out of the bunnies.  I'll put some of these in her plastic eggs.

Also?  Annie's has been around since I was a kid (I think they only had the mac cheese then), and I definitely named a pet rabbit "Bernie" after the Annie's bunny.

2.) HappyBaby Happy Creamies.  These are another "treat", and were kind of an impulse purchase at Whole Foods (they were on the shelf below the Nosefrida I was buying, but that's a whole other story...).  I was interested in these little melts because they contain probiotics.  I actually wanted the yogurt ones, but they all contained strawberry - which I am allergic to, so we're holding off on introducing to Ruby.  So she gets this carrot, mango, and orange one, which should be great because she loves mango and carrot.  These will also go inside her little Easter eggs.

3.) Bubbles!  Ok, so she won't really be able to blow them herself.  But she LOVES bubbles when they have them at library story time, so I'd be happy to sit outside with her on a nice day and blow bubbles for her to point at.

4.) A beach ball.  Ruby really loves to bat around balloons, but they can be a choking hazard if they pop.  To me, a beach ball is just a rounder, safer balloon!  

5.) Sidewalk chalk with holder.  I had visions of us sitting on the driveway, drawing with big fat sidewalk chalk this summer.  It is messy, so I'm hoping the cute bunny holder will help tone down the mess, and also keep her mouth off the chalk. ;)  This adorable little set came from the Target dollar bin.

6.) Sparkly hair clippies.  Ruby actually picked these out herself, but thankfully, she doesn't remember. Really, she grabbed them off the hook when we were out shopping one day.  These sparkly stars have alligator clips on the back, so they'll be perfect for hooking to her headbands until her hair is thick enough to hold them in.

7.) A fancy Etsy headband.  I make a lot of Ruby's hair accessories, but every once in a while I love a good excuse to splurge on something handcrafted by someone else!  Thanks to my love of all things neon, I sought out this beauty!  It came from Etsy shop Small Wonders Boutique, and it is fantastic!  Well made, and she even shipped it out in a hot pink mailing envelope.  It has been really hard for me to wait until Sunday to let her wear it!

8.) Bunny sippy.  I couldn't resist this bunny sippy from Target, even though it is a straw sippy.  Ruby hasn't quite figured out the straw yet, but I'm hopeful she will soon (she will suck things from a straw if I take it out and hold the end and put it in her mouth).

9.) Wooden iPhone teether.  This is probably the one item that excites me the most in her basket!  Ruby, like any other baby, is obsessed with my phone.  And of course, that means she wants to put it in her mouth.  My brother is an Apple Genius, and he freaks when he sees babies with phones in their mouths.  Apparently baby spit is a common culprit for broken phones!  So, I got her one that she can put in her mouth.

I just love the little carved apps, and the home button, and it even has the "camera" on the back.  And it is personalized with her name on the back, too!  I caught it on sale for only $12, but they still have them for $15 at Etsy shop 3PrincessesStore.  It shipped to me super quick, even coming from Canada.  I have a feeling that Ruby will be starting a trend with her phone, as we don't know a single baby that doesn't like to chew on their parents'. 

10.) Ball.  Big enough to not be a choking hazard, small enough for little hands.  Ruby only has an O-ball right now, so I often find her playing with our wool dryer balls.  I don't really mind, but now she has a pretty pink faceted one of her own.

11.) Guess How Much I Love You.  No, really, guess.  Haha, just kidding.  What is Easter without a book about bunnies?  Can you believe we don't have this in our library yet?  I can't either.  Which meant that I knew it HAD to go in her basket.  Other great bunny books to include would be the Runaway Bunny, or A Home for a Bunny (which we have already, and Ruby is obsessed with!).

12.) Goodnight Moon.  I know!  We didn't have this one either!  Insane.  But guess what?  There are bunnies in this too!  So it loosely fits the Easter theme, and it definitely fits the "we need this in our book collection" theme.  

Not pictured:  Cheerios.  I'll grab a handful from our box and put some into one of her plastic eggs.  The second she sees that yellow box, she starts pointing vigorously.  She'll be pleasantly surprised to find them in an egg!

So there you have it.  An Easter basket fit for a one year old.  I also intended to include some Fisher Price Little People, as we have one that Ruby plays with every single day.  However, when I went to go buy them, I could only find Disney Princesses and licensed super heros.  Not really my thing.  However, if I find just regular Little People people before Sunday, they may get hidden in some large eggs in her basket!

Need more ideas?  Other items I considered, but didn't buy because I ran out of space, we already had it, or I knew grandma had already bought it for her:

*Rubber ducks (Ruby love love LOVES these)

*Small stuffed animals or loveys

*Bath toys

*Socks

*Teething toys

*Sunglasses or sun hat

*Sandals for the upcoming warm weather

*Pinwheels

*Freeze-dried fruit (Trader Joe's has a great selection)

*Toy tethers for the stroller, like this

*Munchkin Snack Catchers

*Bibs

*Toddler utensils

*"Springy" onesies (because there are never enough onesies in size 12mo and up)

*Beach/sand or garden toys 

Hopefully that list helps!  With Ruby having a spring birthday I tried not to go too crazy, and I also tried to stick to my unofficial New Year's resolution to shop more on Etsy.  I can't wait to see my little girl paw through her (completely adorable) basket on Sunday!