10 Cool Items to Put in a Long-Distance Easter Basket (+ a neat way to jazz up your packaging!)

Do you have a long distance friend or family member that you enjoy sending holiday gifts? When I send Christmas gifts to my friends and family out of state, I always wrap the outside of the box in Christmas wrapping paper, then reinforce it with contact paper to protect the wrapping paper from rough handling in transit. 

But I decided to do something a little bit different with my friend's Easter gift this year - I wanted to make it look like an Easter basket full of grass. I used some bright green wrapping paper (got it on clearance after Christmas one year, but it's "neutral" enough for any occasion!) and wrapped the INSIDE of the box! Here's how...

You're going to need a piece of wrapping paper that goes all the way around the perimeter of the box, and is as tall as the height + the flaps extended (see pics) + 2/3 the depth (/short side, see pic again). 

Here's where the fun begins - you need to pre-crease the sides of the wrapping. You're going to be making a tube that will fit around the inner perimeter of the box. I found it easiest to make one short, random crease, then build from there. I placed the corner made by the first crease snugly into a corner of the box, then carefully smoothed the paper along the next side and made a tight crease there as well. I did the same thing with the second side of the box, then used the lengths determined that way to make the remaining folds. This meant that the fourth side had the two end pieces taped together to form the tube, with the colorful side facing the inside.

Put a reverse crease in each of the shorter sides, then fold up the corners to meet that new center line. Unfold, then pop the tube open again and use the corner creases to form box pleats. 

Place the tube (with the newly-formed bottom) in the box, smoothing it out so that the corners and edges all line up. Tape the folds in the corners down so they lay flat. Cut slits in the wrapping paper at the corners between flaps, down the length of each flap (but not into the box). Tape the edges of each wrapping paper flap to the box flaps, fold the flaps closed, and make creases at the fold at the bottom of each flap. 

Toss some green Easter grass in the bottom of the box, and you're ready to fill 'er up! 

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In this box, I'm including:

• This beautiful journal from DaySpring. I think the message of "redeemed" is perfect for Easter, my friend loves journals, and has chosen a synonym to redemption as her word of the year. Perfect!! 

• Some carrot-shaped packages of fizzy bath salts. I got the idea here and the basic recipe here, but I changed up the essential oils and used Wilton piping bags instead of their less expensive cone-shaped favor bags. (Because I had them on hand, haha.)
• Artwork my kids made. (Adapted from this tutorial with what I had handy.)
• Jelly Beans. She's not a big fan of sweets, but... I mean... it's Easter, I had to. :-) Probably best to avoid melty candy like chocolate bunnies - who knows how warm the box may get before it reaches its destination!?

A few other great ideas for a grown-up Easter basket:

• Cross jewelry
• A cute printable. (Check Etsy!)
• Gift card 
• Egg-shaped bath bombs. (Here's a tutorial - I was going to try these, too, but I ran out of time, haha.)
• Cute Easter decor. (Like this DIY frame!)
• Cookies (These look like they'd hold up well to travel, and they are SO stinkin' cute!)

Do you have an out-of-town friend or family member that you send seasonal gifts to? How do you make the packaging special? Let's chat in the comments!