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DIY Tribal Painted Baskets for Home Decor

My latest thrift store makeover was so simple but I’m loving it! These DIY tribal painted baskets add a nice touch to your home decor.

Skills Required: Beginner. Anyone can make these, even without prior crafting skills. If you can hold a paintbrush, you can do this project.

DIY Tribal Painted Baskets for Home Decor

Hello! This is Megan from Homemade Ginger, and I’m back with another thrifty DIY. I love blogging all about how to make lovely things without spending a fortune and I’m mildly obsessed with the thrift store. My latest thrift store makeover was so simple but I’m loving it!

Empty basket planters from the Goodwill

Easy Painted Baskets

I found these basket planters at Goodwill for less than $2 each. They were good quality and lined with plastic so I knew that they were a steal.

I wanted to do something with them with paint, so I started brainstorming. I love the tribal print theme right now, and the weave of the baskets created a great base to add some paint for some tribal-inspired designs.

Learn how to make this project below. It’s really easy, no matter your skill level.

Gather These Supplies

  • Baskets with weave – any size
  • Acrylic paint – colors of your choice
  • Spray paint – use for basecoating (optional)
  • Painter’s tape (optional)
  • Paintbrushes

Before beginning, make sure that you wipe all the dirt and debris off of your baskets with a wet cloth or paper towel. Let dry.

I left the brown basket as-is and just added some white acrylic paint for a cross/plus design. I did a few coats of the white and then once it was dry, I lightly sanded it to give it a slightly aged look. This photo is just after one coat of paint.

Painting with white acrylic paint on the weave of a basket

I spray painted the lighter colored basket white to make it a little more modern. Then, I added some black acrylic paint to create a tribal pattern.

Woven basket painted with white spray paint and black acrylic paint

I love how they look on my front porch for fall! For less than $4 and a little paint that I already had on hand, I now have two modern tribal painted baskets!

Tribal painted basket idea

The nice thing about these baskets is that you can stick some potted plants inside them and call it a day (take the plants out to water or don’t overwater). But you can use these for anything and as any type of decoration.

I think about doing these on a larger scale with bigger wicker baskets. They could be used to hold all sorts of things! I’d love a large one for blankets in the living room. What do you think? Let me know in the comments!

Tribal painted basket idea
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5 from 1 vote

Painted Baskets

Learn how to paint tribal baskets the easy way! This DIY basket project is easy, even if you've never crafted before.
Prep Time15 minutes
Active Time1 hour
Total Time1 hour 15 minutes
Type: DIY Projects
Yield: 1 basket
Cost: $2

Materials

Instructions

  • Clean the baskets of dirt and debris as much as possible and let dry.
  • On one basket, paint both the top and bottom edge. Let dry.
  • Paint portions of the basket weave with white to look like plus signs. Do this all the way around the basket and let dry.
  • On the other basket, completely spray paint with white. Let dry.
  • Add black acrylic paint to create a tribal pattern on various portions of the basket weave.
  • Let dry completely before using!

For more easy and thrifty modern DIY projects, be sure to visit me over at Homemade Ginger. I’d also love for you to check out the following ideas:

5 from 1 vote
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Viola Luna

Wednesday 19th of July 2023

Clever

Praveen Soni

Thursday 11th of August 2016

Rust-Oleum American Accents Terra Cotta Spray Paint is also can be used for the same. This aerosol paint gives brown pot like finish.

Miranda

Friday 11th of March 2016

I will literally never look at a basket the same way again! This is brilliant.. thank you so much for sharing!!