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Fowl Weather Umbrella Basket

A springtime conundrum: How do you prevent the umbrella that kept you dry outdoors from getting everything indoors soaking wet? Let it drip dry into a special basket that you can empty out later. And when the long, dry days of summer roll in, this decorative bucket has an even duckier use: storing pool toys!

Materials
• 2 small identical white plastic wastebaskets that fit inside one another
• 12- by 18-inch sheet of orange craft foam
• Pencil, ruler
• Scissors
• Duct tape
• Pushpin
• Hammer and nail
• Three 1 ¼-inch-long metal paper fasteners
• Two 12-ounce bags of floral marbles (or stones)


Step 1:
Place one of the baskets on the foam sheet at least 1/2 inch from one of the 18-inch sides. Trace around the bottom of the basket about 1/2 inch out from the base, then draw duck feet extended from the front of the circle. Cut out the shape in one piece.

Step 2:
To attach the feet to the basket, stick 3 1/2-inch squares of duct tape to the foam as shown, spacing them evenly apart. Use a pushpin to make a hole through the center of each tape square and the foam.

Step 3:
Center the feet, taped side up, atop the overturned basket. Press a pencil through the pinholes to make corresponding marks on the bottom of the basket. Then remove the foam and use a hammer and nail to make holes through the plastic at the marks.

Step 4:
Realign the feet and insert a metal paper fastener through each pair of lined-up holes, spreading open the prongs against the inside bottom of the basket.

Step 5:
Finally, place some marbles or stone weights in the basket, then slide the second, water-collecting basket into the first, and the holder's ready to use.



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