Last Updated: September 30, 2020
Today’s DIY play project post is a favorite! If you’ve heard of the brand Olli Ella, you’ve probably seen their cute wicker shopping trolley baskets for kids, called the Luggy. A friend told me about them last year, and then I started noticing them online and in a couple of little boutiques here in Portland. Pretty adorable! And they are what inspired this DIY Luggy basket project!
First, I want to note that this post is not knocking the Olli Ella brand. They have super cute stuff. And if we received an Ollie Ella basket as a gift, we would have loved and used it. But at $82, it wasn’t an item that I would purchase for my kid right now. First, he would inevitably want to take it outside. And it rains a lot in Portland. So the adorable product pictures of children wearing neutral tone linen outfits and wheeling their luggies with stuffies through dry grasses… That’s not what I envisioned happening for us. Instead I envisioned a wheeled basket crammed with mud and rocks and acorns and worms, and then the wheels jammed up with wet leaves. I joked about making a wicker shopping trolley instead.
Then a couple months later, I happened upon this “water hyacinth” basket at Target for $20 that was a really cute shape and had one handle. I thought 🤔 maybe I’ll buy it and attach wheels somehow. A wicker basket on wheels – would it be almost like a luggy? I bought one to try out the project. My friend’s daughter’s birthday was coming up, so I thought it would be the perfect gift!
Attaching Wheels to the Wicker Basket
I briefly considered adding wheels on the outside with a little axle through the basket. I found a few options for parts for typical market carts and some cooler replacement wheels. Then I realized that I could just use caster wheels on the bottom and make a little kickstand. That way they could kind of roll any direction. I bought a 4 pack of caster wheel at IKEA for $10. First, I decided where to place the wheels, and then drilled holes for the screws. I didn’t want the screws to just break through the whicker so I added a baseplate of sorts to the inside.
I had a bit of trial and error making the kickstand. First, I tried some wire, it was too thin. Then a coat hanger. Better, but it still shifted to easily and kept popping through the wicker. Finally I decided on some blocks stacked. Originally an IKEA lacing toy. I’ve used this poor lacing toy up for random DIY projects! I also used some round pieces for the oven knobs for the mud kitchen I built. Sorry toy!
After I attached the wheels and kickstand, I added a thin layer of craft foam sheet. And then some neutral felt on top of that at the base of the basket so the kids didn’t mess with the hardware or snag things.
The Finished Wicker Shopping Trolley
And of course, after I finished the basket, my kiddo was in love with. So I bought another basket and made a second one with the leftover parts. Now he and his friend have matching market / DIY Luggy baskets. But our kiddo calls it his suitcase and wheels it around the house. His grandma had just visited and had a wheeled suitcase. So he was really excited to have one too.
So far, he keeps it inside and wheels around his stuffed animals and stores things in it like his pretend felt fruits. He hasn’t really been interested in taking it out for walks like I thought he might. But we took it outside for Easter this year to collect easter eggs in. And that was a hit!
Let me know if you have any questions about our wicker shopping trolley!
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