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About Hand Crafted  Bolga Baskets 
A traditional handmade basket exclusively woven by indigenous rural women of Bolgatanga, Ghana, West Africa. Known as the Bolga Basket, it is the main source of income for those women who are marginalized socially and economically. We work directly with the weavers in the production. We deliver quality baskets to customers on timely basis, empower the artisans with sustainable incomes to support their families and eventually emerges from poverty

Made from the straw of a tropical grass (Elephant Grass), the baskets can be reshaped by immersing them in cold or warm water, avoiding the leather handle as much as possible, then reshaping by forming them with the hand.  
A  great product for your shopping, picnics, magazines, books, decoration and so on. With your purchase, you indirectly help those marginalized economically  women to earn income to support their families and and eventually emerges from poverty. These baskets has no duplicates. What you see on the website is what we ship to you.  

The Weaving Process

When holding a basket in your hand, admiring the artistry and tapestry of color, you may likely wonder how it came to be. Can something so intricate, so unique, so detailed, so striking to the eye, and so durable, really be made by hand from simple river grass? The answer, astonishingly, is yes, and the weavers of Bolgatanga are nothing short of masterful at what they do. The following steps summarize the whole process.

1. Elephant grass and straw is collected from the tops of the stalk, then each piece is split in half vertically by biting through it.
2. Each half of the split straw is then twisted tightly by rolling it against a weaver’s leg to give it strength.
3. The straw is put in bunches and dyed in boiling water with dye. For bright colors the straw is dyed yellow first, then the color.
4. The weaver carefully selects appropriate straw for the base, sides and handle. The selection of the proper grass for the proper parts of the basket is critical to good weaving.
5. Weaving starts at the base and works up to the rim. The rims are generally finished flat or wrapped with straw to form a tube-like edge.
6. There are a variety of different handles, but all are made with a sturdy wrapping technique around a grass core.
7. Remaining bits of straw that are sticking out of the basket are carefully trimmed off. The trimming is important because it determines how the basket feels to the touch.
8. Leather handles are skillfully applied by local leather workers.
9. A medium basket takes about 3 days to create.

Elephant  Straw are collected

ELEPHANT  STRAW  are dried 

Elephant Straw  twisted

Boiling the dye for the straws

STRAW are dye preferred  colors

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Base weaving process

Weaving in progress

Colorful pattern

Finishing the top edge

basket complete