A Poem for Holiday Baskets

[Sassafrass]

For those of you who will be sending baskets across the miles to friends & loved ones, I wrote a little poem you can tuck in the basket or attach to the handle:

A basket of joy to celebrate
A season to which we all relate
Need not be full of fancy things
Like finest wines and diamond rings

A basket of friendship from me to you
Reserved for only a special few
Holds simple gifts we like to share
That speak of time and tender care

They far surpass the value of things
Like finest wines and diamond rings
A long-distance toast from me to you
To a wealth of friendships – both old and new

('Me' can be substituted with 'us'. If you will give baskets locally, substitute the second line from the end with something like 'A bottle of wine and a toast to you').

I am excited to get started this year...just waiting for pay day!

[Denirae]

Thanks Sass...........you're good. This is such a good one.

I make 19 baskets for my dh's office and more for family and friends.

[Lizzy]

Sass, that is just so sweet. I send a few baskets interstate and that will add the sentiment that a card just doesn't say!

Denirae, I am in total awe of you - 19 baskets!! I hope you have a few elves to help you out.

[Denirae]

Hey Lizzy...........I wish I had some elves, LOL

The good thing is I don't have any little ones running around and I do the ones for dh's office first then I do the others the next week.

It's just so hard to find things for guys and baked goods are always a hit.

I do it assembly line and it goes pretty well.

[Lina]

I have made baskets for the past 25 years, I make all different kinds and themes. I truly enjoyed this poem and am thinking of using it. I have most of my stuff made for this year, but still have not decided what type of basket or box to use...My favorite to date is the one's I made for ringing in the year of 2000...

[Lizzy]

Lina & Denirae, any ideas for different types of theme baskets are very welcome. I find myself doing the same old, same old ones - they work but it would be nice to have some new ideas.

[DebbieH.]

Yes, please share the basket ideas! I plan on doing baskets this year because I feel they are more from the heart and it is something I now have time to do (plus it will be cheaper than buying for friends). I can use all the ideas I can get, lol.

[Sassafrass]

Thanks for the kind comments...makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I am glad to help!

This will also be my first year of doing baskets for the same reasons as Debbie shared...I want to save money AND make gifts more meaningful after noticing last year that my favorite gifts were 'Friendship Tea' from my (Brian's) aunt and a giant, wonderful-smelling candle from my (Brian's) cousin...I lit the candle and drank the tea, and the smells/flavors made me feel like they were giving me a giant hug from New York!

I also look forward to learning theme ideas...I realized that if this year is 'Celebrate the Season' and next year is 'Pamper Yourself', that seems to cover about everything in two years! I'll bet part of the 'art' of baskets is in specific themes, huh?

[Denirae]

The ones I make for dh's guys have mostly baked goods and a small gift, i.e., tickets to rent a moive, a flashlight, multi tool....guy stuff.

I try to make the baskets according to the persons interest. My uncle collects Uncle Sams, so his basket always has an Uncle Sam theme.

For my gardening friends they get, garden tools, gloves, seeds, hat and pots. Sometimes the big pot is the basket.

Once I did a basket for my son using a real fishing basket and filling it with all the neccessary stuff for fishing. He still uses that basket today.

I have a friend from Texas and one day I found this basket that was shaped like Texas. Then I found all kinds of stuff from Texas and filled it up. She loved it, as she is still homesick for Texas, LOL.

For a girl baby shower I bought a moses basket and filled it with all kinds of baby goodies and of course a little baby doll.

Just keep your eyes open and be creative. Pick a theme and go from there.

Have fun making gift baskets. Let us know how you do.
;)

[Sassafrass]

Thanks! I had planned on making each basket the same (or almost the same) and now understand the significance of considering a little something special for each person.

[Lizzy]

Thanks Denirae, you have great ideas with baskets and like Sassafrass I like how you make each individual. After reading all these ideas I went out and bought 10 plastic oval baskets - they have stars cut out from them and they are different colours (purple, pink, blue and green). So each of my nieces will get one of these filled fopr Christmas - now just to figure out what to fill them with! I know some themes will be bath items, stationery, incense & candles, make up. The boys are the hardest though - I have nephews aged 12, 8 & 18 months - any ideas??

[Denirae]

Lizzy the older boys, are they into any sports, or have a hobby?
Books, videos, games or maybe a magic kit.
The little one maybe age related educational stuff like books or easy puzzles. Check the dollar store lots of great stuff there. Hope this helps. ;)

[Lizzy]

Thanks Denirae, went at lunch time and got some great things for the girls baskets (I found the most economical things were in packs that I can break up and distribute among the different baskets). Still thinking about the boys though my 12 yo nephew is a really good footballer so maybe something in that theme would be good.

So you really got me into this basket thing - everyone on my list is getting one - I think the males will be very challenging though. When I get them all done I must take a photo and post it.

[osi]

Hi Ladies-

I'm still a newbie here but thought I would jump in with what I'm doing this year. I recently found a recipe for homemade pizza dough, so I'm making a batch up (it doesn't use perishables no eggs, putting it in a canning jar with instructions, including nonperishable pepperoni, canned parmesan cheese, pizza cutter, jar of Ragu pizza sauce, and a pizza pan (they have them for $1.00 at the dollar stores) and will put all in a basket. You could do the same thing with Spaghetti use a spaghetti spatula, noodles, sauce and collander wrap in a basket- I also do baskets with homemade hot cocoa mix, cookies or sweet bread and coffee mugs. Happy Holidays.

Anna

[Lina]

This year all my baskets will be the same, a Huckle-berry theme... vinegar, jam, syrup, muffins (made at the last minute) I will be adding a small tea towel and have picked out the perfect ornment for each family/person...

[pettie]

What a lovely poem. Sure to be a hit :-)

[Diane]

what great ideas. Lina, I liked the idea of giving an ornament with each gift basket. I give a ornament to my neighbors little boy each year. I make a lot of them. My neighbor was pregant with Austin when I moved here, and now he is 6 yrs. old and every year I have given him an ornament. I also think the pizza and spagetti gift baskets are good ideas. My son is 19 and hes a pizza lover. When he moved out this year to rent an apartment where he goes to college, I have him a laundry basket full of things he could use, dryer sheets, detergent, etc.