SC - gift baskets---OOP OT

[LHG, JRG]

>	What do you think?  What would make a good basket for 2?  How
>about a family with kids?  Hmm, this bears thinking on!
>	Christianna

I do this sometimes, too.  I have made italian pesto baskets,  (pesto
fixins, pasta, home-made red sauce in case they hate pesto, fresh italian
bread, a good brand of italian salad dressing, red check table cloth).

I have made bath baskets with home-made bath luxuries---glycerine soaps
colored and scented and molded to desired shapes. Massage oil with scent
and olive oil. Bath salts with kosher or sea salt and scent/color. You can
buy some very nice essential oils and scent concentrates. My favorite is
"Rain". Add two of those giant bath sheets (huge towels) and two
hand-crocheted wash cloths ( a real treat), and you're all set.

Then there is the "oh God what do I do with old uncle so-and-so" present.
Ascertain their ethnic origins and go to the grocery store. Buy lots of
stuff from that ethnic section section for your basket. Throw in a few tea
towels of simple but nice patterns, and you're done.

Every christmas my grandma ONLY wants my cookie basket. She has trouble
keeping weight on, so I'm good for at least 3 pounds over the holidays. I
always sneak in some smoked oysters, a canned ham, some crackers,
stone-ground mustard, etc. while I'm at it. She has everything she could
ever need, so she likes the fact that I put so much labor into it, just for
her.

For kids, I'd do the cookie cutter thing, with play-dough or home-made
play-dough (see a cream cornstarch box), a fat short dowell for a roller, a
tray to roll on or placemats to use while the clay is out. You could even
make the place mats with their favorite characters---spice girls, tweety,
and leonardo di caprio in my house at the moment---and clear self-stick
shelf paper. Blocks are nice, too for young ones because they keep 'em busy
for hours, are very expensive to buy but cheap to make. If the kids are
older, cookie cutters, cookie mix or the 'secret family recipe', and a
large vaiety of sprinkles, plus a fancy serving dish, some doilies,  and
their own personal recipe box.

Gotta go. My youngest just got me with the super-soaker.

Aoife





 
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