Bunny Baskets - An Easter Treat!

For those who celebrate Easter, the weeks are flying by which means it is time to kick the bunny preparations into high gear! Admittedly, it has been a while since I needed to put together a delivery on behalf of the bunny, but that does not stop my creative brain cells from kicking into action. So, let’s chat about some ideas….

In the interest of fairness and avoidance of plagiarism, I must admit that most of my thoughts about Easter come from my mother’s sincere love of the holiday. She pulled out all stops when it came to creatively celebrating Bunny Day – especially when it came to putting together baskets. Here are a few of my favorites from her repertoire…

The year that I gave up cheese for Lent, my basket was filled with assorted gourmet cheeses and crackers. To really make it interesting, she hid it in the refrigerator and in lieu of a basket she used a cast iron skillet so that I would have something practical for my kitchen, as well.

I loved my mother’s meatloaf, but had some misgivings about making it myself. The year that I moved into my first apartment, my basket was filled with miniature meatloaves and hidden in the freezer.

Another year I mentioned that I needed a tool box to keep my tools organized. For Easter she bought me a red toolbox and filled it with all of the traditional goodies. The really embarrassing part is that she left it sitting in the living room right in front of me. After letting me search for almost 30-minutes, she finally caved and in a fit of laughter pointed it out to me. 

I could go on, but the suggestion that I am attempting to make is that Easter can be an opportunity to think creatively and get a little playful. Clearly you need to know your recipient so as not to offend, but if they have a silly sense of humor, go for the off the wall option and make the holiday a little more interesting.

A few things to keep in mind…

  

• Bigger does not always mean better. Sometimes event the simplest things can carry the most meaning. Rather than going broke putting together the mega basket of the year, focus on what the recipient will really enjoy and scale it back a bit. Save the other ideas for next year…
• Creating a basket giving wonderland does not have to cost you an arm and a leg. Spend a little money on a key item as the feature piece in the basket and then fill the rest with some silly fun items. Use your local resources – Dollar Stores, the $1 bins at Target, etc. – to pick up some bargain options. 
• Don’t fall for the must have seasonal items if they are going to bust your budget. That lovely plastic grass is a true icon of Easter, but it can add up because it is a once a year item. Consider some alternatives that can be purchased all year round or that you may already have in your gift wrap stash such as tissue paper. Crumple it up a bit and it can be just a useful a space filler as the “grass”. If you have a fabric stash, you can use some festive fabric pieces, as well.
• Consider playing off a theme of sorts to create a cohesive gift. If you are putting together a basket for a tea lover, use some really nice tea as you key item and then visit places like local craft stores for cute mugs, tea towels and other whimsical accessories. You can also add a few practical items such as honey, lemons and sugar cubes to round out the basket contents. (I would skip on the milk unless you know that they are receiving the basket near a refrigerator for immediate storage.)

Here are a few other thoughts for theme baskets:

 

Coffee Lovers – Similar to the tea lover basket I would start with some great coffee beans or grounds. (You may want to verify this before making your purchase – nothing worse than being excited about tasty coffee with know way to grind the beans!) In place of the honey and lemon accessories, include some miniature syrup flavors or peppermint sticks. I have also included breath mints and stain spot wipes with these gift collections before as most coffee drinkers with a sense of humor will appreciate the practicality of the gesture. 

Movie Fans – Use the bulk of your budget on a movie gift card. Whether it is for a theater or rentals depends on the recipient and their favorite place to watch movies. Then look for classic movie candies and treats to fill out the basket. I had great luck finding these goodies at a local dollar store last Christmas, so don’t rule out the budget shopping! 

Mr. Fix It – Have a man in your life that loves to fix things – or at least try to? If you take a leisurely stroll through a local home improvement store you will start to notice the abundance of gadgets available. Some carry a heavier price tag, but there are just as many with smaller price points perfect for a basket collection. Restoration Hardware also tends to have some really fun options in the glass jars near the check out counter. If you know they have been dreaming about something specific, consider using that as the primary basket item and then fill in with other items. Maybe even use a new tool bag as the basket and then just fill it with little items and candy.

NOKA Chocolates

Hard to Buy For – My father falls into this category which makes holiday shopping a challenge. For occasions like Easter I rely on his sweet tooth to guide me. There are certain sweet treats that he really loves so I tend to play off these to build a basket. For example, he loves chocolate and red licorice above all else. Since these two don’t traditionally go together, I can divide and conquer multiple gift giving occasions. If I chose to focus on his chocolate fixation I will make a key purchase at a well known or local chocolate shop for a decadent centerpiece. From there I will fill in with simpler and less expensive options hitting all of his chocolate fixations. Using the red licorice as my starter element, I might get a little nostalgic and seek out retro candies from when he was a kid. A quick search online will pull up some options if you don’t have a local source and most will help you sort out the popular candies from specific decades. Then you just have to decide which ones they might enjoy the most and put them together when they arrive.

As with all things, just be sure that you enjoy the process. Gift giving is supposed to be fun. If you start getting stressed out about it, stop and regroup. It should be one of the few times you actually do whistle while you work!

Hunting in the Urban Jungle!

Is anyone up for a scavenger hunt? A friend of mine recently needed some assistance meeting her daughter’s request to have a scavenger hunt with her friends in celebration of her birthday. After hashing out the details of expectations from both mother and daughter, I was able to pull together a fun little adventure. Here is a brief over view of what I pulled together…

The Rules…

The participants in this scavenger hunt are a small group of pre-teen girls with the request of hosting the hunt in a local shopping center. This particular center is an outdoor arrangement with non-traditional features such as a bandstand, park areas, etc. Considering the age of the “hunters” and the layout of the shopping area, the number one rule of the game is that they have to be accompanied by their “guide” (aka: responsible adult) at all times. Other rule criteria spun off of this to drive home the point with the consequence of ditching their “guide” and/or anyone wandering off solo resulting in an immediate stop to the hunt.

The Game…

Because the requested hunting ground is a publicly accessible and privately owned, I was able to find a map to help with the planning process. (If you can’t find a map, a scouting mission may be in order.) With the map, I was able to select appropriate shops and locations to use in the scavenger hunt and build clue verbiage around them. Most challenge and most fun was the development of the clue verbiage. Teenagers can be brutal, so I had to find that balance of fun and challenging without falling into the land of cheese!  Once I had the clues sorted out, the next step was to create a challenge for each clue location. You don’t necessarily have to add a challenge, but since the mission of this hunt is the celebration of a birthday I thought the challenges would offer a memory making opportunity. (Most involve taking group photos doing silly things.)

The basic flow of the hunt balances between the receipt of a clue followed by a challenge. The players must decipher the clue to determine the location they must get to – as a group. Once at the correct clue destination they receive the challenge and must complete it before receiving the next clue. At the final clue location they are handed the final challenge card offering a congratulations and instructions to return to the house for a celebration (cake and presents).

The Twist…

For this particular scavenger hunt, we added a dash of theme to correspond to the overall birthday celebration. As part of her gift, the birthday girl’s bedroom was recently decorated in a Safari theme. To ensure a cohesive party theme, we dressed up the scavenger hunt details as taking place in the “Urban Jungle”. For extra effect, the first stop on this hunt is at a local shop specializing is animal print accessories where the girls all receive their party favors. To incorporate this into the theme, we simply made it the first clue by stating that any hunter requires the proper gear along with some details indicating the shop’s name. In the instructions and other game materials the players are referred to as the “hunters”, the supervising parent as the “hunting guide”, and the home base as “camp”.

Adding the final touches to the theme, the clue and challenge cards are printed on graphics of parchment rolls and leather background. Each card was folded inside a decorative paper to create a sort of envelope and sealed with a clear label indicating the clue/challenge number. You could also use a decorative sticker corresponding to your theme. As with most things, there are loads of ways to playfully twist this format to suite a variety of themes. It just takes a little creativity with the verbiage and packaging of the clues.