It seems that the idea of giving gift baskets has turned into a full time home based business opportunity for some people. I have noticed several advertisements in our local newspaper listing gift baskets for sale for all occasions. The ads encourage people to visit the designers and to develop their own baskets for the person they are shopping for. I decided to go to one of the local basket makers to see what they had available. I was looking for a gift idea for my husband’s father who is in the nursing home I also wanted a gift for two of my sisters as well as my neighbor. I had thought of making gift baskets for them, but I thought I would see the pre-made ones first.

I was disappointed in the price that the person was asking for the gift baskets. Also the quality of the items seemed to be poor. I decided that it would be much easier making gift baskets myself. This way I could include quality items and not have items in the basket that I did not want. I went to a local discount store to pick out items for making gift baskets. I began looking through the baskets that were available. For my neighbor I found an old fashioned picnic style basket that had the hinged lid. She does a great deal of hand sewing so this would be perfect. I put a sewing scissors, thimble, thread, needles and a pin cushion in the basket. I also found a box of her favorite chocolates. For my father- in-law I found a basket that was shaped like a fishing creel. He had always enjoyed fishing. I put several kinds of sugar free candies in his basket. He is a diabetic so he needs to watch his sugar intake. I also put in a deck of cards as well as some dice so he could play games with other patients at the facility. I was finding that I was enjoying making gift baskets. For one of my sisters I decided to use a beach bag for the gift basket. She has a cabin that she goes to several weekends a year so she could use the bag to carry personal items. I put in a beach towel, sunscreen and a new novel. For my other sister I used a wicker basket and filled it with several bath gels and body lotions.

By making the gift baskets myself I was able to customize each of them to the person and also save money. I was not paying for items that I knew the person would not use, and I was in control of the quality of the items. This saved me money as well as insuring that I had special gifts for each.

I think baskets make great gifts, and they are fun to shop for. Making gift baskets will let you be creative and allows for great cost control.

When I was a child, I remember who much I enjoyed playing with Barbie and Ken dolls. Of course, all the make-believe was a whole lot of fun, but for me the best part by far was playing with all of the Barbie doll clothes. I would not only love getting Barbie doll clothes when I would buy the dolls, but I would also enjoy making my own. There was just nothing better than having clothes for Barbie dolls to dress them up for all kinds of occasions.

I even remember this one time when my mom helped me to make a Prom dress for my Barbie doll. It was a great time. My older sister was going to the prom, and I was feeling left out. I wanted to be able to dress up all pretty and go out to a dance, but of course I was far too young. My mom knew exactly what would make me feel better. You see, she liked  Barbie doll clothes almost as much as I did. So we sat down and planned out some great  Barbie doll clothes exactly the same way that she had sat down with my sister to plan out her prom dress. It was one of the best times that I had ever had with my mom. We stayed up almost the whole night long, just drawing, cutting, sewing, and talking. We actually worked on the same set of  Barbie doll clothes for a few days in a row before they were absolutely perfect. You should have seen it! When I showed my sister the prom dress that we made, I think that she was actually jealous, and that is no lie!

So you should know that, no matter how nice the  Barbie doll clothes in the store are, there is just no substitute for doing it yourself. It is such a nice reward to really be able to make something beautiful, and then be able to display your  Barbie and Ken dolls in it. Especially for a little girl, but really for children of any gender and age,  Barbie doll clothes are really a special treat. I have never seen anyone so happy as my own daughter when I gave her the same surprise, and helped her to make her own  Barbie doll clothes. She was quite simply overjoyed, and that is a fact. It warmed my heart!