For the Love of Coffee, Gift Baskets, Gift Baskets Catalog

Starbucks Break Time Gift Basket

April 30, 2012

One of 1800baksets.com’s best-selling gift baskets and it’s clear to see why. Just about everyone loves coffee, and even better when it’s from Starbucks. This Starbucks Break Time Coffee Gift Basket comes with a whole lot more than just coffee though, it’s positively packed with all sorts of sweets, treats and extra gifts that will bring a smile to any coffee lover’s face!

The first thing you notice about this bountiful coffee gift basket is the beautiful green and gold bow that sits wrapped around the contents, Starbucks® official colors. A real dark willow basket with wooden handles holds a variety of coffees, tea, cookies, mix boxes and two very large white Starbucks® logo coffee mugs. This gift basket seriously has everything you could ever want in a coffee gift basket, and is even very well color coordinated with the dark basket, white and tan coffee and treat contents and the green and gold bow completing the gift.

So let’s examine what treats await us inside this supremely awesome coffee gift. Like I said, the two Starbucks® coffee mugs are huge! The coffee mugs are much larger than a normal cup and I can even fit my hand in them. This is a definite plus for when you need a large coffee or tea. These mugs will also come in handy when you want to add some marshmallows to your hot chocolate or dip biscotti in your morning coffee without spilling all over the place. Definitely one of my favorite parts of the coffee gift basket, and they’re just mugs.

For coffee, they’ve included Starbucks® Espresso Whole Bean Coffee and Starbucks® Sumatra Ground Coffee. For the whole bean coffee, this is for those of us who are lucky enough to have our own coffee grinder and enjoy having super fresh coffee in the morning. For the rest of us, just go into your local Starbucks® and they will gladly grind the coffee for you for free! They’ve also thought about those times when it’s either too late for coffee or you’re just in need of a warm drink and included a packet of Tazo® Tea (Calm and Awake Flavors), Starbucks® Classic Fair Trade Cocoa, and Starbucks® Marshmallow Cocoa! And yes, I’ve already gotten to the hot chocolates and they are very delicious and chocolaty and they go perfect with the other goodies inside the Starbucks® gift basket! I haven’t opened the tea yet…but that’s because I already have a box of the Calm flavor that I had previous bought from Starbucks®!

Now to the edible treats! Inside this Starbucks® coffee gift basket, they’ve graciously included Starbucks Selects® Vanilla Almond Biscotti, Starbucks Selects® Key Lime Cookies, Starbucks Selects® Honey Oat Biscuits, and my favorite part of all: Starbucks Selects® Scone Mix. I am just genuinely impressed that so many delicious treats are provided in this gift basket. The honey oat cookies are so flavorful and fresh tasting, I’ve already paired them with my own tea and they go perfectly together. I didn’t even hold back when it came to the key lime cookies, they lasted all of five minutes and I wish I had them back already! There are plenty of the vanilla almond biscotti to go around, and I’ve already incorporated one into my breakfast coffee each morning that was the other part of the gift basket, I will definitely need to run out and grab more soon. But let’s move on to what really impressed me, the scone mix. I decided to try my hand at making these and they came out perfectly (I’m attributing this more to the box mix than my ability to follow directions). I spread a little bit of butter and preserves, had them with some coffee…it was a delicious breakfast!

This Starbucks® coffee gift basket is the perfect gift for your coffee obsessed friends! Use it as a birthday gift, house warming present, a nice gift to celebrate a new job, when you get to the winter months it will be perfect for the holidays, no matter the occasion, this is the best gift basket to get!

Gift Baskets, Gift Baskets Catalog

Mother’s Day Gift Ideas

April 26, 2012
mothers day gifts

Welcome back readers!

I’m so glad that a lot of you are already using some earth-friendly tactics in your home and everyday life, and that a lot of you go to farmer’s markets (aren’t they the best?!). Nothing beats fresh fruits and veggies for me, and farmer’s markets usually have really great gifts there as well. Anyway, on to the winners! Congratulations to Natalie J Vandenberghe (April 20, 2012 at 10:15 am), Elaine C (April 20, 2012 at 1:41 pm), Rajat (April 21, 2012 at 7:38 pm), Noel (April 22, 2012 at 7:19 pm), and Esther (April 25, 2012 at 3:32 pm)! Please email your shipping information to me at amariscal@1800flowers.com and I can send out your avocado spa kit.

I didn’t actually plan for this, but last week’s Earth Day blog post was a great lead in for my new post today on unique and thoughtful Mother’s Day gifts! (Okay, so it only makes sense to a certain blog writer…) Mother’s Day is just around the corner, yet I’m a little ahead of the game. I’ve been thinking and planning for the last month about what to do for my own mom this Mother’s Day and I finally settled on a great plan the other week: I’ll be helping her with some gardening and landscaping in the backyard! This has entailed measuring the yard, drawing out plans and finding out where certain lines or pumps are, while trying to design a nice back yard space that doesn’t block their view of the pond behind the house(I will be lucky if 2/3 of this all gets done). My search history has been filled with Lowes, Home Depot and driving directions to local greeneries. I have never been happier to have a comfy writing job. Either way, my mom will be happy to pick out all the flowers, plants, trees, stones and outdoor furniture she wants and obviously she’ll enjoy spending the weekend with me even if we’re doing some hard work. Also after this, I will have solidified my place as the favorite child (not to mention, this gets me out of SO many other tasks). And who knows, maybe I’ll gain one muscle in my arms!

Need some other ideas for a great Mother’s Day present? Look no further:

Afternoon Spa Day
Maybe your mom isn’t into all that getting into dirt and greenery, in which case we think a nice day at the spa together for you two would be a great gift to give! You can always find a great Mani/Pedi combination deal for around $30 per person. If you’re feeling extra crafty, you should try out these natural DIY spa treatment masks featuring oatmeal, avocado, banana and orange from She Knows! Finish the day with a light lunch or dinner.

Pampering Breakfast
If your mom has always been a very busy woman, take this Mother’s Day to pamper and take care of her for a change. What better way to do this than a nice relaxing breakfast in bed! If she doesn’t already have one, pick up a nice and sturdy breakfast tray here or here from Target. (I have a bed tray of my own that was originally just for decoration, and now I use it more than I probably should!) Get to your mom’s house early that morning and prepare their favorite breakfast dish, ready to be brought up to them (or you could bring their favorite breakfast over and arrange it on plates to make it look homemade…we won’t tell!). You could also grab a new book, magazine, or their favorite paper to read in the morning. Spend the rest of the morning taking care of mom and letting her veg out for a bit, we know she’ll love it.

Shopping Trip
Never underestimate the power of a good day walking around the mall or window shopping! Plus, you should keep in mind all those times your mother took drove you to the mall or took you out shopping for things you wanted when you were younger! Mother’s Day is the day to finally treat mom to the all the things she wants.

Event Tickets
This would be the perfect time to take her out to see one of her favorite plays, musicals, or even a movie out at the theater she has been wanting to see. Check out deals on Groupon, Living Social or your local theater to see what events are going on. Make a full day of it and couple the show with either a nice lunch or dinner outing.

Of course, we always have some gorgeous gourmet gift baskets ready for Mother’s Day when you’re in a rush or don’t know what to include! My Top Three Picks of the Week:

mothers day gifts

Tell me in the comments section (1-2 paragraphs), what’s the best Mother’s Day gift you’ve given or received? FIVE lucky and random winners will receive the Gourmet Garden Tote Gift with Tools!

Have a great day!

Birthday Gift, Customer Appreciation, Feedback, Gift Baskets, Product Designers, Thank You Gifts

Earth Day

April 19, 2012

Welcome back readers,

I hope you all enjoyed the picnic post, because I seriously loved reading all your own ideas and recipes (I will definitely be remembering that frisbee/plate tip)! I feel very confident that all FIVE lucky and random winners will be putting this picnic gift basket to good use. Congratulations to Melissa (April 12, 2012 at 1:40 pm), Sharon R (April 12, 2012 at 1:59 pm), Riyan (April 12, 2012 at 8:44 pm), Shannon Schulte (April 13, 2012 at 8:44 pm), and Diana (April 15, 2012 at 9:18 am)! Email your shipping info to me at amariscal@1800flowers.com and I’ll send out your picnic gift basket!

As I’m sure you all have starred on your calendars, Earth Day is this Sunday! It’s truly important for all of us to know and be aware of how we impact our home and figure out ways to be more environmentally friendly. At 1800Baskets.com, we try to be as environmentally conscious as we can be. We love that our gift baskets can always serve another purpose when the products are gone, and most (if not all) of our gift basket content can be recycled! We even try to sell eco-friendly gifts at affordable prices.

Recently I was looking around for a small cleansing gift for a friend, so I figured I would check out our spa gift basket section. I just noticed that we started selling products and gift baskets from Crabtree & Evelyn! All natural materials, very environmentally conscious, and they come in such cute and stylish containers. Obviously, I have to have these (especially the avocado products!).

We also have a ton of Source Vérité gift baskets in our spa gift baskets collection. I wanted something a bit smaller though, and I saw these eco-friendly soaps that I thought could be a cute host/hostess gift or just something I could add to my stock pile for Mother’s Day gifts.

If you want to have fun with this weekend (or even week!) check out our friends at Cheryl’s who have an awesome idea for an Earth Day Party!

Want to get started on how you can do small or large things to help the environment this Earth Day without having to drastically change your life? Small changes help just as much as large changes, and it will be easier to stick with when it doesn’t affect you or cause extra work! We found this cool list of how to help here, so I’ll just highlight the very simple ones:

  • Change your lightbulbs
  • Turn off electronics (especially computers!) at night when you’re not using them
  • Don’t rinse your dishes before putting them in the dishwasher
  • Recycle glass products
  • Go vegetarian at least once a week
  • Use one less paper napkin when you go out to eat
  • Wash your clothes in cold or warm water
  • Recycle newspapers
  • Plant a tree!
  • Use cruise control while driving to get up to 15% better gas mileage!
  • And many more great ideas here at 50 Ways To Help

So tell me in the comments section (1-2 paragraphs) in what ways you give back the environment or ways that you plan to start! FIVE lucky and random winners will be taking home Crabtree & Evelyn Avocado Sampler!

Happy early Earth Day!

Customer Appreciation, Feedback, Gift Baskets

Picnics!

April 12, 2012

Welcome back readers,

I hope everyone had a fantastic Easter and didn’t eat their way into an early coma like I did! I asked that if any of you had some great desserts or decorations you made for Easter to send me a picture and thankfully one reader, Sharon, sent me a picture of some creative and delicious chocolates she made! Seriously awesome decorating skills on these chocolates!  It’s never too late to send it your own pictures if you still have them, especially if you tried out any of the recipes we’ve posted. Now, on with the show…

Last week I asked you all to vote in the comments section on what you wanted me to write about and the clear winner for the week has been picnics! Coffee and tea came in second with fitness following close behind, but clearly everyone is very excited about this nice Spring weather and can’t wait to get out and enjoy it (without breaking a sweat that is).

Picnics should be fun and easy, something you can throw together in a few minutes. So I have a couple of sandwich recipes that would be perfect for a Spring picnic, as well as a few suggestions to make your time outdoors a little more comfortable.

Peanut Butter Banana Sandwiches

This is an absolute favorite of mine! All you need is some bread, peanut butter (I prefer smooth), sliced bananas and you’re good to go. I like to add a few extras to my sandwiches for more flavor and components. I usually add some honey and granola mix, gives it extra flavor and a little extra crunch.

Peanut Butter Apple Sandwiches

Are you sensing a theme or my love of peanut butter? You can always substitute peanut butter for any other nut butter (almond, sunflower, etc.) or if you want to make it a super sweet treat you can add Nutella. For this “sandwich” I don’t actually use bread, instead I slice apples to be the holders. You spread peanut butter (or whichever you prefer) on the apple slices, add granola or chocolate chips (or both!) and stack the slices together to form a sandwich. It’s a fun and healthy treat that is very easy to make!

For picnics, you can generally use any kind of outdoor blanket or mat and you’ll be fine, but the problem always lies with where and how you’re sitting. Sitting outside is probably one of the more uncomfortable things since the invention of the sofa, so it’s hard to get used to (especially if your knees are about 40 years older than you are like some blog writers). So I have two cheap options for outdoor seating to make your picnic a bit more comfortable! Our first one is from Target, a reclining picnic seat. It seems like it would be nice for back support and easy to pack up and go with. I’m probably the clumsiest person around though, so I would find some way to keep falling back on myself. So I have a second option from IKEA for us…balance challenged people out there. It’s technically a stool, but it’s also very sturdy, wide and doesn’t seem like it would fall over on you! All the makings of an easy picnic seat (for me at least!).

If you want some great picnic gift baskets that are all ready to go, we have some seriously amazing picnic options on our site right now! My three picks:

Well I hope you all enjoyed this picnics post and have some more ideas for the rest of us! In the comments section (1-2 paragraphs), tell me some of your picnic ideas and recipes! FIVE lucky and random winners will receive the Impromptu Picnic Cooler & Snacks Tote Gift Basket!

Happy Picnicking!

Customer Appreciation, Feedback

Reader’s Choice

April 5, 2012

Welcome back gift basket fans!

You all had really awesome ideas for desserts in the comments! Have any of you tried out the festive cakes yet? Don’t forget to send me pictures of your Easter decorations or displays and I’ll post them here on the blog! Anyway, on to the winners of last week’s blog: Congratulations to Rachel V (March 29, 2012 at 5:24 pm), Pamela Hansen (March 30, 2012 at 9:56 am), Heather Garity (March 31, 2012 at 12:12 pm), Jenny (April 2, 2012 at 1:41 pm), and Cathy P (April 4, 2012 at 3:09 pm)! Send your shipping information to me at amariscal@1800flowers.com and I’ll send out your truffle cake pops!

Holiday weekends are always busy ones, lots of planning and cooking and shopping and worst of all, cleaning. So today is going to be very short, so short even that we’re near the end of the post! Sure, this might feel like when you were in school and the teacher would roll in the stand with a TV strapped onto it and call that the lesson for the day while they caught up on grading, but… well yes, this is actually kind of like that. No worries though, I’ll have a nice, detailed post ready for you all next week with great giveaways as soon as you all decide for me!

Vote in the comments section: Which topic would you like me to write about for next week with a giveaway?

  1. Fitness
  2. Coffee/Tea parties
  3. Picnics

Whichever topic gets the most votes in the comments section will win! Our staff here is patiently waiting for your replies:

Have a happy and safe holiday weekend!

Party!

DIY Easter Party Part Deux

March 29, 2012

Welcome back readers!

LOVED all your cute Easter party ideas, recipes and traditions! I think I might have to try the hidden jelly bean in the cupcake idea for my younger cousins. And five you lucky and random commenters will be able to have your own fun with this Easter basket prize. Congratulations to Lucy (March 22, 2012 at 3:06 pm), Sharmila (March 24, 2012 at 6:39 pm), Will (March 27, 2012 at 6:32 am), Arvind (March 27, 2012 at 1:19 pm), and Ben G (March 29, 2012 at 10:27 am)! Please send your shipping info to me at amariscal@1800flowers.com and I can send over your Flowers of Spring gift basket!

We have another week of Easter to talk about! Last week we pulled together some fun DIY activities and decorations to try out for your own Easter party, so this week I was thinking that we would talk about one of the more important aspects to any party: the desserts. Of course, this is mostly because I had a mini Cupcake War marathon the other day and have since been living on The Food Network website and drooling over every idea I see.

The way I see it, traditional and easy is always best. We can all go crazy on the decorating part after it’s made, but I think an easy to make yet incredibly delicious carrot cake would be a great main dessert for any Easter party (also this recipe is from Alton Brown who’s show Good Eats happens to be one of my absolute favorites).

Alton Brown's Carrot Cake

Alton Brown's Carrot Cake

What you need:

  • Unsalted butter (for the pan)
  • 12 oz. (approx. 2 ½ cups) all-purpose flour, plus extra for pan
  • 12 oz. grated carrots (medium grate)
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 and 1/3 cup sugar
  • ¼ cup dark brown sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 6 oz. plain yogurt
  • 6 oz. vegetable oil
  • Cream Cheese Frosting (store bought or see recipe below)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Butter and flour a 9-inch round and 3-inch deep cake pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper. Set aside.

Put the carrots into a large mixing bowl and set aside.

Put the flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt in the bowl of a food processor and process for 5 seconds. Add this mixture to the carrots and toss until they are well-coated with the flour.

In the bowl of the food processor combine the sugar, brown sugar, eggs, and yogurt.

With the processor still running drizzle in the vegetable oil. Pour this mixture into the carrot mixture and stir until just combined. Pour into the prepared cake pan and bake on the middle rack of the oven for 45 minutes. Reduce the heat to 325 degrees F and bake for another 20 minutes or until the cake reaches 205 to 210 degrees F in the center.

Remove the pan from the oven and allow cake to cool 15 minutes in the pan. After 15 minutes, turn the cake out onto a rack and allow cake to cool completely. Frost with cream cheese frosting after cake has cooled completely.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

  • 8 ounces cream cheese
  • 2 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

In the bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment, combine the cream cheese and butter on medium just until blended. Add the vanilla and beat until combined. With the speed on low, add the powdered sugar in 4 batches and beat until smooth between each addition.

Place the frosting in the refrigerator for 5 to 10 minutes before using.

Makes approximately 2 cups

If you’re feeling daring, try out these two other cake recipes from The Food Network and maybe send in some pictures! I’m really interested to see if anyone can pull off the Peeps cake!

Since you’ll be doing everything else on your own from the decorations, games to this awesome cake, I have a few suggestions of unique treats to order in as fun side desserts or table sweets!

My top Easter dessert picks:

Rich Easter Egg-Shaped Mini Brownie Cakes: So rich and “egg-cellent” (I’m sorry, I had to!) little cakes. They come in orders of 6 confection-dipped, Easter decorated brownie cakes and are easy to share and leave out as fun and festive treats.

Rich Easter Egg-Shaped Mini Brownie CakesHappy Easter Truffle Cake Pops: Just as delicious as the brownie cakes, these are our chocolate truffle cake pops decorated for Easter. They come in orders of 6 and you’ll be lucky if they last more than 6 seconds once you set them out!

Happy Easter Truffle Cake PopsHappy Easter Belgian Chocolate Covered Oreo® Tin: So cute, so festive! These Oreos® are decorated in bright Spring colors and topped with egg and bunny designs. So rich and delicious, they’ll be hard to share. Come in an order of 16 cookies.

Belgian chocolate oreos
Hope this has you feeling a little inspired (and mostly really hungry)! Tell me in the comments section (1-2 paragraphs) what kind of Easter desserts you’ll be trying out. FIVE lucky and random winners will receive the Easter Truffle Cake Pops!

Happy Baking!

Customer Appreciation, Party!, Sweepstakes

DIY Easter Party

March 22, 2012
Easter gift baskets

Welcome Back Basket Readers,

Thanks for bearing with my late post earlier this week and the kind messages. Aside from some annoying allergies, I and my car are doing a lot better (who knew cars were allergic to pollen)! Also, congratulations to any of you who were lucky to win one of the truffle cake pops in our Facebook Sweet Spring Sweepstakes! Personally, I can’t be trusted to be alone with the cake pops for fear of eating them all and putting myself in a sugar coma; just know that I am very jealous of all of you who won. One more thing before we get on with the show, we’ve had a slight change in our shipping process over here and I know a few of you have emailed about your winning gift baskets. If you’re a blog winner who still hasn’t received their prize, please email me at amariscal@1800flowers.com with your name, the blog date you won and the gift, so I can track and correct anything that needs to be fixed!

Easter! It’s a great family holiday with lots of delightful treats to it. I’m also convinced that everyone wised up to the incredible egg and decided that we needed a holiday to celebrate how insanely delicious it is no matter what time of day it is (just go with it)!

I thought it would be fun to write about how to plan a DIY Easter party this week, so let’s jump in. Decorations are essential to any party, and lucky for us, I found this super cute, cheap, and easy idea to brighten up any Easter celebration. Modern Parents Messy Kids has come up with a creative way to use paint and pantone chips as colorful “DIY Egg Garland.” All you need for this easy activity is a hearty collection of paint chips (very easy to pick up at your local home improvement store!), scissor, hole punch, and string! Check out the blog for the DIY details, and enjoy this cute pic tutorial below: DIY easter party egg garland

Our Easter gift baskets make for festive and fun center pieces for your Easter party. Filled with lots of delicious chocolates and treats it will be hard not to touch, but you can incorporate them into the day’s activities as game prizes (see later in the post)! My top picks for the party: The Happy Easter Cuddle Plush Bunny Gift Basket, Flowers of Spring Gift Basket, and the Blooming Spring Sweets Basket. They’ll be extremely excited to win one of these great gift baskets!

Easter gift baskets

(left) Happy Easter Cuddle Plush Gift Basket; (center) Flowers of Spring Gift Basket; (right) Blooming Spring Sweets Basket

So, Easter is pretty much the one holiday I can get away with eating all the deviled eggs I want without (too much) regret. It’s a holiday staple, but Foodjimoto offers a cute and simple “Doh! Why didn’t I think of that?” way to make them festive. Use the eggs that you color the night before for your deviled eggs! It adds a great pop of color and interest to a regular dish. colored deviled eggs for easter

You’ll need some activities during the party to keep it fun, especially if there’s an abundance of young kids with short attention spans!

  • Easter Egg Hunt (Duh, Alex!)
  • DIY Bunny Ears: Pick up a bunch of $1 head bands, pastel color felt (make sure to pre-cut it in bunny ear shapes), colorful pipe cleaners, glitter and durable fabric glue. Kids can glue the felt to the pipe cleaners so that they can shape the ears, decorate with glitter, and attach to the headbands.
  • Pin the Ears on the Bunny: Just like pin the tail on the donkey, but you know…
  • Guessing for Prizes: Fill some baskets or jars with M&Ms or foil-wrapped chocolates, let everyone guess the amount of pieces in there and reward the top 3 closest guesses with Easter baskets!

Well, there is more than enough to do here! But if any of you are still looking for more ideas, let’s take it to the comments and help each other out. In the comments section (1-2 paragraphs) let us know what sort of fun Easter activities (for adults or children or both!) you can come up with! FIVE lucky and random winners will receive the Flowers of Spring Gift Basket.

Happy planning!

 

18B Easter blog

 

DIY Easter Party!

Welcome Back Basket Readers,

Thanks for bearing with my late post earlier this week and the kind messages. Aside from some annoying allergies, I and my car are doing a lot better (who knew cars were allergic to pollen)! Also, congratulations to any of you who were lucky to win one of the truffle cake pops in our Facebook Sweet Spring Sweepstakes! Personally, I can’t be trusted to be alone with the cake pops for fear of eating them all and putting myself in a sugar coma; just know that I am very jealous of all of you who won. One more thing before we get on with the show, we’ve had a slight change in our shipping process over here and I know a few of you have emailed about your winning gift baskets. If you’re a blog winner who still hasn’t received their prize, please email me at amariscal@1800flowers.com with your name, the blog date you won and the gift, so I can track and correct anything that needs to be fixed!

Easter! It’s a great family holiday with lots of delightful treats to it. I’m also convinced that everyone wised up to the incredible egg and decided that we needed a holiday to celebrate how insanely delicious it is no matter what time of day it is (just go with it)!

I thought it would be fun to write about how to plan a DIY Easter party this week, so let’s jump in. Decorations are essential to any party, and lucky for us, I found this super cute, cheap, and easy idea to brighten up any Easter celebration. Modern Parents Messy Kids has come up with a creative way to use paint and pantone chips as colorful “DIY Egg Garland.” All you need for this easy activity is a hearty collection of paint chips (very easy to pick up at your local home improvement store!), scissor, hole punch, and string! Check out the blog for the DIY details, and enjoy this cute pic tutorial below:

[Picture]

Our Easter gift baskets make for festive and fun center pieces for your Easter party. Filled with lots of delicious chocolates and treats it will be hard not to touch, but you can incorporate them into the day’s activities as game prizes (see later in the post)! My top picks for the party: The Happy Easter Cuddle Plush Bunny Gift Basket, Flowers of Spring Gift Basket, and the Blooming Spring Sweets Basket. They’ll be extremely excited to win one of these great gift baskets!

[Picture]

So, Easter is pretty much the one holiday I can get away with eating all the deviled eggs I want without (too much) regret. It’s a holiday staple, but Foodjimoto offers a cute and simple “Doh! Why didn’t I think of that?” way to make them festive. Use the eggs that you color the night before for your deviled eggs! It adds a great pop of color and interest to a regular dish.

[Picture]

You’ll need some activities during the party to keep it fun, especially if there’s an abundance of young kids with short attention spans!

· Easter Egg Hunt (Duh, Alex!)

· DIY Bunny Ears: Pick up a bunch of $1 head bands, pastel color felt (make sure to pre-cut it in bunny ear shapes), colorful pipe cleaners, glitter and durable fabric glue. Kids can glue the felt to the pipe cleaners so that they can shape the ears, decorate with glitter, and attach to the headbands.

· Pin the Ears on the Bunny: Just like pin the tail on the donkey, but you know…

· Guessing for Prizes: Fill some baskets or jars with M&Ms or foil-wrapped chocolates, let everyone guess the amount of pieces in there and reward the top 3 closest guesses with Easter baskets!

Well, there is more than enough to do here! But if any of you are still looking for more ideas, let’s take it to the comments and help each other out. In the comments section (1-2 paragraphs) let us know what sort of fun Easter activities (for adults or children or both!) you can come up with! FIVE lucky and random winners will receive the Flowers of Spring Gift Basket.

Happy planning!

Sweepstakes, Uncategorized

Winner Announcement

March 19, 2012
Sweet Spring Truffle Cake Pops from 1800Baskets.com

Hello Baskets Readers,

Very quick post today! I know I said that I would have the blog giveaway winners announced on Friday, but sometimes people get really sick after being on a flight and then their car breaks down on the highway the next day while they’re driving to work and they have to spend the whole day sitting in an auto repair shop saying bittersweet farewells to their paycheck.

Anyway, on to the good stuff! Congratulations to Rhea Chladek (March 8, 2012 at 11:36 pm), Laurel Franklin (March 14, 2012 at 3:06 pm), Alexis (March 16, 2012 at 9:53 am), Isabella says (March 16, 2012 at 2:24 pm) and Ann (March 16, 2012 at 3:07 pm)! Send your shipping info to me at amariscal@1800flowers.com and I get your Great Big Happy Birthday Sweets & Treats Box out to you!

Sweet Spring Truffle Cake Pops from 1800Baskets.com

Sweet Spring Truffle Cake Pops from 1800Baskets.com

I hope you are all enjoying the mostly great Spring (kind of Summer-ish for us Midwestern folk) weather! If you’re not a Facebook fan of us already, head to our page and LIKE US for some great deals and savings. Sign up for our Sweet Spring Sweepstakes that ends TOMORROW! We’re giving away 10 Spring Truffle Cake Pops. Click Here to enter!

I’ll be back on Thursday for regular posting time.

Have a Great Week!

Birthday Gift, Customer Appreciation, Feedback, Gift Baskets, Party!

Happy Birthday…to Someone!

March 8, 2012
Great Big Happy Birthday Sweets & Treats Box Gift Basket

Welcome back gift basket readers!

I LOVE all of your suggestions and ideas for St. Patrick’s Day! I’m wondering if I can do a whole day of eating nothing but green eggs and rice krispy treats without getting sick…(we all know I’m going to try anyway!) Of course, we have some gift baskets to get out that you won’t hesitate to eat all day! Congratulations to Bernadette Cirigliano (March 1, 2012 at 5:09 pm), Mrs Judy Nutaitis (March 2, 2012 at 8:41 am), Sangita (March 2, 2012 at 12:03 pm) Lori (March 5, 2012 at 3:06 pm), and Kathy (March 8, 2012 at 2:46 pm)! Send your shipping info to amariscal@1800flowers.com and I can send out your Best of Ghirardelli® Gift Baskets!

If there is anything about the all-encompassing, freakily aware internet stalking system known as Facebook that I actually really love, it’s that it keeps track of everyone’s birthdays so that I don’t have to. Not that I don’t make a conscious effort to remember birthdays, but everyone past a select few friends and family members, if I don’t have the date written somewhere in a place I know I’ll see every day, I’ll be sending a lot of belated-birthday grievances. Thankfully for me, I live in the great age of technology where I have the internet to do all my thinking for me (Just kidding! Well, kind of. Let me Google the answer…) In all seriousness, I really like the birthday feature on Facebook and I’m sure it makes everyone feel great to see their page filled with Happy Birthday wishes and birthday messages from friends new and old.

Great Big Happy Birthday Sweets & Treats Box Gift Basket

Great Big Happy Birthday Sweets & Treats Box $29.99; Product Code:93839

That being said, I also think that this handy tool has made everyone a little bit lazy with their birthday well wishes. I’m not saying that you need to go all out for that one kid you used to have Calculus with 8 years ago, but I’m sure that your closer friends would appreciate something a little more thoughtful than “happy birthday, you” on their wall (I am extremely guilty of this sometimes). Brighten up someone’s birthday and surprise them with a fun, colorful and delicious birthday gift! And don’t forget to add a nice card with it for personalization!

I was sold the minute I saw there was a mini birthday cake in the Great Big Happy Birthday Sweets & Treats Box. Not to mention, the two birthday hate and cupcake decorated cookies look adorable. It also comes with lots of sweets and popcorn balls. This would be a great birthday surprise for someone to find at their desk, on the table when they get home. There are about 12 young kids to think about in my family and I never have any idea what they like from week to week except for sweets and candy, and lots of it. This would be such a cute birthday surprise for your children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, cousins (you get the idea!)

Happy Birthday Chocolate Indulgence Gift Basket

Happy Birthday Chocolate Indulgence Gift Basket $34.99; Product Code:96479

I know you all will never get tired of chocolate gift baskets, so this Happy Birthday Chocolate Indulgence Gift Basket makes the perfect chocolate lover’s birthday gift. Filled with Happy Birthday greetings in the form of Cheryl’s Chocolate Chip Cookies, Fannie May® Cookies & Cream Bark, Fannie May® Bavarian Chocolate Pretzels, Fannie May® Mint Meltaway Cocoa, Harry London® Milk Chocolate Crispy Joys, Harry London® 70% Organic Dark Chocolate The Popcorn Factory® Butter Toffee Popcorn and more, they will definitely appreciate the birthday gift!

Now that we all have decided to ease up on the lazy happy birthday Facebook posts, tell me in the comments section (1-2 paragraphs) a great birthday surprise you’ve had or have done for a friend! FIVE lucky and random winners will receive the Great Big Happy Birthday Sweets & Treats Box!

**Next week Thursday I’ll be on a series of planes, trains, and automobiles (okay, really just one plane and corresponding vehicles) so next week’s blog will be posted on Friday (3/16) and winners announced then!

Have a great weekend, and happy birthday to someone!

Uncategorized

St. Patrick’s Day Treats

March 1, 2012
Best of Ghirardelli® Gift Basket St Patricks Day

Welcome back gift basket readers!

So, my weather assumptions were right! I was practically snowed in my house on Friday, a very fair Sunday, and yesterday was the nicest, most Spring-like morning followed by otherworldly winds that I thought were going to make my car tumble over. Apparently I still have a while until I can enjoy a real Spring day. However, five lucky winners won’t have to wait that long to receive their Glorious Gardens gift basket! Congratulations to Cheryl Crain (February 23, 2012 at 4:28 pm), Pamela Hansen (February 23, 2012 at 11:34 pm), Patricia Sauber (February 23, 2012 at 11:36 pm), Paul H. (February 23, 2012 at 9:24 pm), and Melissa (February 27, 2012 at 7:18 am)! Email your information to amariscal@1800flowers.com and I can send out your spring gift baskets!

St. Patrick’s Day Chocolate Covered Strawberries

St. Patrick’s Day Chocolate Covered Strawberries $24.99; Product Code:94603

Here we are with another blog post in which I try to talk about upcoming holidays (this week St. Patrick’s Day!), but then completely forget about them and turn to talking about the holiday foods I enjoy more! The only thing I know about St. Patrick’s Day other than it’s the one day for me to get perfectly cooked corn beef and that Chicago dyes the river green, is that I really know nothing about St. Patrick’s Day. Mostly I just enjoy the St. Patrick’s Day festivities and make use of my green wardrobe to avoid being pinched. I read somewhere that in Ireland people wore bunches of shamrocks for tradition and that St. Patrick’s Day was really just a small holiday in Ireland until Irish-American’s decided to celebrate it more widespread after the 1970’s. Well, there was our serving of facts. Now on to the fun stuff!

The Popcorn Factory Shamrock Popcorn Tin

The Popcorn Factory Shamrock Popcorn Tin $24.99; Product Code:94610

Personally, I enjoy at home parties a lot more than going out for festivities (especially St. Patrick’s Day). Although we can’t supply the beverages, we have a lot of great St. Patrick’s Day treats to bring a little charm to your party. Our real chocolate dipped strawberries are already fantastic and delicious, but sometimes holiday themed treats just taste better (probably some psychological thing). Decorated perfectly for St. Patrick’s Day, these chocolate covered strawberries will definitely be a hit with everyone; only the truly lucky will be able to get more than one before they’re all gone! A fun snack that goes great with any and all St. Patrick’s Day “beverages” served is The Popcorn Factory’s Shamrock Green St. Patrick’s Day themed buttered popcorn. Light and fluffy, but packed full with flavor, this popcorn makes the perfect party snack.  Maybe add some green frosted cupcakes or green rice krispy treats to add to the fun. Our sister brand Celebrations is the party expert when it comes to holidays, so be sure to stop by their page here and see how you can make your St. Patrick’s Day one to remember!

Best of Ghirardelli® Gift Basket St Patricks Day

Best of Ghirardelli® Gift Basket $29.99; Product Code:96921

St. Patrick’s Day seems like a great gifting opportunity as well, if you’re looking to send a little luck to good friend or family member. The reason four-leaf clovers are lucky is because the fourth leaf stands for luck. I’m sure that anyone would enjoy receiving a gift wishing them luck with all their day to day goings-on. Our Best of Ghirardelli Gift Basket is a truly tasteful gift, bound to brighten someone’s day. Filled with delicious Ghirardelli chocolates and treats, your loved ones will definitely feel lucky to have someone as sweet as you in their lives that would send them this wonderful gift.

In the comments section (1-2 paragraphs) tell me what fun or delicious St. Patrick’s Day treats you can come up with! FIVE lucky and random winners will win the Ghirardelli Gift Basket.

Good luck!