Gift baskets can be tailored to the interests of the recipient to move them from a popular gift to a perfect gift.
10-30-12 -Amherst- Republican staff photo by Don Treeger- Holiday gift baskets for sale at Atkins Farms.
Beautiful baskets brimming with abundance.
They’re welcome gifts at any time of year, but at Christmas time, gift baskets can be tailored to the interests of the recipient to move them from a popular gift to a perfect gift.
How about a basket filled with golf balls, a sports glove, tees and a towel for the golf enthusiast or one overflowing with seeds, bulbs, a trowel, a floral calendar and garden gloves for the gardener? The music buff is sure to enjoy a basket of CDs—or an iTunes card—along with always-needed ear buds, industry magazines and even concert tickets.
It’s easy to fill a basket with chocolates of all kinds for the chocolate lover or with books for the reader. Get soaps, candles, bubble bath, bath salts and loofahs for the person who enjoys a luxurious bath.
Got a genealogist in the family? Fill a basket with family tree software, online research subscriptions and newspaper articles culled from microfilm at the library. An animal lover? Fill that basket with an animal-related calendar, T-shirt and ceramic statuette and small gifts for Fido or Fifi.
Seniors might appreciate a basket filled with treats like jams, crackers, chocolate, nuts, tea and homemade cookies while youngsters never seem to have enough crayons, markers, coloring books, pads, stickers, glue and glitter. Fruit or wine and spirit baskets can also be a hit.
If a person has an interest, there’s a basket for that. And if not, a basket filled with food, lottery tickets, stamps, gift cards and family photos can make an eclectic gift.
You can make your own basket, or leave it up to the professionals.
Richard E. Cooper, owner of State Street Fruit Store, Deli, Wines and Spirits in Northampton and Cooper’s Corner in Florence, said gift baskets are popular year round—as thank you or get well gifts, for example—but before Christmas is the busiest time.
State Street has myriad options for gift baskets, a service the store has offered since before 1974. Mostly fruit baskets with specialty foods like preserves, cheese, cookies and beverages, the State Street offerings begin at $15. Customers can bring in their own baskets or select from a wide variety of imported, handmade baskets.
Have fun with a fruit basket by adding more unusual fruits like mangos and papayas, Cooper suggested.
Some customers prefer a non-perishable gift. Nessun problema: How about an Italian-meal-themed basket?
At Atkins Farms Country Market in Amherst, there are variations on the fruit basket: How about an “apple-a-day basket” with apple granola, coffee, tea, cake and butter, among other apple delights? Or a blueberry themed basket? “Blueberry is a fruit that is so good for you. It’s popular,” said Pauline A. Lannon, president and an owner.
She said food baskets are ever popular because “they are something you know is very much appreciated and fun to open.”
Food baskets, she added, are gifts people will surely use. “Everybody likes food,” she said.
Atkins offers both ready-made fruit baskets and specialty baskets. Fruit baskets begin at about $25; medium specialty baskets at about $50.
In Ludlow, Randall’s Farm and Greenhouse can provide both food and garden gift baskets. From a fruit basket to a “snack attack” basket to a chocolate lover’s basket to a tea basket to a basket filled with New England products like sparkling cider and applesauce, there’s something to please every taste.
Prices begin at about $20 with the median price about $35.
Owner Karen A. Randall said the baskets are popular because they can be tailored to everyone on a gift list or purchased from a variety of ready-made baskets.
“If we sell it, we’ll put it in a gift basket for you,” she said.