I love Easter! When I was little my Mom dressed my sister Pam and me to the nines. We didn’t just get new dresses, but also hats, gloves, white patent leather shoes, and even new lace socks and eyelet lace panties.
Pam and Me at Easter (1962)
Fast forward to my own daughters, and I did the same for them.
Our Daughters at Easter (1983)
But now I have grandchildren, and all six of them, except one, are boys. And like I used to be, my only granddaughter is somewhat of a tomboy.
This holiday now isn’t lace and pretty dresses anymore, but fast races to see who can get the most eggs. Then it is wrestling in the grass; and all I can see are knees, elbows, and grass stains.
It has changed dramatically for a woman who grew up with all sisters,…
Myself, Pam and Linda
daughters, and nieces. Well, except for Jason, but that is another blog post.
Last Spring my sister Pam died, and we buried her Easter weekend in Statesville, NC. For the first time in over 25 years, Chuck and I did not host our annual Easter Dinner and Egg Hunt.
Instead we stopped in Atlanta on our way back home and went to Easter Sunday church services with our daughter Tracy and her family at Trinity Presbyterian in Atlanta.
It was a sad Easter, but it truly helped to spend it with our children and grandchildren in a house of our Lord; though Chuck and I were far from home and far from the rest of our usual Easter traditions.
Chuck and I With Two of Our Grandsons at Easter, 2016
So fast forward to this year. Chuck’s sister Susan and our brother-in-law David will host the annual dinner and egg hunt, while our girls and their families will be away from home for Holiday. I am truly thankful for Susan who is doing the honors this year, and I wanted to do something special for her.
An Easter Hostess Gift
I got an idea after reading my baby sister Linda’s blog post about how she still does Easter baskets for her teenagers who are in high school and college. You can read it here.
It gave me this idea! Why not do an Easter basket as a hostess gift for my sister in law? It will be my way of thanking her.
So here’s what I did! First, I brain stormed all the possibilities, which are below…
1. A Basket
2. Foods, such as candies, jellies, etc.
3. Perfumed soap and cream
4. Easter knick knacks
5. Napkins
6. ? Book
7. ? movie
8. Starbucks Gift Card
9. Starbucks Cake Pop
10. Decorative Cross (representing the true meaning of Easter)
11. Jewelry or Scarf
12. House Gift
Then I went shopping and made a basket for Susan. I shopped at Starbucks, Beall’s Outlet, and Walmart. And here is my end product!
How To Build a Gift Basket
I started with a plain basket, placing bunches of tissue paper as a base inside the basket.
Then some decorative grass. I used greenish blue crinkle paper shreds, again from Walmart.
Then I placed the bigger items in the back. I found the cute measuring spoons at Walmart, too.
Next the shorter items in the front. Then, I went back and added a cross for the “reason for our season”.
Finally adding a little sparkly net bow, I tucked in a Starbuck’s gift card. Job done! It was just that easy.
A Starbuck’s Gift Card Giveaway
Speaking of the Starbuck’s Card, I decided to follow my sister’s lead and spread the love to all of you in my online communnity. So are you going to be the lucky person who gets this special $25 Starbucks Giftcard for Easter?
To enter is so easy all you have to do is SIGN UP below to get Old Age Is Not For Sissies emails.
Giveaway ends April 14th at midnight.
CLICK HERE TO ENTER!
Good luck and Happy Easter!!!
What were your parent’s Easter traditions? How were they different from your own? Is there anything different you would have bought for the house-warming Easter basket.