A few weeks ago I received an invitation to a housewarming party. My friend got married last year and she and her husband just recently bought their first home together. Looking at my calendar I realized it was almost exactly a year ago that I was shopping for their wedding gift. Now I had to come up with a suitable housewarming gift. I went to the mall thinking I would gain inspiration by something on display. I narrowed it down to a painting or a quesadilla maker (mind you these people got married less than a year ago and I think they got everything off their gift registry). Eventually, I left empty handed and figured I would go home to mull over some other options while my daughter napped. Ironically, the inspiration for the gift came to me as I walked across our french-fried lawn (the drought has really done a number on the grass) to get the mail. Flowers! Not a bouquet of flowers (though, that is a good housewarming idea)… flowers for their own yard.
I ended up creating a Garden Gift Basket filled with tools and other items that they can use to grow their own flowers.
I started with a large galvanized bucket (you could use a large clay pot or a whimsical planter). I then added:
· Gardening Spade
· Oscillating Sprinkler Head
· Hose Nozzle
· Handheld Hoe
· Handheld Rake
· Knee Pads for Gardeners
· Mini Garden Angel Statue
· Sunscreen
· Several packets of flower seeds
· 2 Pairs of Gardening Gloves
I then used green and natural colored raffia to pad the bottom and sides of the bucket; covered it with plastic and tied it up with a reusable mesh ribbon and attached a few artificial flowers to the outside to serve as inspiration… or for them to decorate their home with should their garden not bloom before the first frost hits.