Not Your Typical Spring Gift Baskets

The month of March is a great month, not only because it’s my birthday month, but because there are a lot of things to celebrate in those 31 days! First, March 20 is the first day of spring and we all welcome sunny days with open arms as we wave goodbye to winter. Clocks also move forward where we will get more sunlight from our day, but lose an hour of sleep. There are also other “national” days of, such as Peanut Butter Lovers’ Day, National Frozen Food Day and National Pi Day. As these days of celebration are not your typical holiday like St. Patrick’s Day, there is enough reason to celebrate them. And why not celebrate with a gift basket full of goodies? Here are a few days’ worth giving a gift basket for!

Daylight Saving – March 08

On this day, set your clocks one hour ahead. This means that we lose one hour. One hour of sleep, one hour of fun time outdoor activities, yes one hour is lost. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t give a gift basket to someone that dreads daylight saving. If you’re in Arizona, however, it doesn’t matter because you don’t observe daylight saving time. With this gift basket, fill it up with lots of snacks and candies, games and a bottle of wine, and other foods and items as needed. This basket will be fun the person that receives it will be surprised and happy.

Johnny Appleseed Day – March 11

The legend of Johnny Appleseed lives on in elementary school rooms about the man that introduced and planted apple trees to large parts of Pennsylvania, Ontario, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. He was a leader and missionary, and was kind and generous. Johnny Appleseed told stories to children while planting apple trees. Celebrate Johnny Appleseed Day with what else – a gift basket of apples. Gift a variety of apples such as: Fuji, Gala, Honey Crisp, Granny Smith, just to name a few. Take the apple gift basket a step further and give caramel apples instead. You can also put together an assortment of food items that have apple in them, like apple chips, apple bars, apple, jam applesauce, cider (with or without alcohol). This gift basket will be sure to delight an apple lover.

St. Patrick’s Day – March 17

OK, so this is a common holiday that almost everyone knows about, but do we see any St. Patrick’s Day gift baskets being sold anywhere? Consider this not so typical holiday, where aside from wearing green and drinking beer, it’s not celebrated as fully as Valentine’s Day is. To celebrate this holiday, gift that Irish friend of yours a St. Patrick’s Day gift basket. First, purchase a green basket and fill with green or items that Ireland is known for such as a stuffed leprechaun toy, a shamrock hat, green pasta, a few bottles of Guinness beer, cookies in the shape of shamrocks, and Irish cream flavored coffee. Trust you won’t get pinched when you present him/her with this gift basket.

National Chip and Dip Day – March 23

What food goes better together than chips and dip? National Chip and Dip Day is celebrated every year on March 23, and for the chip and dip lover, this is your holiday! Gift the snacker and foodie in your life a gift basket of all things chip and dip related. Fill the basket with an assortment of chips that correspond with their popular dip counterpart. Tortilla chips go well with salsa, nacho cheese, guacamole and seven-layer dip. Potato chips are dipped into onion dip, buffalo cheese dip, artichoke and cheese dip, the list goes on and on. Possibilities are endless when it comes to America’s favorite snack combination.

National Crayon Day – March 31

It’s time to be a kid again! National Crayon day is a day to celebrate the love of coloring. Crayons were originally made out of wax with very limited options for colors. Today, Crayola, the big name in crayon manufacturing, offers 120 crayon colors. Over time, however, it has retired 50 colors, usually on this day. To celebrate crayons, put together a gift basket for little and big kids. For the little ones, purchase a few coloring books that are easy for them to color, along with a set of crayons. You can also add colored construction paper, scissors, and glue if they want to get crafty along with coloring. For the big kids, maybe instead of crayons, purchase coloring pencils and markers, along with a book on how to draw their favorite character or animals. For adults, the popularity of adult coloring books that have intricate designs and sometimes unpretty language, continues to grow. Coloring relieves stress and allows your mind to just wander off. Surprise the adult kid in your household with an adult coloring book and colored pen and pencils – they’ll feel like a kid again.

Aren’t these holidays fun? And the gift basket ideas are even more fun – quirky and different. You’ll be sure to leave a big smile on a friend or loved one’s face. Step outside of the box and celebrate a day that is out of the ordinary but has more meaning than you think it does. It’s all about living life and enjoying life and sharing it with those around you. Until next blog, happy March!