A Great Housewarming Gift

by Michele Cheplic | More from this Blogger

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.

Learn more about Michele Cheplic

Michele Cheplic was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaii, but now lives in Wisconsin. Michele graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in Journalism.

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