CRAFTS WITH ANASTASIA-- GIFT BASKET IDEAS FROM AUTHOR BETH GROUNDWATER

I’m taking a bit of a crafts break today and have invited author Beth Groundwater to do a craft related guest post. Beth writes the Claire Hanover gift basket designer mystery series and the Rocky Mountain Outdoor Adventures mystery series To learn more about Beth, visit her website.  -- AP

When Anastasia Pollack invited me to be a guest blogger on Killer Crafts and Crafty Killers, I decided that I’d provide a very different kind of recipe, one for a gift basket, since I write the Claire Hanover gift basket designer mystery series. The first book in my Claire Hanover gift basket designer mystery series, A Real Basket Case, was originally released in hardcover and large-print in 2007 and was a finalist for the 2007 Best First Novel Agatha Award. It is being re-released by Midnight Ink in trade paperback and ebook this month, complete with a jazzy new cover.

Some important things to keep in mind while designing a gift basket are to stimulate all the senses (taste, touch, smell, hearing, sight), to pick one main color and two complementary accent colors and use them throughout, and to tailor the contents to the recipient’s interests. Here I assume that you’re making a gift basket for a friend who loves mysteries.

Recipe for a Mystery Lover's Gift Basket

Color scheme:

black, red, and white/gray

Container:

black-painted basket, bucket or box, with a lid or handle sticking up, from which you hang some spider webbing

Stuffing:

dried Spanish moss or red-dyed tissue paper, paper shreds, or wood shavings

Contents:

Mystery book(s). In keeping with the gift basket theme, I recommend my Claire Hanover gift basket designer mystery books, A Real Basket Case and To Hell in a Handbasket.

CD of eerie music such as Mystery Movie Scores or Mystery Sound Effects

Pocket-sized mystery party game or travel Clue game

Movie DVD: Clue, Mousetrap, Alfred Hitchcock or Sherlock Holmes movie, or movie collection (Mystery Classics: 50 Movie Pack)

Chocolate/bubble gum coins or other mystery-related chocolate shapes such as blood drops, knives, or guns (see http://www.chocolatepen.com for a sample vendor)

If your recipient is a tea drinker, include an antique tea cup and saucer, a selection of teas, and a tea cozy, in keeping with a cozy mystery genre theme.

And an assortment from:

Bookmarks from mystery authors

Magnifying glass

Pair of play handcuffs and/or sheriff's badge

Rubber knife or plastic pistol

Glasses, nose, mustache disguise

Spy Gear toys from http://www.wildplanet.com

Skull-shaped/logo item: tealight candle holder, squeeze ball, notepad, etc. (see http://www.orientaltrading.com/)

Bottle of stage blood from Halloween/theatre costume/makeup supply store or make your own (see http://chemistry.about.com/cs/howtos/ht/fakeblood.htm)

Thanks for stopping by today, Beth! I recently won a cupcake gift basket at a raffle. What a treat that was! I love making gift baskets and hope some of our readers will now enjoy making them, too. -- AP 

CRAFTS WITH ANASTASIA-- A LAST MINUTE GIFT THAT DOESN’T LOOK LAST MINUTE

Ever get invited to a Christmas party or open house at the last minute? There’s nothing worse than having to brave the crowds of holiday shoppers at the last minute. Here’s an idea for a last minute gift you can throw together…well, at the last minute -- gingerbread baskets. All you need to do is purchase a few items to have on hand. If you don’t use them this year, you’re sure to use them eventually.

The next time you’re at the dollar store, pick up the following items: a basket, green and red tissue paper, a Christmas potholder and matching kitchen towel, a gingerbread man cookie cutter. At the supermarket, buy a box of gingerbread cookie mix, a tube of frosting, and a box of raisins or bag of chocolate chips. You’ll also want some clear cellophane and Christmas ribbon.

Fill the basket with crumpled tissue paper. Add the other items to the basket. Wrap in clear cellophane and tie with ribbon. The wonderful thing about this gift is that you can make it as simple or elaborate as you wish, depending on the amount of time and money you can devote to the gift. One of the secrets is to choose a basket which, when filled, will give the appearance that it’s brimming over with goodies. A small basket stuffed to overflowing will look more inviting than a larger basket with empty spaces that will need to be filled with added tissue paper. For a more elaborate gift, include a larger assortment of cookie cutters and baking items. You can also embellish the basket by gluing lace around the edge.

The gingerbread gift basket is also an ideal “family” gift when you need to bring a gift to a family with multiple children and can’t afford individual gifts.


What have you done when in need of a last minute gift? Do you keep a stash of gifts handy for last minute needs, or do you dash to the store? Post a comment to be entered in our drawing for a book from our Book Club Friday guest author. -- AP

BOOK CLUB FRIDAY -- GUEST AUTHOR BETH GROUNDWATER AND AMATEUR SLEUTH CLAIRE HANOVER

Today's Book Club Friday guest is Claire Hanover, owner of a part-time gift basket business in Colorado Springs, CO, and the creation of mystery author Beth Groundwater. In addition to the two already published Claire Hanover books and a new contracted third one, Beth writes the Rocky Mountain Adventure mystery series featuring whitewater river ranger Mandy Tanner. That series will debut with Deadly Currents in March, 2011. To find out about new releases and appearances and to enter a contest for free mystery books, sign up for Beth's email newsletter at her website: http://bethgroundwater.com/ -- AP

Claire Hanover’s Tips for Creating an Effective Gift Basket

Anastasia Pollack has kindly invited me to give her blog readers some tips about making effective gift baskets. I can tell you that after the adventures I had in Beth Groundwater’s To Hell in a Handbasket, I am ready to return to my basement workroom and just create gift baskets for a while!

One of the gift baskets I put together during that time was a sympathy basket for Angela Contino, whose daughter was killed on a Breckenridge, Colorado ski slope. Here’s what I remember of a conversation between my daughter Judy and me about that basket:

“Thank you cards and a pen won’t fill a basket,” Judy said. “What else do you have in mind?”

“Some soothing things, like scented candles or a book of uplifting poems. Are the Continos religious?”

“Catholic. Nick doesn’t go to church much, but his mom attends mass every Sunday.”

“Okay, some religious poetry or a book about taking your grief to God, or something like that. And some soft music. A gift basket should have something for every sense—taste, smell, sight, touch, and sound. What kind of music do Nick’s parents enjoy?”

Judy thought for a moment. “Classical, I think.”

“Good, I’ll ask at the stationary store where we can find some nice CDs.”

This conversation covers two of my most important guidelines for creating gift baskets that will be appreciated and remembered. The first is to really know the recipient’s interests and tastes. That way you can tailor the basket’s contents to match, the same way I took into account Angela Contino’s Catholic religion and enjoyment of classical music. The second guideline is to include something for all the senses. The music was for Angela’s ears, the scented candle for her nose, and later I found some soothing chamomile herb tea for her mouth.

I usually pick one main color and two complementary accent colors for each gift basket. In this case, I found a dyed wicker basket that matched the colors in the Contino ski house living room so the basket could be used to hold reading materials later. They have a dark green leather sofa and stone-inlaid coffee table and fireplace, so dark green, gray, and brick red were the colors woven into the basket. I also used those colors for the decorations—a fancy bow and dried flowers, and for the lining, a soft, woven wrap scarf that could be used to warm a grieving woman or to drape decoratively over a chair later.

The basket couldn’t take away Angela Contino’s grief, but it let her know that we were thinking of her. It may have brought her some comfort, and it contained useful items such as the pen and thank you cards that she could use in the days ahead. And, while delivering that basket to the Contino home, I happened to discover an important clue to the mystery of who killed Stephanie and why!

With gift baskets, it is truly the thought that counts. I encourage everyone to put together gift baskets for special occasions, and don’t worry about it looking amateurish. To read the rest of my Tips for Making Perfect Gift Baskets, visit the Articles page of Beth Groundwater’s website at http://bethgroundwater.com/ . Also on her website are reviews, excerpts, discussion questions, and more information about her books, and a schedule of her appearances. She writes a blog, too, at http://bethgroundwater.blogspot.com/ .

I’d love to answer here any questions you have about gift baskets, and Beth will be available, too, to answer questions about her mystery books and writing.

You can purchase To Hell in a Handbasket and A Real Basket Case by ordering them at your local bookstore, or by going to one of the following links:

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/results.asp?ATH=Beth+Groundwater

http://tinyurl.com/Beth-Books-at-Amazon

Thanks for visiting today, Claire. Gift baskets make such lovely, thoughtful presents. I’m sure our readers will want to try making one the next time they need to give a gift. -- AP