The Gift Ideas Blog

Birdhouse gifts

Springtime is here, and a great gift idea during this season is to give a birdhouse! Any nature- or animal-lover will be fond of this structure that has a decorative as well as a functional use. Some are colorful and whimsical, while others are traditional and classic. Put some nesting material, straw, or some birdseed to entice traveling birds to stop by your garden, giving it life and fun.

For example, Target offers the above birdhouse which is a traditional design but is also very colorful. It will look great in your yard hanging from a tree, especially during springtime. All sorts of birds will love visiting it.

This birdhouse has several openings to allow visiting birds to feed and has a rustic, worn, traditional look.

Before considering a birdhouse as a gift idea, think about the gift recipient’s yard and garden scheme. Will it benefit from a traditional birdhouse? Or a modernist, futuristic-looking birdhouse? Does it have spring pastel colors? Or wild crazy colors? A birdhouse can complement a home’s architecture and paint scheme.

Visit your local garden store or nursery for more birdhouse gift ideas.

How to make your own Easter gift basket

Gift baskets are oh-so popular during the Easter season, but many of the ones sold at convenience or drug stores look plastic and tacky. And it’s expensive to buy a gourmet gift basket, which can cost up to hundreds of dollars. Well, an excellent idea is to make your very own gift basket!

Here’s how:

Get a basket. Do you have any nice baskets lying around the house? Perhaps one left over from a previous season’s gift baskets, or one that was used to pick fruit or carry things. If not, go to your local craft store and get a nice basket. Ones made with a darker straw material can lend themselves to classier-looking gift baskets.

Get filling: Perhaps some nice straw to create a nice base or padding for the gifts to go in the basket. Or, get creative and fold up a nice blanket to put at the bottom of the basket. Or, if you’re so inclined, most stores with Easter merchandise sell bunched-up strips of plastic, like fake grass.

Get gifts: Then, buy gifts to put in the baskets! Needless to say, the gifts should be small enough to fit inside the basket. Popular gifts inside gift baskets include candy, toys, eggs, and other little trinkets and goods. If the gift basket is for children, a stuffed animal is especially endearing. Candy is also frequently put into gift baskets. From sweet Cadbury Creme Eggs and Peeps to special Easter edition M&Ms or Hershey’s Kisses, you can’t go wrong with sweets galore in your basket.

Get a theme: Good gift baskets will have a nice theme that unifies all the contents. For example, the gift basket could have all spring colors. Or, it could all be chocolate-related food. Or it could have all things that are enjoyed by the intended recipient. If your gift recipient likes a particular sport, the gift basket could have things themed to that sport. Personalizing your gift basket will make it that much more meaningful to the gift recipient!

Making your own gift basket can be a fun and rewarding activity for a lazy afternoon. And it doesn’t have to be just for Easter! They are a good project and present for any gift-giving season.

L.A. Burdicks, maker of gourmet chocolates in the New England, has a fun gift this Easter season. It’s a patch of grass with chocolate bunnies! And hidden in the grass are small chocolate Easter eggs to be discovered! The eggs are filled with truffle filling and marzipan.

It can make a great table centerpiece until the day comes to eat the fun candies in this Easter treat! Find it at L.A. Burdick.

How about a tropical twist for an Easter gift? Mauna Loa, famous for its macadamia nuts from Hawaii, is offering delightful Easter gift baskets featuring varieties of its famous product.

There are several to choose from. They include cans and bags of macadamia nuts seasoned with different flavors, as well as the nuts covered in delicious milk chocolate. The gift baskets start at just $25. Check it out!

Easter is an interesting gift-giving season. While there is definitely an Easter Day, it feels as if Easter is more of a gift-giving week or time period than a specific day of giving gifts. For example, in the week leading up to Easter, you might give a fun gift basket filled with cute stuffed bunnies, delightful chocolates and sweets, and of course, egg-themed items. It’s a present that doesn’t have to be given on Easter Day; you can give it in the days before.

So what to give as a gift on Easter? Here are some egg-cellent (haha) Easter gift ideas:

- Gift baskets are perhaps one of the best things to give for Easter. They can be Easter-themed, but nowadays there are more upscale and sophisticated gourmet gift baskets that don’t necessarily have to be brightly colored and filled with children’s delights. Almost every gourmet and candy store offers gift baskets. Here are a few suggestions: Harry and David, GiftTree, and GiftBaskets.com.

- Gift baskets can be expensive, so maybe you can consider items that might be in gift baskets without lumping it all together in an actual gift basket. For example, for a child, a charming plush toy (particularly of an Easter bunny or rabbit or of other spring animals (baby chicks, baby ducks, baby animals in general)) can be fun and treasured for a long time.

- Candy is also very popular. Jellybeans and egg-shaped chocolates are especially popular, and don’t forget the traditional Cadbury creme egg! Perhaps you would consider giving a few of these candies to a coworker or a friend.

- Think about the color scheme of Easter and springtime. While the actual gift may not be Easter-related, perhaps the color might. For example, giving a pastel-colored blouse or shirt could tie the gift color-wise to the holiday and season.

- Finally, Easter gifts can be just general spring gifts. Spring is a season of rebirth and new life, so, as mentioned above, things related to baby animals, human babies, and other cute things will be apropos. Also, plants, flowers, and planting kits (as spring is indeed the planting and gardening season) make excellent gifts during the Easter holiday.

Thus, with so many ideas, it’s hard to go wrong with an Easter present! For more ideas or suggestions, e-mail us at GiftIdeasBlog@gmail.com!

Easter is coming up, and now’s a great time to start thinking about what kinds of gifts you might be getting for your favorite people for the holiday.

Speaking Roses offers a great Easter gift.

What are Speaking Roses? They’re an image or message printed on actual roses. They’re perfect for Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, birthdays, and any other gift-giving holiday. For Easter, they’ve designed an adorable bunny to go on these roses. Check out the Easter Speaking Roses!