One of our good friends is a real estate agent and after he saw this post, he wanted me to make him a couple of housewarming baskets for some recent homebuyers. What a great gift to give to your clients!
He gave me the creative liberty to do something a bit different and I didn’t want to disappoint. My mother, a crafting genius in her own right, gave me a great idea. There is a scene in one of her favorite movies, It’s a Wonderful Life, where George and Mary Bailey are blessing a new home for their clients. It’s a touching moment, and one of my favorite scenes in the movie. They recite this house blessing:
Mary Bailey: Bread so that this house may never know hunger. Salt so that life may always have flavor.
George Bailey: Wine that joy and prosperity may reign forever.
I found other variations of this house blessing online and decided to add three more to the poem:
Candle – may you always have light through the darkest times.
Honey – may you always enjoy the sweetness of life.
At this point, I knew I was going to create a different type of housewarming “basket”.
Instead of the traditional wooden basket, I found a colander at Home Goods and used that instead. I found a bag of rosemary pita chips (the bread), a candle, and dish towels at Home Goods too. I purchased the honey, salt and wine at a local food store.
I placed the dish towels at the bottom of the colander, created these pretty Bless This Home poem tags, and printed out the tags. I cut them, punched a hole in the top and used twine to wrap each of them around the object.
I placed each item carefully into the colander and took a step back. I was impressed! What a great looking basket! It is going to be a fantastic gift to someone who just bought a new home. Who wouldn’t want to be welcomed with a blessing, wine and some bread?
What would you include in a housewarming basket?
Read more at my blog, Breakfast with Bentley: http://www.breakfastwithbentley.com/