Moon Baskets

Wow, can you believe it? Thanksgiving has come and gone...and Christmas is right around the corner. Yesterday we had the last of our yearly turkey. I make a 'mean' turkey soup. It is so good that I have a co-worker who is at me all year about 'when am I going to make it and bring her some.' Believe it or not, we only have turkey once a year. It's not that we don't like it; we love it, but it just seems that there is so much of it, and it lasts for days, that if I make it more than once a year, it gets boring. But, that's me and my feelings.

I have always enjoyed 'making things' around the holiday season. I love giving creative gifts. For a few years everyone on my list got homemade scarves, hats, and mittens. Then, it was cookies. I would buy these pretty little boxes, bows, and tissue papers and fill them with homemade cookies. I would choose a day close to Christmas when I would take a sick day. Then, the night before my 'sick day' I would stay up baking all types of cookies, about 50 dozen or more.

After we moved to a place with a kitchen far too small to tackle such a huge baking job, I concentrated on my beadwork. All the females on my list got beaded necklasses and earrings to match. Men were given gift sets of soaps, colognes, etc. But, after a few years, my eyes got too bad to do much in the way of beadwork, so I discovered gift baskets. I love the creativity that you can put into them. For example, I love to give gifts. And, I have always given small gifts to my co-workers. For them, I don't spend much, but I buy small Christmas bags, then go plowing through the 99 cent store for little Christmas trinkets. Last years bags included a tree ornament, a fancy candle, a Christmas lollipop, and a small, small box of Christmas chocolates which I found for $1.00 each.

I love to give gift baskets at showers, birthdays, and Christmas. And for Christmas, I always find a special theme, and Moon Baskets are especially fun. Everything I put into the basket has something to do with the Moon. For example, you can put together a Moon Bath Basket filled with moon-inspired gifts such as a loofah sponge or washcloth with a picture of the Moon on it, a bar of coconut milk along with coconut shampoo, a coconut soap and bubble bath, a coconut scented candle, and an avocado face mask. Coconut, Hyssop, cucumber, avocado and hibiscus are all ruled astrologically by the moon so any of the other scents can be substituted for the coconut.

Other items that can be added to baskets are a cup or a mug with a Moonscape on it, some stationery with the Moon on it, a Moon Christmas ornament, a candle with a Moon on it, a hibiscus or watermelon tea with a corresponding incense stick, a New Age music CD, fruits and vegetables like tomatoes, cabbage, kale, melons, rosemary...all ruled by the Moon. You can include a lunar calendar, a poem, Moon stickers...the list is endless. Allow your imagination to run wild as you fill the baskets. I always wrap my Moon baskets in a clear or silver based plastic and top with a silver bow.