Bear Fest Easthampton 2009

Bear Fest Easthampton 2009 is in full swing. On June 13th the Easthampton City Arts unveiled 35 artist created fiberglass bears in and around downtown Easthampton, MA.

On Sunday, my husband, my 2 dogs and I took a walk to view many of the creations with names like Ted E. Bear, Ursa Major, Bumble Bear (shown in photo), and Bear Hugs. It took us hours to walk the short distance because we kept meeting friends and neighbors with their families enjoying the bears as well. All of the bears are beautifully painted, or otherwise artistically enhanced.

In honor of Bear Fest, Mt Tom Ice Cream created a special ice cream treat and Opa Opa, the local brewery created a special brew. At Laurel Mountain Basket Company, we are featuring our Bear-y Special Gift Basket.

Bear Fest 2009 will continue through out the summer with city wide events culminating in a week-long celebration of the arts including concerts, an ArtWalk, and a gala dinner and auction of the bears on October 15th.

For those of you in Western Massachusetts, take a stroll around downtown. I guarantee you will have a great time. Stop for an ice cream at Mt Tom's or a coffee and pastry at Sunrise. Try the Sunday buffet at Your Way Gourmet, and while you are in Eastworks (that's where Bumble Bear and Astronaut Bear are), stop by the Laurel Mountain studios and say hello.

Happy Father's Day

My Dad was a blue collar worker who didn't wear a lot of ties so thinking up a great Father's Day gift that wouldn't strain my baby sitting money budget was not an easy task. Slippers were a good choice but then Mom would have to chip in. So, poor Dad usually ended up with a bottle of Aqua Velva After Shave and a cake of Williams Shaving Soap.
No matter what you get Dad for Father's Day, you know he is going to love it. As Bill Cosby said, "Fatherhood is pretending that the present you love the most is soap-on-a-rope".
You can give Dad a gift he really will love and one that he may even share with you. A night at the movies is a fun gift basket filled with not so gourmet treats that a perfect for gathering the family together to watch the latest DVD or an old time favorite. Fix up a big bowl of micro wave pop corn (included) and munch away. While you're at it check out some of our other Father's Day gift basket designs.
Happy Father's Day!
Marie

Final Exam Survival Kit

It's that time of year again. School is about to end, Summer Vacation is about to begin. Many students are only weeks away from graduation. Weeks away form starting a new chapter in their lives. Some will be going on to college, some will by starting their careers. But before Summer Vacation, before graduation, before starting college or a career, they face Final Exams!
Show your favorite student that you are thinking of them and wish them good luck with a Final Exam Survival Kit from Laurel Mountain Basket Company. Our eco friendly boxes are filled with a generous assortment of "not so gourmet" snack items including popcorn, cookies, granola bars, candy bars, and more, all of the things late night study sessions are made of. A hand written note is included to let your student know that you are there for them.

Happy Mother's Day

Mothers are very special people. On the second Sunday in May, it will be the 102nd anniversary of Mother's Day. I report I read recently stated that 96% of us in the U.S. celebrate Mother's Day. Mother's Day is the day phone companies log the most long distance calls, it is the busiest day of the year for many restaurants and retailers rank Mother's Day second only to Christmas.
If you are a statistics junkie, like me, here are some more numbers that I found really interesting. In the U.S. there are an estimated 82.8 MILLION mothers, of mothers with infants, 27 million (almost 3/4) work outside of the home. The odds of a woman delivering twins are 1 in 33 and for triplets or other multiple births, 1 in 539. The woman from California who gave birth to octuplets earlier this year should be living in Vegas.
My mom is great. I'm lucky. She lives in the area and I get to see her often. But like the shoemaker whose family goes barefoot, I get so busy at the Laurel Mountain Basket Company studio making gift baskets for other people to send for Mother's Day, I'm usually putting together something for my own Mom at the very last minute.
Remember Sunday, May 10th. Give your mom a call, take her to lunch and if you want to send her a gift especially created with her in mind, we would be happy to design one for you. We also have a great line of gift basket designs that are perfect for Mother's Day . We deliver to cities and towns in the Pioneer Valley section of Western Massachusetts and ship anywhere.

Most Interesting Gift Baskets

At Laurel Mountain Basket Company we create gift baskets for every occasion and will custom design gift baskets for our clients.
An interviewer once asked me what was the most interesting gift basket I ever made. My answer: a baby basket for a horse. A client wanted a gift basket for her friends horse. The horse had recently given birth and my client thought it would be fun to send a gift basket.
It was a challenge. But it was really fun to design. I used a straw cow boy hat as the "basket". Made a trip to the local feed and grain store (not one of my usual shopping haunts) where I purchased some carrot flavored cookies, shampoo and conditioner, a curry brush and a few other items necessary to create a SPA basket for a horse. My client loved it, as did her friend. I don't know what the horse thought.
So when I read article about the 20 horses entered in the Kentucky Derby receiving gift baskets, I wasn't that surprised. These gift basket will contain stuff a highly trained athlete needs before a big race including a super joint solution to help with inflammation and stiffness.
At Laurel Mountain Basket Company we make a lot of gift baskets for pets and the people who love them. Most are for dogs or cats or their owners but occasionally we get a request that makes us smile. Some day I'll tell you about the one we made for a Ferret.
Give your pet a big hug!
Marie

Great Non-Food Gifts

Professional Assistant's Day is April 22nd this year. I've talked with several of my clients in the medical field who want to recognize their assistants with a gift but are not comfortable giving a gift basket filled with Chocolates and other sweets.
So many people today are making an effort to eat well, and even though an occasional sweet treat is allowed, it would be counter productive to send a gift basket filled with "guilt".
Have you found yourself in this situation? If so, a SPA gift basket from Laurel Mountain Basket Company may be just what you are looking for. The Mini Spa (picutred above) is the perfect little gift. Two bars of hand made soap, a wooden soap tray and nail brush are wrapped in cello and tied with a pretty little bow. The soaps are high quality bars of 20% shea butter, olive, coconut and palm oil blended with essential oils and herbs. Just right for saying thank you, they also make great hostess gifts or a little something to bring to a friend in the hospital.
So, when faced with the problem of giving a gift to a friend who is working to stay fit, think of our Spa gift baskets. They are a great reward for being good.
Smile and be happy,

Marie

Spring Arts & Craft Festival

In addition to my website at http://www.laurelmtbasket.com/ I have a brick and mortar retail studio located in a beautifully renovated factory building called Eastworks in Easthampton, Ma. Eastworks houses artists, crafters, two restaurants, small business, photographers, a driving school, the Pioneer Valley Ballet School, a salon, a gym and retail shops.
For the past several years, we merchants have gotten some of our very talented friends to join us the Saturday before Mother's Day for a Spring Festival. The juried show features locally produced jewelry, photography, art, home decor, clothing, gift baskets (by me of course), candles, handcrafted dolls, soaps and lotions, hand knits, pottery, and much, much more. We still have openings in a few categories so if you are an artist or crafter interested in obtaining a booth, contact me at www.info@laurelmtbasket.com.
Open to the public with no admission charge and free parking, the May 9th event begins at 10:00 a.m. and runs until 4:00 p.m. We still have a few opening for vendors in a few categories so if you are an artists or crafter and are interested in a booth, contact me at info@laurelmtbasket.com for details.
The Spring Festival at Eastworks is a great place to find one of a kind Mother's Day gifts. In addition to the crafters, artists and retailers, The Your Way Gourmet will be serving up delicious meals and snacks all day long.
Just 20 minutes north of Springfield, Ma we conveniently located on Pleasant Street in Easthampton. For driving directions, go to the Eastworks website at http://www.eastworks.com/.