Basket Fun

I haven't posted in a while, so I guess it's time to catch up.  Today I'm sharing a picture of a gift basket I made for a church fundraiser.  I had a lot of trouble with this basket, but I like what I ended up with.  I started with the idea of "county fair".  I got this idea from the fun PaperTrey Ink stamps and dies I got a while back and am still enjoying.  I thought I would fill the basket with items portraying fresh vegetables, fruits, and also quilted items.  However, I found it very difficult to obtain items fitting this theme.  Quilting items were especially scarce.  I guess it's not a popular shopping theme right now.  I was so wishing I had signed up for an "autumn" basket!  Autumn theme was everywhere!  (Of course!).  So I persevered, and this is the result:

I decided to make the basket tailored to fit a young girl's idea of fun at a fair.  I found a wonderful stuffed Hello Kitty plush at Hallmark,  She is eating an ice cream cone!  Also, at Hobby Lobby I found this metal sign in the shape of an ice cream cone  It says "Hand Dipped" and you can see it in the back of the basket.  Instead of the quilt I got a colorful Vera Bradley throw, and I filled the rest of the basket with fun things like popcorn, candies, jellies, caramel corn, soda, and even a colorful pincushion and pattern I got at JoAnn's.

The basket did sell, and the church made a few bucks off my fun!  I loved my basket so much I had a hard time parting with it, hoarder that I am!

BTW, I was trying a minute ago to think of the designer, Vera Bradley, for my text above, and I kept thinking of other names in commercial pursuits--Laura Ashley, Anna Griffin, Betty Crocker,  Do these people really exist?  Or are they made up for merchandise lines?  I have no idea!  I do know they have fun stuff, though!