Bird Houses

Winter is finally here in Ohio! The winds have started to pick up as temps drop to freezing. Most of us put extra bird seed out for our little friends at this time. Another thing that we usually put out are bird houses. Or maybe you collect bird houses to place in your home.

These are unique baskets. They are bird houses that have a removable bottom, copper top, and are made in two sizes.


These bird houses sold so fast at the festival and at open houses. Most people didn't want to put them outside, but they are fully coated for outside use.

If you would like more information or to place an order for these baskets/houses leave a comment or send us an email at buggybaskets@live.com

Boats

This was one basket I wasn't too sure about. When my husband saw this in the Zooks' Basket House he wanted it. It goes with his bathroom theme; wilderness. {He has black bears, moose, tree's, etc.}

We have this in our bathroom now and it's cute. We got it in green so that it would make the paint. I like it when guests come over and the one thing they say about that bathroom is how cute that basket/shelf is. Guess my husband has taste after all.

This is the large one, it's really really large! If you have lots more space then we have this would be a great "man" basket :-)



If you would like more information about this basket give us a ring at buggybaskets@live.com . {Ring isn't the right word is it? Ha-ha}

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving from Buggy Baskets! Hope you have a safe and wonderful day!

Basket Open House: Centerville Ohio

Last Sunday we had a Buggy Baskets Open House. We had about 100 baskets at the house to sell, and also took a few special orders. Lots of holiday gifts were purchased that day! It was so much fun meeting and seeing some of these women again.

The hostess had everything set up perfect. Adding detail to every inch of the house. We had baskets on the kitchen table, formal dining room table and on the chairs, out on the covered back porch and down in the basement on the pool table. It was over whelming and the women had many to chose from.
We had several cases of jams, pickles, apple butter and relish for the party. This is all we had left, and that was in the middle of the party. I know we sold out of apple butter.
This was too cute. The little bear in the sled was a perfect way to show how pretty and cute these can be for decorations.
The bear in the cradle was to perfect. Lots of people came up with so many creative idea's for this cradle.
These are recipe boxes. I fell in love with the red and green one. I think it would be perfect to put Christmas recipe's in it and give it as a gift. Never would have thought to use it as a candy or nut dish. Told you people were creative with these baskets!
Snacks and apple cider were provided for the guests. It was a nice social gathering for these women. You could grab a glass and walk around and pick out your holiday gifts. Now that's shopping!

Tea Basket

We are starting to think about how we would like to display everything for our holiday meals these days. And I came across a basket that I forgot about! {How that happened I have no idea.} It's a Tea Basket. It's real intention was to hold flavored tea or tea bags so that you could find them easily. I'm a HUGE tea drinker and this basket didn't quite hold the 100's of tea bags I usually get when I go to the store. But it does hold those special flavored tea bags perfectly. Since we will be decorating for the holiday dinners coming up I thought I could use this too place the Sweet N Low in them. It has a nice handle for everyone to pass around, and it's small enough to sit on the table without getting in the way.


It's not so small that you couldn't use it to put something else it in. This one that I am showing you is a Large. It's a pretty decent size to use for year round things as well. {I think it's cute on this tree, maybe I could decorate a basket tree this year!}

Let me know what you would use it for! I'm always up for new decorating tips and ideas. Leave a comment, even if you don't have a blogger account you can still leave a comment, or send us an email to buggybaskets@live.com .

Happy Decorating!

Pie Carriers

Thanksgiving is coming up so fast. I'm pulling out my pie books and old recipes, getting ready for the big day. This leads me to believe you all will be doing the same! And what better way to take one of you nice delicious pies then in an Amish Handmade carrier.



This is the Large Pie Carrier. They also make it in a Small, that one also has the insert that can be removed or left in for two pies. These also make wonderful hostess gifts! {Thanks for the idea 8-) }

If you are interested in this Pie Carrier send us an email at buggybaskets@live.com

Happy Baking!

Production

With the holidays around the corner, we have been giving the families lots of special basket orders. They are truly grateful for everyone loving their baskets. We have found that the most popular color right now is the green. It could be the holidays or just that you all really use alot of green in your homes.

The Stutzman Family had to dye more for all these basket sales. And it's so neat too see them hanging outside their home.




We are picking up basket orders tomorrow and giving them to their new owners very soon. Also on the books this weekend is a Buggy Basket Open House. We can't wait too see all these women! Just in time for the holidays.

Sleigh Bells

It's not even Halloween but we are already thinking holidays around Buggy Baskets. And this could be why....

For those of you who visited us at the festival may recognize the Extra Large Sleigh Basket.We had the small baskets inside it, filled to the brim. The Yoders make this basket and after talking to them decided to make smaller sizes, more economical.

The railings come off this basket so that you can use the basket year round. It's a perfect size for lots of goodies to hide.

We have had lots of questions about the smaller sizes this week- and a few orders already. These are perfect for gifts. I have had customers say they are going to use them for decorations around the house and others have said they are going to fill them with candy for holiday parties. Very creative thinking! The railings also are removable for the smaller sizes as well.

And just to let you get a scale of the actual size of these baskets, we got our family dog, Little Bit, to model for us.


If you have any questions or would like to order one of these Sleighs contact us buggybaskets@live.com .

Amish Auction

This past weekend we attended our first Amish Auction. Of course it was open to the public, but most of the items were Amish made, planted, or breed. Lots of people turned out and they had almost 4 mini auctions going on at one time. This is strange to me, but it makes things go faster. Plus you don't have to sit through the farm equipment if you are only there for the quilts. {This is what we were interested in.}


The Auction area is in the middle of no where, but lets be real, this whole area is in the middle of no where! The fall leaves made everything really stand out. I just love fall in this area. The colors, the smells- minus the cow smell.


Everyone should take a Saturday and enjoy a nice drive into the country. You never know what you may find.

Festival Recap

Sorry for the delay. After the festival it took us a few days to get out of festival mode and back into our regular lives.

The festival went great. This was our first one and we really weren't sure how the public would respond. We started with 900 baskets in stock, and only had to pack up about 250-275 baskets. That spells success in my book. On an average weekend the Amish Families only sell about 10, so this was a major sell for them. It was fun too tell them about where these baskets were going. Some local and some were being sent as far as Scotland. More importantly we were able to educate the "English" about the Amish lifestyle.





We all had a great time meeting people. It was fun to hear all the comments about the baskets. I think my highlight was when I had several "Longaberger Basket" reps buy tons of baskets. We are still waiting to find out the total number of people that attended the festival. My guess, near 250,000.


Sunday evening, right about closing time, we had a nice balloon launch to watch. And we had the best spot in the festival! Lots of people stopped by the booth after watching the launch.


Now that the festival is over for the year we are booking Buggy Basket Parties. Right now we have a few booked but there are plenty of dates left open to get your holiday orders in! We also have been talking to a few people about doing Bazaars and craft shows. Not sure if we will be able to do these, since they are closer to the holidays, but it's something we will keep you posted on. Also we had lots of requests to return next year to the festival and even try to set up at a few more local ones. Keep that in mind, let us know if you would like too see us at a festival near you! And if you attended the festival leave us a comment, we would love to get feedback!

If you are interested in any of the baskets you have seen on this blog or at the festival please send us an email at buggybaskets@live.com for further information.

It's Time!

We hope to see everyone tomorrow at the Ohio Sauerkraut Festival in Waynesville Ohio! The booth is set up and ready to go. Let's hope this rain moves along by morning.

Come find us at the corner of Mill Street and Main Street. Booth 51 !

Yoder Family

One of the newer families to the community are the Yoders. Noah and Katie Yoder are just starting out on their new farm. Here is what they wrote in a letter to us about themselves and their family.

Noah and Katie Yoder were both in November of 1974. The children:
Henry- 12
Cevilla- 11
Eli- 8
Iva- 7
Jacob- 3
Andy- 1

We started making baskets in July 2006. Our children loves to help with the basket. We also sign them under the basket. Henry, Cevilla, Eli and Iva can help. Jacob also wants to help. We make plain, blue, green and red, sometimes purple.

I don't have photos from their farm just yet. We are still introducing ourselves as neighbors. They do have the school house on their property, which also is their basket house for the time being.




We look forward to seeing everyone this weekend at the Sauerkraut Festival in Waynesville Ohio!!!

Meet the Zook Family

Andy and Ida Zook were kind enough to write out a page of their history and all the kids names and ages. With 12 kids it's hard to remember everybody and the order! Here is what they wrote about themselves:

We moved from Wayne County Ohio to Highland County Ohio on March 14,2007. We started making baskets in the yr. of 2001. We have 70 acres of land and do some faming, but our most income is making and selling baskets.

The Children:
David- 23
Elizabeth- 21
Lovina- 20
Anna- 18
Jacob- 16
Eli- 14
Benjamin- 13
Emma- 12
Dennis- 10
William- 9
Aaron and Andy-5 (Twins)

Their farm is amazing. It's off the beaten path and there are 70 acres of roaming space. It's just beautiful!






{You may have noticed there is a copyright on the pictures. It's really sad that something as plain and simple as photos could get stolen for others to use on their sites. I feel I must protect my work. I have spent time and money to take these photos and I am not ready for someone to take them and use them without permission. I'm sorry that I have to do that, I think it takes away from the photos. But in this day and age you must protect your images. Thank you.}

Plant Stand

This basket is on my wish list. I'm so excited to get this basket. It's so cute and will make my living room look more like a country home.

It's shown here in plain. I am having mine made in blue to match my decor. It comes in a variety of colors. This is the only size as of right now.

You could use it for something besides a plant stand, but that is the main purpose. The legs are solid so it's made to hold heavy plants. A perfect addition to home decor.

Apple Basket

I have Apple's on the brain today. With fall comes Apple Crisp, Apple Pie, Apple Butter, and Apple Flappin's! {You have to come to the Sauerkraut Festival to know what I'm talking about.}

This is the PERFECT basket to store all your apples in. Or even pick them if you do that. It's comes in three sizes and a variety of colors.
{Basket shown in Large. 10" round x 8". The color is Green.}

{Basket shown in Medium 8" round x 6". Shown in plain.}{All baskets signed by the basket maker.}

They didn't have a small available. I hope they have one next time so I can get a picture and pick some up too sell. What a great Fall basket!

If you would like to inquire about this basket or any you see on this blog send us an email at buggybaskets@live.com. We look forward too hearing from you!