Flower Plantin' Time

I'm sure everyone is so excited it's spring! I know I am!! Ready for the flowers to bloom, and the pollen to go away so I can breathe :-)

It's planting season for the families. They are busy planting their fields and getting their gardens together. I can't wait too see how the blueberries turn out at the Stutzmans and the blackberries at the Zook plantation.

I never know what to do with the flowers once they bloom. We are a daisy flower family. We love the different colors they can bring and the nice look about them. Between my mothers house and mine, we probably have close to 20-30 daisy plants. Once they bloom I cut them and give them to people or put them in cute little vases. Since we are getting into this whole basket world, I decided this year to use the baskets as a way to go outside of the regular glass vase.





I must tell you that the baskets don't come with plastic liners. {They don't use them but we "english" have to use them...} I went to Home Depot and got some plastic liners that I could cut and make them fit in there just right. I can't wait for the daisy's to get bigger and ready to cut.

I think it would make a really cute Mother's Day/Grandmother type gift. Everyone gives flowers, why not make it more special?

Easter Baskets

I can't believe Easter is only about a week away. Usually i'm on schedule with decorating and putting together baskets. This year it seemed to sneak up on me. Is this happening to you?

I have been trying to put together baskets to give out to friends and family, but didn't want to use the traditional plastic type colorful baskets. Don't get me wrong, this is what we use here at the house for the dogs and sometimes for my husband and I. I'm wanting the baskets I give people this year to stand out and also be something they can use year round.

The Zook Family makes an oval Easter Basket that is perfect. I can fit lots of goodies in there, along with jars of Apple Butter and jams. It's a nice deep size so that the fake grass, which by the way is a pain to clean up, can be put in and items on top of it.

There are several baskets you can use for Easter Baskets. It's so much fun to stand out and get really creative with them. Which baskets would you use this year?

My First Real Apron

I found some material at a local thrift store that I thought would be really cute for an apron. I'm not one to like aprons. I don't cook much so what would the use be for one? I had talked to the Stutzman women about aprons before. It's an everyday item for Amish women. And every new bride receives a special one as part of their wedding gown/outfit. {They wanted to make me one for my wedding, but I had to tell them we don't wear them since we get to wear a nice, yet expensive, dress. I took them pictures to show them and they still thought I could have pulled it off. haha}

I explained to them that I wanted something with lots of cute color, since i'm not Amish and don't really fall into the plain black or white apron. Amanda, eldest daughter, told me to find material I liked and she would make me my first real Amish apron.

They even added a pocket for my cell phone. {We have an ongoing joke about cell phones. I always tell them to call me! It's just a big joke for them. So they added the pocket so I could get the phone if they called.}

It looks so cute hanging in my kitchen! My husbands apron for the grill is so dirty I refuse to wash it! Ha-ha

Where To Put All That Laundry....

While visiting the Stutzman home the other weekend for Maddy's birthday, we talked about what baskets were the most popular. They get many orders from places up north and one of them was for a bed & breakfast. I thought they would be ordering little baskets, but they wanted hampers. I guess they "invite" the guests to put their used towels and linens in them for the maid. Cute idea. So today I am showcasing hampers. We have had several orders for them since the festival. This year we hope to bring more then we did last year! You just never know what people want :-)





They also have laundry type baskets that are perfect for the same idea. Can't leave them out! I still have mine from college, many years ago. It was put through the wringer and came out looking just as good as the day I got it.





Next time I go up north, when I drop off the hampers at the bed & breakfast i'm going too ask to take a photo of it. I think it would be fun too see it in a real life setting :-)

Zooks New Baskets

When we went for our visit last weekend, the Zook family wanted to show us some of the new baskets they wanted to try. I told them I would add them to the collection and see what people had to say. If you like the baskets, or the idea of these baskets, let me know! {Comment section or email} They would love to have some feedback!

Kitchen Organizer

This one will hold silverware and paper plates on one side or both. You can also have napkins on one side or both. What a great idea with Super Bowl Sunday coming around! Another idea that I thought would be fun is to use it for arts and crafts. I have tons of scrapbook and paints around, this would be a great carrying basket.

Mail

I bought this basket. Not for mail but to keep the dogs leashes and potty bags in. We hung it right by the front door! We also put key ring holders on the bottom and hung our keys there. It's so nice to have everything in one place.

Remote

I think my husband inspired them on this one! Ha-ha. He told them about all the remotes we English have to use our TVs, DVD players and in his case video games. Next thing we knew, they made this basket. And it looks so cute on a coffee table! I don't mind all the remotes now! {The basket is set up on an incline, it has three slots for items and you can see everything because of the levels.}

Jelly

The Zook family has two versions of Jelly basket. This is the newest one. They thought you could get a better look at the jars this way. It will hold 4 large jars.

We are headed over to the Stutzman farm tomorrow to celebrate Maddie's {mother} birthday. They LOVE pizza and only get it when we bring it over for special occasions. We are also going to make a cake and take too her. I'm sure ours won't be as good as theirs, but it's made with love and from scratch!

If you are interested in any of the baskets shown, or any of the baskets your have seen, please send us an email at buggybaskets@live.com

We have Launced!

After many, and I mean many, emails about a catalog we decided to make an online viewing gallery. This is a good way for you too view most of the baskets that we have too offer. As new baskets get made, and they are making some really neat baskets this year, we will add it too the gallery.

If you want more information about any of the baskets, please feel free to send us an email. We have pictures of the insides and other views of the baskets. Too save space we just did the basic photo. So don't hesitate to write us about any of them. Just a reminder that all baskets can be made in any of the colors they offer. Please take a look at the gallery and let us know what you think! Thanks for coming back to the site and checking our progress. We can't wait for the festivals to begin again this year! Our goal is too make it to a few more this year.

The gallery will always be available on the right hand side of the blog, check out the section called "View Our Baskets".

Presenting our online viewing gallery.

Tis The Tissue Season

It's the time of year when the world is in need of lots of tissues! I know here in Ohio we are in the bulk of winter and go through a box a week. {Gotta love sinus!} The Amish know the importance to tissues as well and have made up some wonderful baskets to accommodate all home decor.



We had a customer at the Sauerkraut Festival let us know that the plant basket the Zooks made fit on the back of the toilet and can hold tissues.

These are a great gift idea or even a nice winter gift to teachers and Sunday School teachers!

If you would like more information about these baskets or any of the other baskets you have seen send us an email at buggybaskets@live.com