What about food themed baskets such as Italian Dinner Night with pasta, sauce, bread etc. maybe with gourmet brands.
Coffee Break basket with gourmet coffee, mugs and muffins. Gevalia has an offer now for 3 boxes of coffee plus mug for $3 and no shipping cost.
Bath & Spa basket / Spring garden basket with small shovel, gloves, seeds, maybe small pots to grow herbs.
Fruit / Nut Lover's Delight Basket / Sports Lover's Basket with stuff for your local favorite team / Picnic Basket with plates/untensils/plastic cups/tablecloth etc / Dog or Cat Lover's Basket - treats - toys - etc /
I too have seen the list and work off of them. We do not ask the classroom to donate we ask the parents to come up with a theme that works for them - idea and money wise. We also ask our teachers to donate a themed basket. We have 10 teachers and usually 2 or 3 will get together and come up with something. We also ask for any new, unused items that people have around their homes and incorporate them into a "themed" basket which we will add to if necessary. Somebody has a new hairdryer or curling iron we may buy brushes, shampoo, gel etc at the dollar store. We even ask for people to donate any baskets they have around the house. The donated individual items can cut down on your expenses. Even single bottles of liquoir donated by individuals can create a nice basket of cheer. Don't limit yourself to a "basket". Any container can lead to an idea. A large popcorn bucket, available at the dollar store will do. Add a couple 2 liter bottles of sode, microwave popcorn, some candy and maybe a gift card from Blockbuster creates a great "basket". A cheap laundry basket filled with cleaning products creates a great basket. One of our biggest expenses has always been the wrap for the baskets. Most of our parents have no problem donating but, like myself, are not creative when it comes to the presentation. We tell people you donte it we will wrap it. After spedning toooo much money on small rolls of the cellophane wrap we finally invested money (about $150.00) on the larger rolls that florists use. This roll has lasted for 3 Penny Parties at an average cost of $50.00 per party. Since we usually see a profit of about $5000.00 it was a wise investment.
We are trying to come up with some creative ideas for out basket raffle that is part of our auction in spring. We ask each grade level to donate for a basket about a certain theme. I have seen lists of themes -- wondering what other groups have acutally done and have gone over well -- both to find things to fill it with and to get people excited about buying raffle tickets for.
