A gift basket is versatile. It can be adapted for any occasion and the types and sizes of the basket items can range from the frugal and small to the extravagant and large. It all depends on the gift giver and the basket receiver. Try on a few of these ideas for Easter for the wee ones in your life.
Newborns are so small and adorable. They rely on mom and dad for everything that they need. Make life a little easier for new parents. The gifts in an Easter basket for babies are mostly for the parents and others who will be sharing in the care of the child.
Let’s start with the layout of the basket. Depending on how many gifts you plan to give, make sure that the basket is deep and wide enough to accommodate all of the goodies. Keep in mind that the season is spring and the holiday is Easter. Instead of the traditional green grass that normally lines an Easter basket, fill the bottom of the gift basket with a layer of rolled up washcloths and baby bath towels in spring pastel colors. The towels should be lined up along the outer edge of the basket and the washcloths should fill the center.
Put in the bigger items starting at the outer edge of the basket and working your way towards the center. Include coffee mugs in pastel colors and a jar of instant coffee along with a box of sugar packets. Getting up in the morning is hard with a baby that wakes several times during the night. Slippers for mom and dad would help during those long nights. Include an outfit for baby that can be worn on Easter morning if they choose. If you have any pictures of baby, have them mounted in a lapel pin or brooch so that the proud parents can showcase their precious little one on Easter Sunday morning.
Young children get store-bought Easter baskets each year. Surprise them this Easter with a homemade creation that comes from the heart. Be mindful of the age of the child when choosing edible additions and toys.
The Easter gift basket itself can be use all year round after the goodies are gone. The basket can hold clothes, toys, or other items in the child’s room. Instead of the usual grass, use pastel tissue paper to line the Easter basket. Cut several sheets into thin strips. Use the sharp edge of a pair of scissors to curl them.
Fill the gift basket with coloring books and crayons, small plush rabbits or baby chicks, and, depending on whether you are giving to a girl or a boy, action figures or small dolls. Since it is spring, the addition of a pair of plastic binoculars, a butterfly net, and/or bubbles would give children something to do during playtime outdoors. Fill plastic eggs with fun size packs of M&M® candies and small candy bars. Include small boxes of raisins and dried fruits for a change from jelly beans and marshmallow treats.
Easter gift baskets are an excellent idea for babies and children. The children receive a greater variety of gifts than they ever would from a pre-made basket. Gift givers have to do a little more work, but the smiling faces will make it worthwhile.
Krasen Tomov is the owner of My Gift Baskets Mart. For more information about easter baskets and easter baskets for baby, visit us at http://www.mygiftbasketsmart.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Krasen_Tomov
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
GIVE GREAT EASTER GIFTS
If you want to give Easter gifts to the special people in your life, now is a good time to consider what makes a great Easter gift. Think back to a time in your life when you received a gift that meant a lot to you. Likely, the person who gave you the gift gave thought to what you would like, and then also took care in the gift's presentation, so that the whole experience would be memorable for you. To give your Easter gift recipients that same experience, take a little time now in the planning stage, and no doubt your family and friends will be thrilled with the results.
Easter baskets are the traditional gift given at this time of year, and they provide an opportunity for you to personalize the contents so that it will contain items that the recipient will be sure to enjoy. Everyone likes food treats, and items such as gourmet chocolates, candies like jelly beans, and baked items including decorated cookies or chocolate-covered pretzels will make everyone smile regardless of their age. When Easter baskets are given to children, they could also include toys that the child would have fun with, like soft and cuddly stuffed animals, or perhaps sidewalk chalk for hours of delight.
Sometimes an Easter gift can serve a practical purpose as well. If your gift recipient is an adult, why not include some gourmet chocolates along with gifts such as luxury soaps and bath gels, bath sponges and other appreciated items that can be enjoyed long after the holiday is over.
The way the items are presented in the basket also makes a big impact. You will want to do a little sleuthing to discover your recipient's favorite colors, and then use them in terms of gift wrap, ribbons and bows, and gift cards. There are many lovely clear plastic wrappings that come in beautiful colors to give an exciting accent to your Easter basket before your special someone even opens it. Ribbons and bows can be mixed to create layers of color, and can be shaped when they have wire edges. You can make wonderful Easter-themed pastel blends of the items inside the basket, suiting it specifically to what the recipient most enjoys. Chocolates can be decorated with colored icings, and colorful candies can be placed in bright plastic eggs for a pleasant surprise. Stuffed animals such as rabbits and chicks can help carry out your desired color theme as well. All of the gift items in the basket will need a soft bed of Easter grass, and this comes in several beautiful colors to add yet another impressive highlight to your thoughtful gift.
Anne Harvester is a homemaker extraordinaire with years of experience creating spectacular events and gifts. See her favorite Gift baskets, Easter gift baskets, Childrens Easter gifts.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Anne_Harvester
Easter baskets are the traditional gift given at this time of year, and they provide an opportunity for you to personalize the contents so that it will contain items that the recipient will be sure to enjoy. Everyone likes food treats, and items such as gourmet chocolates, candies like jelly beans, and baked items including decorated cookies or chocolate-covered pretzels will make everyone smile regardless of their age. When Easter baskets are given to children, they could also include toys that the child would have fun with, like soft and cuddly stuffed animals, or perhaps sidewalk chalk for hours of delight.
Sometimes an Easter gift can serve a practical purpose as well. If your gift recipient is an adult, why not include some gourmet chocolates along with gifts such as luxury soaps and bath gels, bath sponges and other appreciated items that can be enjoyed long after the holiday is over.
The way the items are presented in the basket also makes a big impact. You will want to do a little sleuthing to discover your recipient's favorite colors, and then use them in terms of gift wrap, ribbons and bows, and gift cards. There are many lovely clear plastic wrappings that come in beautiful colors to give an exciting accent to your Easter basket before your special someone even opens it. Ribbons and bows can be mixed to create layers of color, and can be shaped when they have wire edges. You can make wonderful Easter-themed pastel blends of the items inside the basket, suiting it specifically to what the recipient most enjoys. Chocolates can be decorated with colored icings, and colorful candies can be placed in bright plastic eggs for a pleasant surprise. Stuffed animals such as rabbits and chicks can help carry out your desired color theme as well. All of the gift items in the basket will need a soft bed of Easter grass, and this comes in several beautiful colors to add yet another impressive highlight to your thoughtful gift.
Anne Harvester is a homemaker extraordinaire with years of experience creating spectacular events and gifts. See her favorite Gift baskets, Easter gift baskets, Childrens Easter gifts.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Anne_Harvester
Greek Easter
Easter - Pascha in Greek, is a wonderful time to visit Greece and experience all the customs and traditions that the Greeks celebrate today that has changed very little in hundreds of years. Easter in Greece is the holiest of all religious festivals in Greece. The festivals, celebrations and traditions show us the spirit and passion that is so alive in Greeks and you see the spirit of community at its best. It is still refreshingly non commercialised.
Greece is a Christian Orthodox country and a large percentage of the population follow closely the christian traditions, and many will observe the traditions of Lent and give up certain foods for this time. The foods that are generally restricted for Lent are meat or fish that has blood, as well as anything that comes from an animal with blood such as cheese, yogurt, milk and eggs. Seafood such as calamari, prawns and octopus are suitable to eat.
For the greek orthodox Easter, the church follows the Julian calender, and that is why some years Greece celebrates Easter at a different time to other countries.
Greek Easter starts with Clean Monday - Katheri Deftera, which is the first day of Lent. It is a public holiday in Greece and there will be many parties and celebrations going on. Many people will be feasting on fish, and gathering round to play music and sing songs as the greeks are so good at when celebrating. This day represents cleansing their bodies for the resurrection. The whole period of Lent in Greece is called Nistia and any food which is allowed to be eaten during this time will have the word nistisima after it, to indicate that the ingredients are not part of the restricted foods.
The week before Easter starts off the main period of Easter with Palm Sunday. The week leading up to Pascha in Greece is called Holy Week - Megali Evdomatha. This is a very busy time, many things happening around the church, traditional services and events are held and a feeling of excitement in the air as it gets closer to the Easter weekend and all the celebrations that are planned for then.
On Holy or Great Thursday, preparation gets underway for the greek Easter celebration. Tsoureki, greek easter bread recipe is a special, celebratory bread that is slightly sweet in taste. This is usually only made for Easter, and several will be baked today to last over the weekend. Batches of greek Easter cookies will also be baked today, ready to offer any visitors.
Another greek Easter tradition is to cook up a large batch of eggs and dye them red. These red eggs symbolise the blood of Christ as well as the eggs symbolizing a new life. A couple of these eggs will be placed in the tsoureki bread. A favourite game they play with the eggs is between two people, each one takes an egg in their hand, with one end of the egg sticking out. Taking it in turns with their partner, one will hit the opponents egg with their own egg. The person whose egg cracks first is the loser. The winner then goes on to another round with someone else and so on. This game with the red eggs - Kokkina Avga is called Tsougrisma.
On Good Friday or Holy Friday, this is a very holy day in the orthodox faith. It is a day of mourning and the church bells will ring slow and steady through the day. People will be flocking to the church at all times of the day for prayers. It is a day of no work, (or cooking). In the evening there will be processions around the local church.
Close to midnight on Easter Saturday, everyone makes their way to the local church for a wonderful outdoor church service at midnight.
Easter Sunday is a day of celebration, of the end of lent, of the resurrection of Christ and of life itself. There will be large gatherings at peoples homes, there will be a feast, with plenty of food and wine, song and dance and this will go on until late in the evening, it is such a wonderful day, no one wants it to end.
To read about Easter in Greece in more detail, including the celebrations around Easter Friday, the Epitaphios, Saturday and Sunday in particular and the recipes for greek Easter meals, visit http://www.ultimate-guide-to-greek-food.com/greek-easter.html
Ann Pagomenos is webmaster at http://www.ultimate-guide-to-greek-food.com where she provides information on greek food and recipes of the greek cuisine that have been passed down her family for generations. Ann was taught greek cooking whilst living in Greece for years by many experts in greek food.
This article may be published electronically or in print in its entirety as long as the author bylines in the resource box are included and the urls kept live. A courtesy copy of your publication of web page URL would be appreciated.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ann_Pagomenos
Greece is a Christian Orthodox country and a large percentage of the population follow closely the christian traditions, and many will observe the traditions of Lent and give up certain foods for this time. The foods that are generally restricted for Lent are meat or fish that has blood, as well as anything that comes from an animal with blood such as cheese, yogurt, milk and eggs. Seafood such as calamari, prawns and octopus are suitable to eat.
For the greek orthodox Easter, the church follows the Julian calender, and that is why some years Greece celebrates Easter at a different time to other countries.
Greek Easter starts with Clean Monday - Katheri Deftera, which is the first day of Lent. It is a public holiday in Greece and there will be many parties and celebrations going on. Many people will be feasting on fish, and gathering round to play music and sing songs as the greeks are so good at when celebrating. This day represents cleansing their bodies for the resurrection. The whole period of Lent in Greece is called Nistia and any food which is allowed to be eaten during this time will have the word nistisima after it, to indicate that the ingredients are not part of the restricted foods.
The week before Easter starts off the main period of Easter with Palm Sunday. The week leading up to Pascha in Greece is called Holy Week - Megali Evdomatha. This is a very busy time, many things happening around the church, traditional services and events are held and a feeling of excitement in the air as it gets closer to the Easter weekend and all the celebrations that are planned for then.
On Holy or Great Thursday, preparation gets underway for the greek Easter celebration. Tsoureki, greek easter bread recipe is a special, celebratory bread that is slightly sweet in taste. This is usually only made for Easter, and several will be baked today to last over the weekend. Batches of greek Easter cookies will also be baked today, ready to offer any visitors.
Another greek Easter tradition is to cook up a large batch of eggs and dye them red. These red eggs symbolise the blood of Christ as well as the eggs symbolizing a new life. A couple of these eggs will be placed in the tsoureki bread. A favourite game they play with the eggs is between two people, each one takes an egg in their hand, with one end of the egg sticking out. Taking it in turns with their partner, one will hit the opponents egg with their own egg. The person whose egg cracks first is the loser. The winner then goes on to another round with someone else and so on. This game with the red eggs - Kokkina Avga is called Tsougrisma.
On Good Friday or Holy Friday, this is a very holy day in the orthodox faith. It is a day of mourning and the church bells will ring slow and steady through the day. People will be flocking to the church at all times of the day for prayers. It is a day of no work, (or cooking). In the evening there will be processions around the local church.
Close to midnight on Easter Saturday, everyone makes their way to the local church for a wonderful outdoor church service at midnight.
Easter Sunday is a day of celebration, of the end of lent, of the resurrection of Christ and of life itself. There will be large gatherings at peoples homes, there will be a feast, with plenty of food and wine, song and dance and this will go on until late in the evening, it is such a wonderful day, no one wants it to end.
To read about Easter in Greece in more detail, including the celebrations around Easter Friday, the Epitaphios, Saturday and Sunday in particular and the recipes for greek Easter meals, visit http://www.ultimate-guide-to-greek-food.com/greek-easter.html
Ann Pagomenos is webmaster at http://www.ultimate-guide-to-greek-food.com where she provides information on greek food and recipes of the greek cuisine that have been passed down her family for generations. Ann was taught greek cooking whilst living in Greece for years by many experts in greek food.
This article may be published electronically or in print in its entirety as long as the author bylines in the resource box are included and the urls kept live. A courtesy copy of your publication of web page URL would be appreciated.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ann_Pagomenos
Easter Traditions - A History
Easter gifts have a long and fascinating history. Gifting is tied to the holiday known as Easter, and ancient Pagan rituals focused at this time of year upon the renewal of the earth, the upcoming green new growth that the emerging sunlight and warmer weather encouraged, and the idea of birth and rebirth. The egg is a symbol of all of these ideas, and was adopted by and still is used in Christian Easter celebrations to this day.
To start, eggs were painted and decorated and used as gifts. They were given as a romantic gift to admirers, as well as to servants and children. People of Eastern Orthodox faiths made this tradition their own by dying their eggs red to symbolize Christ's blood, and on Easter day they would crack the eggs, to represent Christ breaking out of the tomb. As technology improved, there were hollow eggs crafted from cardboard that were filled with smaller gifts, typically food items. Hollow eggs were also formed from sugar, and were decorated with sugar royal icings. Perhaps the ultimate gift egg was the Fabergé egg, which was studded with real jewels and was given originally as a gift for the Czar of Russia. Around this time chocolate easter eggs were created, and soon became a favorite holiday tradition. As an extension of the egg, the chick was also associated with Easter, and today children will often find marshmallow chicks as a gift that was linked to the original prominence of the egg in the Easter celebration.
Another type of gift you will likely find in modern Easter baskets are rabbits, usually in the form of a toy stuffed rabbit or rabbit-shaped candies and chocolates. This tradition also traces back to early Pagan traditions. Rabbits are known for their ability to reproduce, and this idea of birth, especially in early spring when rabbits tend to give birth to their young, helped to tie them as yet another symbol of this holiday season.
Clothing was sometimes associated as an Easter gift. In the early Catholic tradition, if the faithful were baptized the night before Easter Sunday, they wore white robes for Easter week. If they were baptized before this night, then they got to wear new clothes. Everyone wearing their robes or new clothes could then take part in an Easter parade, which was a walk after mass on Easter Day.
Because of the association with a new growth cycle, gifts from the garden are also connected to Easter. Easter lilies are often given as gifts because they bloom around the time Easter is celebrated.
Easter baskets in early times contained gifts to the goddess Oestre in the hopes that she would grant a good harvest. Eggs were often collected in baskets as well. German legend of an Easter hare, later changed to rabbit, which would bring a basket filled with sweets and colored eggs to children on Easter morning, was brought to America by early German settlers, and the practice continues to this day.
Anne Harvester is a homemaker extraordinaire with years of experience creating spectacular events and gifts. See her favorite Gift baskets, Easter gift baskets, Childrens Easter gifts.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Anne_Harvester
To start, eggs were painted and decorated and used as gifts. They were given as a romantic gift to admirers, as well as to servants and children. People of Eastern Orthodox faiths made this tradition their own by dying their eggs red to symbolize Christ's blood, and on Easter day they would crack the eggs, to represent Christ breaking out of the tomb. As technology improved, there were hollow eggs crafted from cardboard that were filled with smaller gifts, typically food items. Hollow eggs were also formed from sugar, and were decorated with sugar royal icings. Perhaps the ultimate gift egg was the Fabergé egg, which was studded with real jewels and was given originally as a gift for the Czar of Russia. Around this time chocolate easter eggs were created, and soon became a favorite holiday tradition. As an extension of the egg, the chick was also associated with Easter, and today children will often find marshmallow chicks as a gift that was linked to the original prominence of the egg in the Easter celebration.
Another type of gift you will likely find in modern Easter baskets are rabbits, usually in the form of a toy stuffed rabbit or rabbit-shaped candies and chocolates. This tradition also traces back to early Pagan traditions. Rabbits are known for their ability to reproduce, and this idea of birth, especially in early spring when rabbits tend to give birth to their young, helped to tie them as yet another symbol of this holiday season.
Clothing was sometimes associated as an Easter gift. In the early Catholic tradition, if the faithful were baptized the night before Easter Sunday, they wore white robes for Easter week. If they were baptized before this night, then they got to wear new clothes. Everyone wearing their robes or new clothes could then take part in an Easter parade, which was a walk after mass on Easter Day.
Because of the association with a new growth cycle, gifts from the garden are also connected to Easter. Easter lilies are often given as gifts because they bloom around the time Easter is celebrated.
Easter baskets in early times contained gifts to the goddess Oestre in the hopes that she would grant a good harvest. Eggs were often collected in baskets as well. German legend of an Easter hare, later changed to rabbit, which would bring a basket filled with sweets and colored eggs to children on Easter morning, was brought to America by early German settlers, and the practice continues to this day.
Anne Harvester is a homemaker extraordinaire with years of experience creating spectacular events and gifts. See her favorite Gift baskets, Easter gift baskets, Childrens Easter gifts.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Anne_Harvester
Easter Parade
To most people, Easter is about Easter baskets. Children look forward to receiving a chocolate Easter gift, and even newborns may get a baby Easter basket. At least as a secular holiday, Easter is not nearly as big as Christmas. Unlike Christmas, we don’t have a lot of secular songs that are associated with Easter, nor does the holiday have a movie like It’s A Wonderful Life. Two songs do come to mind, however, and they’re both written by the same person. One is Happy Easter, and the other is Easter Parade. Both are from the same 1948 Hollywood musical, and both were written by the son of Russian Jewish immigrants, who is known as Irving Berlin.
Irving Berlin is also known for God Bless America and White Christmas as well as Alexander’s Ragtime Band, Blue Skies and Puttin’ On The Ritz, to name but a few of the 3,000 songs he penned over the course of his 101-year lifetime.
Berlin started life as Israel Baline. Born to Rabbi Moses Baline and his wife Leah in a small Russian village in 1888, the family fled that country in 1891 to escape the frequent pogroms and persecutions suffered by the Ashkenazi Jews. In New York, Rabbi Baline went to work certifying kosher meat. When his father died in 1896, eight-year-old Israel wound up having to go to work in order to survive. It was some years later while working as a singing waiter that his first song, Marie From Sunny Italy started him on his songwriting career. It also resulted in a name change; on the published sheet music, I. Baline was misprinted as I.Berlin.
Irving Berlin was almost sixty years old when he penned the score for MGM’s Easter Parade in the late 1940’s. The film was set to star Judy Garland, Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse. Just before production was to begin, Gene Kelly suffered an injury and Cyd Charisse backed out. Fred Astaire was coaxed out of “retirement” and a new face, Ann Miller, was cast to replace Charisse. The cast also included Peter Lawford, who would go on to become one of the “Ratpack” that included Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. and Joey Bishop.
The plot of Easter Parade is nothing remarkable. The music on the other hand won an Oscar for Best Scoring of a Musical as well as a Writer’s Guild of America Award. is packed with numerous Berlin’s songs that represent some of his best work – several of which were written especially for the film.
Perhaps the significance of Easter Parade – aside from its Easter related songs – is that new, brilliant, creative work can be produced by people of any age, not just young “up-and-comers.” Considering that Easter is about renewal and new beginnings, that’s something to think about.
Anne Harvester is a homemaker extraordinaire with years of experience creating spectacular events and gifts. See her favorite Gift baskets, Easter gift baskets, Childrens Easter gifts.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Anne_Harvester
Irving Berlin is also known for God Bless America and White Christmas as well as Alexander’s Ragtime Band, Blue Skies and Puttin’ On The Ritz, to name but a few of the 3,000 songs he penned over the course of his 101-year lifetime.
Berlin started life as Israel Baline. Born to Rabbi Moses Baline and his wife Leah in a small Russian village in 1888, the family fled that country in 1891 to escape the frequent pogroms and persecutions suffered by the Ashkenazi Jews. In New York, Rabbi Baline went to work certifying kosher meat. When his father died in 1896, eight-year-old Israel wound up having to go to work in order to survive. It was some years later while working as a singing waiter that his first song, Marie From Sunny Italy started him on his songwriting career. It also resulted in a name change; on the published sheet music, I. Baline was misprinted as I.Berlin.
Irving Berlin was almost sixty years old when he penned the score for MGM’s Easter Parade in the late 1940’s. The film was set to star Judy Garland, Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse. Just before production was to begin, Gene Kelly suffered an injury and Cyd Charisse backed out. Fred Astaire was coaxed out of “retirement” and a new face, Ann Miller, was cast to replace Charisse. The cast also included Peter Lawford, who would go on to become one of the “Ratpack” that included Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. and Joey Bishop.
The plot of Easter Parade is nothing remarkable. The music on the other hand won an Oscar for Best Scoring of a Musical as well as a Writer’s Guild of America Award. is packed with numerous Berlin’s songs that represent some of his best work – several of which were written especially for the film.
Perhaps the significance of Easter Parade – aside from its Easter related songs – is that new, brilliant, creative work can be produced by people of any age, not just young “up-and-comers.” Considering that Easter is about renewal and new beginnings, that’s something to think about.
Anne Harvester is a homemaker extraordinaire with years of experience creating spectacular events and gifts. See her favorite Gift baskets, Easter gift baskets, Childrens Easter gifts.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Anne_Harvester
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