The past few years our community’s PACE program has hosted a Trivia Night as a fundraiser for the program and our schools. It has been quite a success and something that a lot of people look forward to, including myself. The trivia is terribly challenging. The first year our team was made up of some rather intelligent, worldly individuals (plus myself). We started the night off feeling pretty smug, but as the questions rolled in and we moved from one subject to the next we quickly deflated. The questions are, well, trivial! Sports questions that are something like, “In what year did So and So win the bronze metal in hurdles?” Crazy, right? My husband and I are competitive by nature, in all that we do. However, this is one thing we have learned to let go of and now attend to enjoy spending an evening in good company, laughing at how inept we are when it comes to trivia!
In addition to the cover charge for the evening of entertainment, pizza and drinks PACE also solicits donations for a silent auction. My good friend, Wendy, is one of the ‘founders’ of Trivia Night. She puts a lot of time and effort into making the night a success, as well as so many other PACE projects, that when she asks me to donate a basket for the silent auction the answer will always be ‘Absolutely!‘ I love any excuse to shop and be creative and feel slightly less guilty that I do not contribute more to the PACE program by donating a gift basket.
Gathering the Basket’s Contents
I headed to Target (#favshoppingspot) and started wandering the isles. I wasn’t sure what the theme was going to be this year, but I knew it would come to me once I found that ‘one piece’ that would be the focal point. What I found was a beautiful bowl; inside had a light and dark blue basic floral pattern against a white background while the outside was a rich gold tone. It was perfect! A kitchen basket it was to be. The gold tone was my focus of what I needed to add to the basket to tie it together. I located a set of gold measuring cups and measuring spoons. I wandered into the home décor section and found these adorable gold edged chevron mirror wall decorations. Not a ‘kitchen’ item, but I could envision them used to decorate the space and tie the gold element together. I am also big on adding green or natural elements into any baskets that I put together. I included a couple small faux plants and a Magnolia bud vase with a single tulip. Kitchen towels are always easy add-in fillers for a kitchen themed basket and I couldn’t pass up the marble handled cutting board. I finished it off with some hand lotion and a candle in a fresh rosemary mint scent.
I was super excited about what I had gathered and couldn’t wait to get home and get it put together. I got up to the register and began self-checkout. Half way through I scanned that lovely bowl that the whole basket was built around and… a notice came on the screen stating that the item had been recalled and could not be sold! I couldn’t believe it. I was certain that I was not going to be able to replace that bowl and maintain the look. Back to the kitchen section I went. I found a slightly off-colored golden platter. I tried working it into the basket and was not thrilled. I kept going. After another couple of isles, I turned the corner to find a set of three gold nesting bowls. They were not as perfect as my original bowl, but I was determined to make them work.
Styling the Gift Basket
When building a gift basket creating height and layers is key to making it visually pleasing. I started by placing the cutting board at the very back of the basket. Next, I added the chevron mirror set, turning it perpendicular to the cutting board to visually separate the two items. I added a ball of tissue paper under one edge to give it a bit of a tilt.
The nesting bowls were placed in the basket with bunches of tissue paper layered between each bowl, again to add some height and dimension.
Once these larger elements were in place I began playing with the placement of the smaller items. I added balls of tissue paper where needed to add extra support or to aid in placing an item at a certain angle or position.
To finish it off I went back in with brown craft filler to hide evidence of the tissue paper underneath. The craft filler is more expensive and does not offer the support that the tissue paper offers, which is why I do not use it from the start in place of the tissue paper.
What do you think of this gold-toned gift basket? Would you accent your kitchen with gold?
If you are interested in decorating tips you may enjoy this Master Bedroom Refresh post. Happy Monday, I hope you have a fantastic week!
