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We’re all about dogs here at BisketBaskets – they’re our best four-legged friends, and we just couldn’t imagine growing up without dogs in our lives! We recently came across Our Dog Blog, where dog owners can ask questions and post answers to common questions to help out the dog community on all those canine questions bubbling up in your mind! We actually posted our own question and answer at “What Should I Know Before Adopting A Dog From A Shelter?” based on our tried and true experience. We hope you’ll head on over to OurDogBlog.com and help out by asking a question or posing your own question and answer!

Time to turn your clocks back 1 hour

It’s that time of year again when we get to realize our dreams come true.  No we didn’t win the lottery, become Queen of a beautiful tropical island and that was totally a dream where George Clooney asked you to marry him!  We get to sleep in without hitting the snooze button for a full hour!  It all comes to an end at 2:00 AM on Sunday, November 7th 2010 and we move our clocks back and get to experience a one-time, one hour Groundhog Day just like in the movies!  You can relive that hour, you can do it once; then do it all over again just for fun but most of us will sleep right through it and just enjoy the extra hour of sleep come morning. 

On this unique day every year we are reminded not only to move our clocks back one hour but to also replace the batteries in our smoke detectors, change the baking soda in your fridge and start to think about the upcoming holiday season.  Okay, so perhaps I just tossed that one in there but the truth is… you should be!  Christmas is only a mere … 49 days away and counting and if you count the holiday gifting season, that starts in only 23 days. 

BisketBaskets.com has been designing holiday gift baskets for 11 years and we are confident we can provide just the perfect gift for your loved one or corporate clients.  We are taking corporate holiday orders already so if you’re ready to discuss holiday gifting please email us (info at BisketBaskets dot com) and we will set up a time to discuss your business needs.  If you wish to shop early for your personal and corporate holiday gifts, we do offer the buy now/ship later option on our website.  Let us know if we can be of service to you this holiday season.

Looking for that missing piece of the puzzle for your company?  You’re doing everything right, customer service is good, the product is good, marketing is good, the employees are good; but something is just missing.  Perhaps it’s something you haven’t given much thought to as you never felt there to be a need.  Maybe it’s time to change things up just a bit and begin to send a clear signal to your clients that you appreciate their continued patronage throughout the year.

No matter your company size there are a multiple of reasons why you should be sending gift baskets to your important clients.  In good economy and in bad, it is important to have your company name on the minds of your clients at all times and sending them a gift for any number of occasions can make this happen for you.  It has been said that it takes more money to gain a new client than it takes to keep an existing one happy.  Make your name be the first they think to call when they need your type of service by sending them a gift periodically to remind them that you appreciate their business.  Your investment can be returned in ways you could never imagine!  Here’s one of our clients story about his success in using BisketBaskets.com for his Corporate Appreciation Gifts; his missing puzzle piece for his business.

Having a successful automotive business for over 20 years; we still had this one account that we had been trying to gain for many years; you know the kind, the one you dream about.  I would contact them, talk with them but still couldn’t nail down client.  Finally after years, I gave up trying to land this account as they just couldn’t be swayed to give us a chance to earn their trust.  Meanwhile, I contacted BisketBaskets.com for several of their Corporate Gift Baskets for my business and had them delivered to me directly so that I could properly thank my clients by delivering them in person; something that I enjoy doing.  Bisket Baskets designed and delivered awesome gifts and I began to ring doorbells around town delivering.  One client answered her door and was very excited to receive such a beautiful gift that she wanted to leave it all intact for her dinner party that night so everyone could see it.  With her many thank-yous I left her home with a smile on my face; totally unprepared for what was about to happen the next day.  Saturday morning I arrived at my office to the phone ringing and I answered it to find my hard sought after client of my dreams calling me.  Many times you never know what turned a new client your direction but this time it was evident; it was BisketBaskets.com!  My new client was at that dinner party and saw the appreciation gift I had hand delivered to my client.  After she was told the story of the gift she realized that I was the person she wanted to do business with and called me bright and early on that Saturday morning to let me know we had their business.  If I wasn’t diligent in sending appreciation gifts to my clients, I never would have gained my dream client! 

Bisket Baskets was very happy to assist our above client with his corporate gift giving needs.  He has maintained his dream client and continues to send appreciation baskets throughout the year and not just at the holidays.  He has learned that your company gains more recognition by being the only gift on the table instead of one of many.  We encourage this off-season gifting trend as well as saying Thank you is perfect anytime of the year! 

BisketBaskets.com offers a wide variety of corporate gifts ranging in price from $24.99 to $269.99.  Should you need an even more impressive gift we would be happy to assist you with those needs as well.  How can we help get your corporate gifting needs on track with our Corporate Appreciation gifts?

From taking that trip in a lifetime to visiting family and friends our summer vacations are always events to look forward to.  When we visit and stay with friends and family it’s always appropriate to thank them for their hospitality.  Doing this can always be an enjoyable occasion as it can be done as shared time together or a gift to arrive after your departure. 

Saying thank you as a shared time together can be as simple as treating your host family out to dinner at a nice restaurant in their neighborhood or nearby.  By enjoying their company in these final hours of your vacation it is great to relive your experiences with them and to say thank you for putting you and your family up for the stay.  To say thank you with a gift you can make your selection prior to your vacation and have the thank you gift shipped to deliver after you leave or place your order when you arrive home.  A beautiful gift basket thanking for their hospitality is always acceptable very much appreciated.  The toughest part of thanking is deciding what kind of gift to send!

With BisketBaskets.com we offer beautiful gourmet thank you gift baskets, candy gifts and cookie gifts that are suitable for the whole family, plus we even have pet lover gifts which have treats for both the owner and the pet!  Let BisketBaskets.com help you send your thank you gifts this summer!

Some of our clients’ favorites this year are:

Barbeque Grill Master Gourmet Gift Basket , M & M Madness Candy Bouquet, Life’s a Beach and our Two Good Gourmet Dog & Owner Gift.  How will you be saying thank you?  Let BisketBaskets.com help!

Each milestone of graduation in our lives is marked in celebration whether it be a large gathering or just a few family members gathered in your honor.  A time of celebration and rejoicing is required to acknowledge the hard work done to reach this next level.  Unfortunately there may be times we simply cannot make these festive occasions so sending your thoughts and best wishes is easy with a graduation gift from BisketBaskets.com. 

We offer an assortment of gifts that are perfect for each graduation in one’s life.  For our youngsters graduating Nursery School we have our Sunshine Surprise Gift for Kids; from Kindergarten to 1^st Grade they love cookies and sweets so how about Dinomite Cookie Gift Bouquet for him or Kitty Cookie Bouquet for her.  Graduation to Middle school/Junior high try one of our candy bouquets for a huge hit and when they graduate from high school, we have a graduation cookie bouquet complete with mortarboard or a candy bouquet with their favorite candies like Reese’s or M&M’s.  When graduating from college almost anything goes!  We have beautiful gourmet gift baskets for her or gifts for him, cookie bouquets, candy bouquets or candy baskets and even beautiful floral arrangements delivered right to their door.  So many choices to choose from and you can shop online 24/7.  With ground shipping as low as $9.99 there is no need to break the bank and we’ve got you covered for all those out of state graduation gifts you need to purchase.  So stop on by and give us a visit and check out our gifts for your graduation gifting needs.

There is just something “special” about celebrating a birthday.  As a youngster it was the anticipation of gifts, in high school it was all about the party on Friday night, in college we started to mark the occasion with weeklong festivities and in adult life it really isn’t about the cake in the break room, it’s time spent with great friends and family; okay maybe a little about the cake!  Then as seniors; it’s about the gathering of family and the sharing of great stories and time spent together.

At BisketBaskets.com we’re all about sending great birthday gifts.  We have birthday gift ideas for all ages and will share those with you in the end but first here is a little breakdown to guide you thru some ideas that may help.

Toddlers:  Toddlers love push and pull toys, strollers, wagons things of this nature.  Little girls enjoy getting their first kitchen set with all those fun plastic foods and kitchen utensils.  Boys love those big cars and dump trucks that make all that noise.  Other ideas include thinking toys like puzzles and books, coloring books and crayons, ball to kick around outside or even a splash pool and sandbox for summer fun.

Kids:  Kids are easy to please, color books, Barbie and accessories, My Little Pony are some favorites for girls while boys enjoy playing with their favorite cartoon characters like Spiderman toys.  Finding toys that enhance the learning experience while playing are always a hit with the parents.

Sweet 16:  Her first milestone birthday.  This year it’s all about the party (sorry Mom and Dad).  So much at school is centered on “who” you are and this party is the biggest event in her life.  This birthday usually brings forth her first real “adult like” gifts such as a good piece of jewelry like a necklace, ring, bracelet or earrings.  That first piece of real gold that says you’ve come of age!  (PS Save that car for college graduation!)

Adults:  Adult birthday parties are much more fun when there is a theme involved.  If you’re heading to a party be sure to check out the theme and find something that is appropriately matched.  For instance if the guest of honor is turning 50, and the theme is over the hill, go find one of those cute walking canes with the mirror and horn on it as a gag gift or wrap up a box of Metamucil!  Normally adult birthday parties are don’t bring a gift, but the majority of those gifts that do arrive; are gag gifts!

Seniors:  Seniors love puzzles, books (large print if needed), those personalized colorings by the grandchildren, crossword puzzle books, new family picture, a selection of their favorite teas or coffee; but most of all they love company!  Be sure if you are living local that you stop by for a visit as nothing beats a face to face visit with the ones you love.  Stay long enough to play a game or two of scrabble with them; time invested with our seniors is always a cherished moment.

If the above birthday gift ideas are not up to what you were thinking, or you don’t want to shop and ship a gift, BisketBaskets.com is up to the task of providing a more personal and customized gift just for you.  We have some fantastic cookie gifts for those turning Sweet 16,  or Over the Hill at 40 or 50, a wide selection of floral gifts to be delivered to their door like the Ultimate Birthday Bundle that has a teddy bear, chocolates, mylar balloon and a floral birthday cake!  Be sure to check out our entire Birthday collection online as we have something for everyone.

How did the Easter Bunny and all those Easter eggs make it into the Easter picture?  This was really an interesting question because we all know that rabbits don’t lay eggs!  For this we needed to do a bit of research just so that you can answer all those tough questions from your youngster.  

The very beginning of the Easter Bunny goes back to Germany in the early 1600’s as that is when the first writings began that talked of this mysterious bunny.  Germans among many other nationalities made their pilgrimage to America in the 1700’s and like others brought their beliefs and traditions with them.  The Germans settled in large numbers in what is now known as the Pennsylvania Dutch Country and the German children all believed that if they were good a magical rabbit (Osterhase) would leave them a nest filled with beautiful colored eggs on Easter morning.  This magical rabbit was very similar to the stories of Kriist Kindle (Kris Kringle) where good boys and girls were given gifts on the night before the holiday. 

As with any tradition, the beginning of that tradition usually begins because of a celebration or the need of a celebration.  In this particular case both the Church and the season blends together to combine both the celebration of Christ and the resurrection and the celebration of new life with spring’s arrival.  These two very different occasions actually cross paths and have merely blended over history. 

According to the Catholic Church, the 40 days prior to Easter is known as Lent and during this time of Lent back in the 600’s Pope Gregory the Great forbade the consumption of eggs.  Therefore upon Easter day, eggs were again able to be consumed and it made for a special treat.  European cultures have expanded on the egg theme where they began to color the eggs in vibrant colors and gave them as gifts. 

The children however made nests out of their brightly colored bonnets and hats so that the magical rabbit (Easter Bunny) would lay the eggs inside if they were good girls and boys.  Then as time passes the Easter Basket was designed to hold these precious eggs and the legend continues as the Easter Bunny now hides the Easter eggs for good children to find. 

The symbolic bunny along with the chick was chosen to represent this holiday.  Once again reverting back to a reason to celebrate, spring was in the air; a changing of seasons and the renewal of life.  With both rabbits and birds being prolific breeders they represented symbols of fertility. 

Today, children and adults love to share Easter Bunny stories along with their views and beliefs of Christianity and the tradition still continues.  It’s always interesting to learn just what triggered a specific holiday but when you have Christian values combined with an Easter Bunny somehow it appeared that something went terribly wrong!  In actuality the two occasions blended into one and our Easter holiday now combines both Christian beliefs along with secular traditions. 

To help in celebrating Easter with your family and friends, be sure to stop by our retail website BisketBaskets.com where you can find Easter Gift Baskets for kids of all ages!  We’ve come a long way since those edible Easter Bunnies that were made of pastry and sugar back in the 1800’s to some fabulous Easter Baskets filled with Reese’s candy or Ghirardelli Easter Baskets or even a dog Easter Basket!  Shop early and we can deliver in time for Easter.

Ever wonder what goes on behind the scenes in a company?  You can always view our gifts we offer online but never know how that particular product came to be.  Well let’s take a peek at how we select the great products that you will find in our gift baskets.   

Throughout the year there are many trade shows that travel across our country and promote everything from new gourmet foods to containers, china, stationary and so much more.  These trade shows are great for gathering new ideas so we send some staff members to select trade shows to find new products.  They love to taste new products and if it is a hit with them they bring home samples for our staff.  Upon their arrival back to the office, they have suitcases filled with goodies and are ready to sit down and just about explode with their new found products.  We then hold a meeting to explore all they found and then set up another meeting with the entire staff. 

This second meeting is all about tasting the new products.  We literally mix, stir, bake up these new products and give them the once over by our entire staff.  We eat, talk, compare notes and when we finally have everyone’s input, we make a decision of which product best fits the criteria we need then purchase those favorites and bring them in so we may begin using them in our designs.  Our products really are taste tested and approved by our staff here at BisketBaskets.com. 

One of our greatest finds was the Wine Glace’.  Not a personal fan of wine I was hesitant to even try the product.  At the trade show this item was poured into small bathroom size paper cups so reluctantly I selected a cup with not much in it and drank it.  WOW!  That was not like any wine I had had in the past.  I spoke in length with their staff and learned exactly what this product was and was immediately impressed.  I believe I drank three cups full before I left that day and returned the following day for another sample!  This product was a huge success for us as it is a staple item in our wine themed gift baskets.  Once we sell a gift with this item in it; the recipient usually returns looking for more and we are happy to accommodate them by adding it to our Gourmet Foods page.  This item went on to win the prestigious “Best New Drink at National Gourmet Food Show” in both 2005 and 2006.

Presently this week we are working on new Easter Gift Basket Designs.  Fluffy rabbits, chocolates and the pastel Easter baskets are all around our design studio.  If you’re looking to start doing your Easter shopping early, come on over and check out our Easter Gift Baskets.  We have new gifts arriving online almost every day!  We even include the family dog as we have Easter Baskets for pets .

Now that you know all about who St. Patrick was, we’ve discussed the date of March 17th, uncovered the “green” mystery, the shamrock, the celebration and the green beer.  Now we will discover the remaining folklore of the Blarney Stone, the pot of gold and the leprechaun. 

The leprechaun is an Irish fairy.  He is said to stand only 2 feet tall and is dressed somewhat like a shoemaker.  He is rather old looking and is said to be aloof and unfriendly as he lives alone and makes shoes.  Leprechauns are noted for having a hidden pot of gold and you can track it down by listening carefully to the sound of a shoemakers hammering.  If you can catch the feisty leprechaun you can force him into telling you where the pot of gold is.  But be very careful, he uses trickery and if he gets you to look away he vanishes and so does your hope of finding the pot of gold!

Travel to the Irish village of Blarney and you can visit the Blarney Castle where the famous Blarney stone can be found.  They say the Blarney Stone holds magical properties but exactly what they are no one knows.  One legend claims that an old woman cast a spell on this stone to reward the King who saved her from drowning.  It is said that when the King kissed the Blarney Stone it gave him the ability to speak sweetly and convincingly.  This stone is visited my thousands of tourists each year and for those who wish to have the same spell of speech they must climb the tower, stretch both backwards and downwards and if you’re lucky enough you can Kiss the Blarney.

Enjoy your St. Patrick’s Day Celebration.  Should you need to bring a St. Patrick’s Day hostess gift be sure to check out our Irish gifts for St. Patrick’s Day gifting.  We offer Irish gift baskets, Kiss Me I’m Irish cookie bouquet and we even have the family dog covered with our St. Patrick’s Day Good Dog gift basket.

Valentine’s Day is the only holiday that is best celebrated in pairs!  You can’t mention February without thinking of the day that falls right in the middle; Valentine’s Day.  So as I sat down to write this blog today, I thought how did this day of love begin?  Who were the key players and why is it all about love?

As history states Valentine’s Day was named after St. Valentine and unless you do some research all you will know is the TV commercial version of a cupid and an arrow.  History claims several versions of this romantic holiday and here’s my favorite.  Valentine was a priest who served in Rome during the third century.  The Emperor Claudius II loved to send his soldiers out into war for very long stretches of time.  This made for soldiers who were married very unhappy as they missed their wives and young families.  With unhappy soldiers, they became lonely and homesick and therefore did not do their jobs well.  This just wasn’t going to do for Emperor Claudius II so he then made the law that no solider could be married.  To the Emperor, this made sense; they couldn’t miss something that they didn’t have.  Valentine noticed the very injustice that the Emperor was doing so he decided to try and bring happiness to the soldiers and in secret began to marry young lovers.  Of course it didn’t take too long for the Emperor to hear of Valentine’s deeds and ordered that Valentine be put to death.  As any great love story goes Valentine does find his one true love as well.  For during his time spent in the Emperor’s prison he fell deeply in love with the prison keeper’s daughter.  She came to visit him many times and his love for her grew deeply.  Valentine was put to death on “Valentine’s Day” February 14 around 270 AD and just prior to his death he passed a love letter to her which he signed “From your Valentine”.  And the rest they say is history.  

How will history be written in your romance novel?  BisketBaskets.com is here to help you with our beautiful edible Valentine’s Day gifts, Valentine’s Day floral arrangements and even Valentines Gift Baskets for dogs!  We even offer the very best in Valentine’s Day Candy Baskets  and Valentine’s Day Cookie baskets as well.  The Beatles sang it best with “Love is all you need”, but will it get you in the door?  Stop by for a visit; we can still ship via ground if you order by this weekend.