A few years ago, I heard Martha give a tutorial on how to assemble a housewarming gift based upon the basket given to George and Mary Bailey in “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Basically, you find a lovely basket, fill it with decorative ‘grass’ and add a loaf of bread, a container of salt and a bottle of wine. You then write or print out in a fancy font the following:
Bread! That this house may never know hunger
Salt! That life may always have flavor
Wine! That joy and prosperity may reign forever!*
You tuck this card into your basket which you present as a housewarming gift to the new homeowner. After assembling a few of these, with great success, I considered doing something similar for a wedding. Again, I found a lovely basket and filled it with decorative ‘grass’. I added to the basket a box of chocolates, a container of cayenne (or some equally hot spice), a bottle of wine and a pillar candle with a decorative candle holder. On my card, I printed the following:
Chocolate, so your kisses may always be sweet
Cayenne, so your union may always know spice
Candle, so your hearts may always be warm
Wine, so your marriage will always be joyful.
What’s great about using this basic idea, is you can make the gift suit your budget. Cash tight? Go to World Market where you’ll be able to find all the necessary items for a good price. Sky’s the limit? May I suggest Godiva chocolates (or even better, some Knipschildt chocolates), a Lalique crystal candle holder and a bottle of 1996 Chateau Lafite Rothschild to start? Those should impress anyone.
*My alternative take on the housewarming script was this:
Bread, so your cupboards may always be full
Salt, so your kitchen may always hold flavor
Candle, so your home will forever be warm
Wine, so your life will always know good fortune.
(All pictured items are avaliable at World Market.)
