It's the Little Things

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  A young girl who was a member of my uncle and aunt's church recently lost her mother to Lung Cancer. She is sixteen years old, about to be a Senior in high school, and already has her college life planned out. Obviously this is a very hard time for her. So, my aunt decided to give her a personalized basket of goodies that a young lady would like. We went to Bed, Bath, & Beyond to get the basket. The goodies came from Bath and Bodyworks, with a few cosmetic goodies from BB&B as well. I added a nice box of Jelly Belly beans and purchased some high-end nail polish I thought she'd like. It was nothing fancy, but something nice.



  To doll up the basket, my aunt and I decided to visit Michael's to get some theme-appropriate rhinestones to apply to the basket's fabric. We also found two pretty little butterflies to apply on the sides of the basket. While the first application pretty much fell off, we eventually super-glued the little stones to the basket. It was hard work at first because my hands got a little messy. Once I got into the swing of things, it just felt good to do something for someone else. Although I lost my mother years ago as a little girl, I know that sinking feeling the young lady must have been going through. When I was in my Senior year of high school, I wanted my mother right there beside me. I'm very glad I had the support of my father and grandmother, however.

  My aunt reported back after she gave the young lady her basket, and she said she loved it. I'm glad I was able to help out and make someone else's day a little brighter. It's nice to step out of the norm for a sympathy gift. Sometimes you want to do more than just a card or a little money. I honestly wouldn't mind making a career of adding touches of flair like that to simple pieces. I'd have to come up with supply funds, but it might not be that hard. Check out the breakdown of everything used in the project....


  • The basket we got from Bed, Bath, and Beyond was $5.95.
  • The rhinestones came from Michael's, and were buy 2, get 1 free. The butterflies also came from Michael's.
  • The goodies from Bath and Body Works were 75% off, and came to a total of six dollars. We basically got a lot of sweet scented body washes.
  • When we went back to BB&B, we went to the nail aisle and purchased bright colors we thought she would like. I found two little bottles for her toes or for art. It was something like 19 bucks combined for about 8 bottles. 
  • When we went to get her a card, I decided to stick something sweet into the basket. 4 bucks.
  • When my aunt went to Marshall's, she found an affordable diffuser.
  • Before leaving the mall, we went to Kohl's and purchased a nice silver-plated cross necklace.
  • Finally, we went to Pier One and found a very nice small mirror with jewels and such. We also found a little ball of vanilla lip gloss and a small little detailed, fancy notepad.
  I don't think that's too shabby at all for a thoughtful gift. It's personal, full of nice things, and it came straight from the heart. I'm glad she enjoyed her basket, because I enjoyed helping picking things out and putting it all together for her. If it makes her smile, I feel like it's a mission accomplished.