Great Idea for Book Lovers (Like Me)

I received a lot of Christmas mailings and catalogs, most of which went into the trash. One, however, sparked some ideas! In my book club's Holiday Gift Guide, I found a whole flyer filled with "book baskets." Interesting idea, huh?

Each basket contained books based on a theme. Some also have a related item such as a Santoku knife included in the"Celebrity Chef's" basket, and a "Holiday Entertaining" CD in the "Art of Entertaining" basket. Of course, the price of the book collection was reduced from whatever the books would cost individually. Of course. In the picture, the books were actually placed in a red box, and wrapped up in cello and a bow to create a lovely gift basket.

I like the idea of book baskets. You know from my last post that I love to read, so if someone gave me a book basket, I would be thrilled, no matter what kind of books they were. I collect books, by the way.

In any case, my point here is that I thnk creating book baskets as gifts is a great idea. The only thing I would change is the red box, and the place where I get the books. I would select my own books from Edward R. Hamilton Bookseller. I have ordered books from this company for many years because they have a huge selection, their prices can't be beat, and best of all, they charge only $3.50 shipping no matter how large your order! Buying books from Hamilton would make book baskets a cinch to make. Here's an example:

First click on View Subject List. Now you can click on whatever subject your gift recipient might be interested in OR for really great prices, you can click on "Specials" at the top of the page. Then select Today's Price Cuts, Audio Books and Videos and scroll cown the list of titles. That's what I'll do here. Now let's assume our gift recipient loves quilting and needlework. This is what I found:

QUICK AND EASY CROSS STITCH DESIGNS INSPIRED BY YOUR GARDEN
By Anne & Michael Lane. Published at $24.95 - your price $3.95

EMBROIDERED TREASURES FOR CHILDREN
By Claire Garland. Published at $19.95 - your price $7.95

QUILTING FOR THE MEN IN YOUR LIFE
By Pearl Louise Krush. Published at $22.99 - your price $7.95

EMBROIDERY FOR THE HOME
By Jenny Bullen. Published at $35.00 - your price $8.95

DEBBIE MUMM'S BEST TIPS AND TECHNIQUES FOR QUICK COUNTRY QUILTING Video. Published at $19.95 - your price is $2.95

If you bought all of these books you would pay a whopping $32 plus $3.50 shipping. (You would save nearly $100 off the publisher's prices, by the way.) Get a cute basket, some tinted cellophane, and a bow at the dollar store and there you go! What a great gift for Valentines Day, don't you think?