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A NEW TYPE OF GIFT BASKET GUARANTEED TO BRING IMPRESSIVE PROFITS! and *The gift basket industry has exploded over the past few years and *continues to be a consistent money maker for those involved in it. In many *ways, it's the ideal business. You can run it from the home. It's an *extremely inexpensive business to start (you only need supplies and a *marketing budget). The product is in demand (who doesn't like getting *an artistic basket with fresh fruit, candies, or cheeses?). Competition *isn't much of a problem (you can easily set yourself off from the rest by *producing specialized types of baskets). It's a dynamic business that is *changing and developing with the times. * *One of the newest developments is the CANDY FLOWER BASKET. This is *a new type of gift basket that will definitely set you apart from your *competition. It's very artistic and creative, and pretty, too! The Candy *Flower Basket is easy to make, and will turn heads wherever it is given. * *Here's what you need for a Candy Flower Basket: You'll need a *basket, of course, preferably around the size of a medium to large flower *pot (remember, we'll have "flowers" here). Next, a large piece of flower *arranging or art styrofoam, large enough to fit in the bottom of the basket, *filling it well and reaching up to around 3 inches below the lip of the *basket. Also, plenty of stiff, green wire used in flower arranging; green *flower tape; 2 1/2" green wood sticks, pointed on one end, blunt on the *other; thin wire; a good supply of different wrapped hard candies, *preferably with colorful wrappers (yellow, orange, red, pink, and other *"flower" colors are best); and, finally, a LOT of bright, colorful *cellophane sheets (green and red, especially). Many of these supplies *can be found at craft stores or flower arranging supply stores. * *First, we'll make our candy flowers. Cut the stiff green wire into
*1 foot lengths. Make around 15 for a decent size basket. Now, sort your
*candies by wrapper color. You'll need 5 or 6 candies per wire. Take one
*of the candies and hold one twisted end of the wrapper against the end of
*the wire. Now, wrap the green floral tape tightly around the wrapper and
*wire a few times. Don't tear the tape; once the candy is firmly attached
*to the wire, continue the tape down the wire and wrap another candy around
*1 to 1 1/2 inches below the first, depending on how many candies you'll put
*on the wire. Continue this down the wire. When you've wrapped 5 or 6 of
*the same candies on the top half of the wire, trail your tape off another
*inch or two on the wire. You've just made your first candy flower! Set that
*one aside and start on the next one. Try to have at least 4 different types
*of candies, so all the flowers won't be the same color. *Next, wrap the styrofoam in green cellophane and put it into the *bottom of the basket. Take your colored cellophane sheets and cut around *fifty 6" x 10" rectangles. Don't worry about making them perfectly sized. *Take one of the rectangles and loosely fold it in half the short way (to *make a 6" x 5" rectangle) and then in half the long way (to make a 3" x 5" *rectangle). Don't crease the folds, and again, don't worry about being *perfect _ it'll look better if it's not. Insert this rectangle into one *of the open spaces closed point down (the point that would be the center *of the rectangle, if it was unfolded. Do this with 20 to 25 of the *rectangles, until the open spaces are filled, though not tightly. Fluff *the open corners of the rectangles out. Now, insert your flowers into the *styrofoam. Space them out evenly, and put around four inches of the wire *down into the foam, so it's secure. Here's a tip _ slightly curve the wire *and insert it at a slight angle, so the flowers sit realistically. Real *flower bouquets don't stand straight up. Finally, take one of the remaining *cellophane rectangles, and fold it in the same way as you did with the "fill- *in" rectangles. Now, take one of the short green sticks and a six inch *length of the thin copper wire. Wrap the wire three or four times around *the blunt end of the stick, around 1/8" from the end. Put around 1/2" of *the closed corner of the rectangle against the blunt end of the stick, and *wrap the remaining wire tightly around it. Insert this in the styrofoam, *in between the flowers. Do this with the remaining rectangles, cutting *more if necessary to completely hide the styrofoam and fill out the basket. *When done, fluff the open corners out. You now have a Candy Flower Basket! *The best thing about this is the fact that it looks BETTER after the candy *is removed! Put a note in with your basket suggesting that people unwrap *only the unattached end of the wrapper to remove a candy. The candies look *like buds while they're wrapped; they look like blooming flowers with the *candy removed! Try it with one of your flowers and you'll see! * *Take into account the cost of your supplies and your time when *pricing your Candy Flower Basket. These can be a bit time-consuming, but *you can always make a large stock of flowers and fill-in "greenery" ahead *of time while watching TV. Or, get some friends involved. Baskets like *this can easily be sold for $25 to $40, depending on the size of the basket, *with only a few dollars worth of supplies. Their uniqueness will definitely *be an important selling point. Make a few baskets of different sizes up, *for sales examples. * *Candy Flower Baskets can be a great addition to your line, if you *already produce gift baskets, or they can be a fantastic way to start out *in this profitable business. And don't think it's just for women; there *are many men who are producing great gift baskets out there. Anyone, *young or old, can produce these baskets and make massive profits...and have *a lot of fun in the process! and and |
