Every year my husband’s side does a Family Reunion. There is a raffle, that people donate items to, then vie to win, which helps fund the next Reunion. Most people donate gift baskets. Last year I did a Sunshine Basket and a “Hopeless Ramentic” Baskets. Both were created when I took myself to Home Goods and let the universe guide me towards things that went together well. This year was much the same. As I was wandering, I noticed lots of crafty and hobby items, and remembered the hubbub online, around reclaiming your time from your phone screen, by creating Analog Bags or Analog Baskets. Basically putting together a small stash of things to do, for when you might normally be scrolling your phone.
I found a beautiful 1,000 piece puzzle of a map of the world made out of flowers, a flow painting set with special markers, a kit to embroider a pencil pouch, and a beautiful copy of Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice in a blue cover with metallic magenta details at Home Goods. Then I added an celestial themed adult coloring book, and a pretty set of crossword & other puzzle books from Dollar Tree, and a paint by number kit of a pink & blue butterfly from Michael’s that was in my stash. Unlike in previous years though, this time around I made the basket too!
I noticed that most of the items were blue & pink, with some purple, so I dug through my stash for those colors. Just like all my other scrappy yarn baskets, I did this one with 6 strands of yarn held together; 5 Worsted/#4 and 1 strand of Super Bulky/#6. To keep the sides of the basket consistent, I actually bought the Super Bulky, so it would be consistent throughout (Lion Brand Hometown), but all the other colors were stash, and allowed me to use up 3 balls of blue, and mostly use up a few balls of purple and pink. Now it’s all ready to go for later this month!