A Perfect Pair (Pear) Bridal Shower Basket

When you're in high school, it is hard to imagine that your life will change drastically.  For me, I had this strange thought that college would be a short pause in my life, and after college, things would go back to normal.  I never doubted that I would marry my first love, raise my own family in Alexandria (where I grew up), and see my best friends every weekend for cocktails or a night on the town.  Little did I know, I would marry a wonderful man I met in college, move to Virginia Beach (three hours away from the family and friends I love), and see my friends maybe 5 times a year.  While all of life's changes are difficult for me to endure, being away from my family and friends has perhaps been the hardest of all, which is why the time I do get to spend with them, I treasure.  Each moment is like a savored piece of gold.

This past weekend, I was able to have a magical moment with friends and family.  Saturday was a action packed day.  Not only was I able to see my family for a Baby Shower celebration, I spent some quality time with some friends to honor Bride-to-Be, Amanda, one of my best friends since grade school.  Amanda is probably the sweetest, most non-judgmental person, I have ever met.  She is a loyal friend who is always there for you, giving 100% of herself in a friendship.  I love having her in my life because she is like a bright ray of sunshine, constantly positive and full of happiness and life.  In addition to her amazing friendship qualities, she is also very creative and a fantastic baker.  Because of her fabulous traits, I wanted to give her a special gift that would show her just how much she and her fiance, David, mean to me.  

David and Amanda are truly a wonderful pair.  He is more serious and sarcastic, while she is bubbly and fun-loving.  Both of them compliment each other, so I wanted their gift to emphasize that.  There are so many products in our world that compliment each other, so I decided to put many of those items in a basket, which I called the "Perfect Pair Basket" (creative, huh?).  First, I made a list of all the things  I wanted to put in the basket.  Then, I went to search for all of the items on my list.  With some of them, you had to get creative.  Obviously I can stick a block of cheese in an unrefrigerated basket for a few days and hope it doesn't go bad, so I purchased a cheese slicer to act as the cheese.  The creamer and sugar were the actual bowls, rather than creamer and sugar.  The fork and spoon were a salad fork and spoon, which, by the way, is EXTREMELY hard to find now unless it is bamboo.  

Luckily, I found most of the products at Target or TJ Maxx, two of my favorite stores.  Once I had everything together, I went to Michaels in search for a basket big enough to hold everything.  I found a lovely, dark wicker basket for about $15.00, but you could really use any vessel to hold all of these objects.  

If you know me, you know that I couldn't stop there.  I used my best friend, Picmonkey.com, to make pear labels for each of the pairs on the list.  I also included a fictional love story shared by each pair.  I included a sample to the left, but please feel free to download the rest on your own.  I have added them below.

*Just a note, if you decide to use my labels, you may want to print to pages per page because they came out a little larger than I envisioned.  

I then punched holes at the top of each pear, and used ribbon to tie each pair together.  

 

  

I hope you enjoyed my latest DIY project.  Have a beautiful day and don't forget to savor the precious moments spent with family and friends during the upcoming holidays.  :)  

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