Although our website has recently been rebuilt, it is never done.  Why, you might ask?  I’m a tinkerer. (Not even sure if this is a real word).  A tinkerer, my husband says is someone who is always tweaking and fixing things.  When it comes to Boodles of Baskets, I am the ultimate  self employed tinkerer.  I’m always fixing this, improving that, be it the website, gift basket design techniques or our office procedures.  I’m a perfectionist at heart, what can I say!  Just when I think I might be done (when I announce this to my husband, he gives me that one eyebrow-lifted look that says, “yeah right, I’ve heard this before”), I find some inspiration that sends me off on another flurry of creating and improving.  There are just so many neat new things to experiment with and learn, I can’t resist.  I know I’m not the only one out there like this.  I’m even sure some of you reading this, might in fact be closet tinkerers!  It’s okay, embrace your tinkerishness (I’m SURE this is not really a word!), smile and tinker away!

Here are some tips on selecting a good gift basket company to send your gift baskets.  Look for a site that is easy to navigate and has a nice selection of designs.  Now carefully look at the images of the designs.  Are the products securely arranged?  Is the shred neatly trimmed?  Is the text free from spelling errors?  You might not think these things matter, but it should.  When a gift basket designer has a website, this is, for all intent and purposes, their chance to present their skills to you, the purchaser.  You can tell a lot by the images shown.  Looking for creative, well built baskets, with neatly trimmed shred.  Perfectionism is a good thing when selecting a gift basket company.  If they have payed close attention to the details of their site, you can be assured they will do the same with your basket.  Happy shopping!

Long before the last day of school, I am busily planning Christmas.  Although this seems very unusual to those not in this industry, it makes perfect sense for Boodles of Baskets.  Gift shows begin showing their wares for the upcoming Christmas season in January and in order for us to be able to offer the newest, creative options for gift giving to our customers, we shop early.
Long before the last day of school, we are also planning our summer vacations.  We spend as much time as we can, camping with our family.  We have done this since our children were little.  Now that some of our children are older, they may not be able to attend all of our camping excursions, but they will almost always come up for a few days.
How are these two related, you might wonder?  Well, although the shopping is done early in the year, the brainstorming, is done while camping.  There is something about being away from phones, TV’s and computers that gets my juices flowing.  As I’ve said in earlier posts, some of our expansions have even been born while I have been up in the great Ontario north.  Getting away from the day to day operation (I have wonderful staff, which makes this all possible), is truly a benefit.  Sitting in the warm sun, looking at the wind dancing through huge pines and listening to the birds singing, calms, and energizes my soul.  Camping is my idea of a “Spa” vacation. It is amazing how much work and planning you can get done when you’re “not working”, but instead enjoying the laughter of children and the crackling of a blazing fire!