“Let me do the shopping for you!” is the slogan on Bambi Homan’s business card. In her crafting business, Baskets by BJ, Homan does the shopping and more to create beautiful themed gift baskets for different ages, interests, seasons, and holidays. She also makes floral arrangements, centerpieces, and décor.
The Centre Hall native and Penn State retiree has been creating themed baskets as a part-time business for fifteen years. “It’s a fun me-time thing. It just brings so much joy to people that I can help them out. Some people don’t like to shop.”
Homan started out by getting themed items together as birthday and Christmas gifts for family members. Sometimes she put them in baskets. “Someone mentioned to me, you should put some baskets together and take them to a crafts show. … So, I tried it and it just sort of has blossomed from there.”
The eight-foot tables at the craft shows limited the number of baskets she could display, so she decided to hold open houses at her Centre Hall workshop. People can also visit by appointment.
Homan says she doesn’t know of anyone else locally who’s doing themed gift baskets as a business. “You really do have to invest a lot of time and a lot of money into it.”
She maintains a large inventory of supplies and says it takes her two hours to complete a typical basket.
“Sometimes they’ll come together real easily,” she says. “Other times, I struggle because this doesn’t look right. … So, I’ll start over. Or rethink it. … Sometimes I struggle with finding the right basket as well, for it to fit in and look decently. I have to play around a little bit, find another basket or box or whatever I’m using for it.”
Since it’s often difficult to see every item in the completed baskets, Homan attaches colored paper tags that list the contents, price, her contact information, and the special themed names she gives to each basket. The decorative edges of the tags are shaped with scrapbooking scissors.
She discovered that shrink-wrap bags have an odor, so instead, she places her completed baskets in cellophane bags, pulls them tight and tapes the sides as needed to fit the basket.
“Again, trial and error. I tried different things to see what worked best for me.”
She ties the bags closed with curly ribbon. “I try to coordinate the colors to go with what’s inside the basket.”
Homan doesn’t use a lot of bows because they don’t stick well to the bags and could distract from the items in the baskets.
“Each basket is unique,” she says. Even similar baskets will have small differences.
She works with dozens of themes for her premade baskets, and also creates custom baskets to match a person’s preferences. Each basket has a name that is often inspired by the contents—Decorate with Sunflowers, Hurray for Hershey (chocolates), A Little Spa Time, and The Card Party, for example.
Homan offers baskets for all ages, from babies to seniors, and a range of prices to fit different budgets. For children, she often uses popular characters and toys—Peppa Pig, Elmo, Disney, Berenstain Bears, and Legos. For young girls, a big seller is the little purses she fills with items like nail polish, hair ties, a necklace and bracelet, comb and brush, and lip balm.
Things for the kitchen, pampering, and primitive-style baskets are very popular with women. Baskets for men include car care, grilling, hunting and fishing, and sports, including the Steelers and Nittany Lions.
Her most popular food themes are Hershey, and Cooking with Candles, which has a recipe book, candles, utensils, and some ingredients placed in a casserole dish.
She offers themed baskets for the seasons, holidays, occupations, animals, games and cards, plus activity gifts for entire families, like Movie Night. Some of her baskets are inspirational. She also recently sold a John Wayne basket.
A woman recently commissioned a theme basket for her granddaughter, who was graduating from veterinary school and loves red. Homan included dog and cat things, a red agenda planner, and a red candle in the basket. “It was really cute and she was so tickled with it. She’s like, you nailed it. … And her granddaughter did love it. … That was such a great feeling.”
When asked why she creates her baskets, Homan says, “I love to shop. It’s my justification for being a shopaholic. I love to find the bargains. It’s like adrenaline, to see what I can find. … And most of all—bringing joy to others, knowing that they like the baskets. … It’s just so much fun.
“I learned from the best, my mom. She always taught us, be thrifty shoppers. I try to shop with coupons, and when they’re on sale.
“I like to keep them affordable for people.”
If a basket doesn’t sell, Homan reworks it or donates it to a basket raffle. “It’s part of who I am, donating to good causes.
“As long as people are still buying them, I’m going to still make them.”
Baskets by BJ
Facebook group: Baskets by BJ
Email [email protected] (814) 883-8213
T&G
Karen Dabney is a freelance writer in State College.
