Like I have said before, I love doing sponsored posts when it’s something I believe in. This week I have had the opportunity to do the most fun one to date: a gift basket of candy as a Halloween present for a deserving person! Although I’ve done BIGGER sponsored posts- this one is so much better in that it’s about giving back. This is something I don’t do enough- if I were to be completely honest. I think part of it is I am so exhausted that I don’t think about a whole lot other than what is going on with ME. Which is sad. I think life is about sharing it in community with others and as soon as I got this job I immediately knew who I wanted to give back to.
Bear’s school.
He has attended a pre-school for a few years now and every year the school has improved. “The Centers serve children from age 18 months to five years who have developmental delays caused by mental retardation, cerebral palsy, autism or seizure disorders. We provide habilitation, speech therapy, physical therapy, and occupational therapy within a setting where learning is a daily activity. The mix of children with and without disabilities in a preschool setting prepares all of the children for a life in a community filled with diversity.”
The staff there work tirelessly to advocate for people who are forgotten by others. They help, explain to and counsel people dealing with the harsh diagnosis of their precious baby. They report child neglect and abuse to the authorities when necessary. Their job can be pretty thankless at times yet they are cheerful, friendly and helpful every time that I am there. I am thrilled that not only I get to do this but also that Mars Candy cares enough to sponsor this!
Here is a link to my photo album from my shopping trip getting everything for the basket!
I dreamed all week about all the fun ideas to make the basket and was THRILLED that I found everything I was looking for! I was kind of surprised actually! I decided to use:
* a cute pumpkin candy pail instead of a typical basket (of which they have a huge, inexpensive selection of)
* some spider tissue instead of the typical paper “fluff” (which they carry)
* ribbons- black and white brocade and a easily curled orange one.
* a cute little shiny pumpkin (I considered a mini-pumpkin or gourd but this was too cute to pass up!)
* an apple of course! They are teachers after all!
* Halloween pencils
* CANDY! I got my personal new favorite, M&M’s Candy Corn White Chocolate Candies, then some mini-snickers and a huge bag of assorted starbursts, skittles, milky ways & twixes, and some large sized bars cause sometimes you want more than a mini…
I had a blast making this. I carefully laid out the tissue paper and crunched it perfectly around the edge of the Trick-or-Treat basket. I put the pencils full sized bars at the back, then added the sparkly pumpkin, apple and M&M bag. I decided to put the sweet candy behind the bag and the mini-snickers in front of it so color wise it was broken up and not just a big blob of color. I got my black and white brocade ribbon out and made a big bow. I then used the orange ribbon and curled it with my scissors. I put all different lengths of ribbon because I wanted it to look like vines and add to the Halloween feel of the whole thing. I put it in a shrink wrap bag, shrunk it up a little and voila! A perfect looking gift for some very deserving people!
On the way to the school my basked tipped over and the entire thing was shifted and messed up. I was able to re-arrange a little picking things up through the plastic wrap but the bag was messed up a little in the process. Bug decided to screech and grab at it while I walked it inside. OF COURSE this happens, I don’t think it would be a post of mine without a little healthy disaster! HAH! I wasn’t able to hold my camera and screaming child AND the basket in 2 arms so I was unable to get a picture of all of us with the basket. Which- actually was OK because of privacy policies that the school has for the children’s safety I couldn’t take any pictures anyways. 
That being said: The staff was thrilled to receive the basket. The first thing they said was how excited they were to be able to share it with the rest of the staff and the kids. They were surprised that they were picked and very thankful- actually a little speechless! What a great opportunity!
This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. #CBias #DontBeTheDarkHouse but ALL thoughts and opinions are my own.