I am a traditions girl.  I mean…every morning I wake up and eat practically the same thing.  English muffin with butter and peanut butter.  I’m into ‘tradition’ on a daily level.  So for me, holidays without the traditions are a failure of epic proportions.  And for Easter, we have a few fun traditions that are my jam….or my cadbury egg…however you want to look at it 🙂

One of my absolute favorite traditions is creating Easter baskets and this year I can’t wait to break out the goodies.  It’s gonna be eggcellent.  You knew that was coming.

I started making “Man Baskets” a very long time ago and they are just as much fun as the kids baskets.  If you don’t make one for your main squeeze….you need to ask yourself “what would the easter bunny do?” and grab a bunch of beef jerky and some muscle milk and call it a day.

Another man basket I made is one that I slipped vitamins in.  I mean…a wife’s gotta do what a wife’s gotta do.  I figure that the positive association will make those one-a-day’s more appealing.  Hey baby, here is a fudge round followed by a marshmallow peep with a hidden surprise inside 🙂  You are welcome.

Another idea is to make your man basket have a theme.  I did a DIY basket using a screw/nail organizer as the basket and filled each compartment with items he wanted.  Even new shoes made the cut and they were stuffed in there alongside a stud finder and CLIF bars.  If your man was into golf, it would be a basket with a new golf towel and some Pro-V1’s and new gloves and some sunscreen.  If beer was more his thing, you could use a beer bucket and add a new bottle opener, a can holder and his favorite brew.  Whatever you do, personalize it to their likes.  Jeremy loves it…it’s nostalgic and exciting just like when you were a kid.

Have a baby in your life?  They can’t eat the chocolates (sucker!) but there are lots of cute things that you can get them that they will enjoy immediately.  I like to get their favorite snacks and little things they can wear (bathing suits and flip flops are always a winner) and always slip in a book and toy.

I try to give the kids as much candy as they I can possibly consume (I know it’s terrible but both Jeremy and I have a BIG sweet tooth.  It’s like a wholly mammoth tusk craving sugar at all times.  We generally pack their baskets full of candy.  BUT we realized that if we put a bunch of candy in the eggs, then filling up the rest of the basket with other non-egg-sized items is really helpful in making an impactful basket.  Kids know size matters so think nerd rope instead of mini boxes of nerds and a DVD or scratch art….even small toys are great because they fill up the basket and will last longer than the three seconds in Mommy’s mouth 🙂

And if you need help brainstorming a basket for you…or your mom, sister, bestie….here is a fun one that Jeremy made me with some of my favorites.  Man takes notes obviously 🙂  I love Tervis cups (it’s a strange obsession) but a new one goes a long way….as do nice plump dishtowels and a pretty candle.  He filled there rest of the basket with things I would enjoy like a craft book and some other little craft supplies.  Also….a comfy sleep tank…nothing says love like a soft shirt that you use for sleeping in!  I wouldn’t hate it if he put these in my basket this year 🙂

So those are some of our baskets from years past….what do you guys put in yours?  Is it personalized or does every kid get the same?  My mom always did EXACTLY the same items so that we kids didn’t fight….which was probably an accurate prediction…but she would count down to the number and color of candy so that our baskets were fair.  I feel like I do generally the same items for the kids (they all get 1 toy, 1 book, lots of candy, same number of eggs, etc.) but I vary the individual things.  Just interested in what y’all do for your kiddos?  And do you make man-baskets?  Do they have a theme?  Spill those beans….those jelly beans 🙂