It's Harvest festival basket time again.... help me!

[Gameboy]

The DC both have to take a 'harvest offering' next week, most of which get distributed to the elderly afterwards.

I am completely lacking in ideas/ inspiration, but was vaguely thinking of either a paper covered shoe box, or perhaps some sort of wicker basket thing from the pound shop (if they have anything like that?)

But what to put in?
And how to decorate?

I'm sure it will be an alpha-mum showtime event and I don't want to embarass the DC tooooooo much...

If for elderly, small tins of fruit, veg & soups are usually popular.

A friends school this year has said "NO Baked beans or Tuna"!!

Sweets & chocies?

this took me totally by surprise last year (dc not good at remembering to bring letters home so found out 8pm the evening before) and i had to clear out the fruit bowl into a couple of carrier bags. so thanks for the reminder, will watch this thread

Am busy doing my Tesco shop order, so if I get really organised could order it all tonight!

Yes - agree about tins of soup etc. What sorts of sweets are good for older folk?

It depends how old your children are but you could take them on a foraging expedition and they can decorate the basket with stuff they've found like pinecones etc. Dont know whats in season at the mo but you could make it look erm...harvesty!?
That tinned fruit cocktail stuff and carnation [shudder emoticon] always goes down well with the oldies

nice biccies.

nice pasta.

nice pasta sauce.

nice tinned fruit (might be an oxymoron).

Get a basket, line with straw (from a pet shop). Put in a jar of lovely Manuka honey, some nice jam, (homemade?), some oatcakes (very good for the alpha-mummy points) and some paper flowers.

No pet shop nearby - do you think I could shred some coloured tissue paper and use that??

Also, do I need to wrap in cling film, or cover in clear plastic?

I am putting in

4 tins chicken soup
bunch bananas
6 passion fruit
2 lettuces

Explaination - local supermarket flogs off fresh stuff for 5p ech after 8 - so that's why the lettuce and passion fruit!

Last year I got a nicely decorated sturdy open box, lined with plain crepe type paper, and then filled with various fruit and veg. Then wrapped in cellophene.

Our Harvest Festival offerings go to a homeless shelter - nobody does pretty baskets we just take in carrier bags of cereal, pasta, rice, tins, sauces, spices etc.

Some fruit and veg are displayed in the church for the school service - we're not totally without style!

Our offerings go into the harvest sale, to be bought by parents and/or visitors at the end of the school day - so all out on display to choose from. Money then goes to local charity.

There were some last year that looked like very expensive professional ones. Was heartened to say many homemade jams and baking too though. Phew.

Does "nothing perishable" mean no fruit and veg do you think?

Our church school is doing wateraid this year, so cash (one of each coin) stuck to rain drops on a sheet of paper, the dd loved going through my purse to find the right coins.

Do schools REALLY ask for boxfuls?

All our schools ask for one item. At the end of the day 'volunteers' (i.e. TAs) make them up into boxes and parents and children distribute them.

The boxes we use are Tesco's mushroom boxes (just go in and ask for one). Pack the bottom half with newspaper, cover it up with a sheet of tissue paper then artfully arrange a tin of soup, a tin of peaches, a packet of rice and some fresh veg. Looks great!

gameboy - nothing perishable will include fruit, veg, bread, cakes, dairy, meat, blah, blah, blah. Harvest offerings can take days or even weeks to be distributed, and nobody wants a green loaf.

Ours are going to a homeless shelter too, they have asked for a 'shoebox sized offering' of tins or packets.

They have even been helpful enough to tell us that potatoes, rice pudding, macaroni cheese, pasta and baked beans are the things most needed - I shall be doing a Tesco 'value' range shop at the weekend

I had this debate last year. Dd goes to a private school and Dh was convinced I had to go to the fruit shop and order an extravagent basket with ribbons. Instead I went to local greengrocers, he found me an old fruit box and I filled it with veg. This year I saved an Abel & Cole box and put a few bits in.

However the majority of parents just send in a carrier bag with tins/fruit/veg in, nothing fancy at all. The PA decorate the church with flowers and selected items in shoe boxes.

It was today. Best part was a bunch of mums all realising afterwards that it wasn't worth going back to work after we had booked the half day off and nipping into town for an hour for coffee after the service!!!!!

I now know what life as a lady of leisure is like!

supermarket ask for wine box that holds six bottles remove or buy the six bottles and cut down to bitbiggetr than a shoe box..we sent a malt loaf, cream crackers, mcvities digestives and some wrapped chocolate tea cakes and covered it with bright bits of A4 and stuck some flowers on. had baked beans as well but it was too heavy for them to carry from school to church so put extra tea cake in instead