Fill up these Farmers Market Baskets for Great Gifts!

Have you ever seen these adorable ceramic containers at Anthropologie? They are great gifts by themselves but become so much more thoughtful when filled them with wonderful things…

I love going to the Dallas Farmers Market on Saturday mornings. I usually sneak out of my house early with my youngest daughter (while the others are still sleeping!) and head downtown with my coffee in hand.

The Dallas Farmers Market is definitely not like the picture-eqsue farmers market I used to frequent in San Francisco and New England (although they are working on it!), but the produce is often so much fresher than what I can find at the grocery store. Plus, it’s so much fun to explore farmers markets with a toddler and point all the beautiful vegetables and fruits and other surprises we might find:

During one recent trip I had a thought: who wouldn’t love a basket full of locally grown produce as a little birthday surprise or ‘thinking of you’ gift? Everyone likes getting food!

So the next time I went to Anthroplogie I bought a few of their small ‘farmers market’ baskets. You’ve probably seen them, tucked away in one of those beautiful antique cupboards, along with all of their other swoon-worthy gifts.

I want to go back and get some more for myself because they make the inside of your refrigerator so much cuter when put your produce in them…

My children have been eating locally grown blackberries by the bowlful lately. They are delicious right now, so I thought a basket full of them – tied up with a little twine- would be the perfect gift of simplicity:

Yum! Or who wouldn’t love receiving a whole basket of lady cream peas?

Or you can always go the sweet route and fill these baskets with chocolate pretzels or candied nuts. For a friend’s recent birthday, I stacked a bunch of chocolate chip cookies in the basket, wrapped it in clear cellophane, and topped it off with a white satin bow:

I wish I could say I made the cookies, but since she was gluten-free I didn’t even want to attempt! So I cheated and bought some from Trader Joe’s that sort of looked homemade. And, guess what? My friend said they were delicious!

I used the small $14 farmers market basket for my gifts but Anthropologie also has large ones for $20 that are great for fresh peaches, squash, and other big produce items. (Think apples for a great fall gift!). Add $4 worth of fresh berries or some other delightful goody and you have a lovely, thoughtful and reasonable gift in no time.

What would you put in these cute ceramic baskets?  Let me know in the comments below.

Happy Giving!