Cindy Kline:
Sharon Mausness:
This year we're making candy "flower" lollipops and putting them along with tea bags into little watering cans. I plan to include little gardening tools and I am thinking also little loaves of banana bread that I'll bake or homemade chocolate hamantaschen. I am still undecided.
Rachel Stern:
I am playing with this idea myself but am considering adding a small wheel of cheese and a small packet of crackers with each bucket. The proverbial "wine and cheese"….A small cheeseboard could be added, with everything placed on top and then wrapped in clear plastic and shrink wrapped (you can use your regular hair blow dryer on the high setting to do this, just use a couple of pieces of scotch tape to hold the ends together, best on the bottom under the board. It can be bit tricky but it can be done.
Yael Resnick:
The Jews were in a JAM.
In the past I haven't really done themes, but it makes it fun. I think that the shtick livens things up even more. This year, we're going to "steal" the idea of whoever suggested "Orange you glad it's Purim" (I think it was someone on this list?). We're going to put in an orange, some orange candies, orange tea, etc. The outside of the bag will say, "Knock knock. Who's there? Orange. Orange who?" and the inside will say "Orange you happy it's Purim!" Then we'll add a few more knock-knock jokes based on our kids' names.... ("Chava happy Purim!" and "Avrohomantaschen for you!" for example...)
Yael Ellis:
I plan on packing my Shaloch Manot in clown party hats. Filling them with Hamentashen,Cookies Chocolates and Candies.
Maybe it's untraditional, I am not sure, but last year we filled colorful painted flower pots with sunflower seeds...planted a few green apple lollipops and put out a few well placed gummi worms. We hung a pot "hanger" on the side and put it all into a little gift bag with a bottle of apple juice and a packet of herb seeds. Everyone loved them!!!
One year an out of town coworker or mine told me she sent everyone "wine in a bucket": She bought those cheap, small, clear plastic ice buckets, rock candy (the clear kind) and small bottles of either wine or grape juice (depending on to whom she was giving the Mishloach Manot), and many bunches of fake grapes (the plastic/rubber kind). She filled the ice buckets with the "ice" (rock candy), and put a small bottle of the wine or grape juice in the bucket and added a bunch of grapes for décor. The grapes were wired on to the bucket so it would not fall off and each bucket had a handle so the gifts could be given just like that.
Last year for shalach manos we made strawberry jam (the first time I've made it since kindergarten). Printed colorful "Pesach Preserves" labels on the computer. Put a few other goodies along with the jam in an inexpensive colored paper lunch bag. Included a little booklet written and drawn by my then-9-year-old daughter, telling the story of Purim in brief, with little stick-figure cartoon illustrations:
Mordechai was trying to SPREAD Torah.
Esther PRESERVED her people. [the picture for this one was little stick figure people packed into a jar, yelling "help!"]
Happy Purim!
One theme was deli; a roll of salami, mustard, a challah roll, soda can, and a packaged pickle all in a brown paper bag with a checkout order form on front. Another was beach; little candies to resemble sand, sunglasses, chapstick, various candies in shapes of shells, etc, all in a bucket with a shovel. One friend of mine made a breakfast theme(a small container of milk, portable cereal in plastic bowls, spoon, and a muffin) with a poem saying that we all rush out to deliver shaloch manos and don't have the time to eat a decent breakfast so here is breakfast on the go.