Suggestions for Boo Basket

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thank you everyone for the suggestions! I ended up making a "movie night" basket with theater size candy, popcorn, and pumpkin shaped hot chocolate bombs. I added a small toy for their dog (because he's really cute!) and a cute mug for the hot chocolate.

Clearly there are some people that have a very strong reaction to boo baskets. In our neighborhood this has been a tradition for many years (way before I moved in) and traditions like this are part of the reason that we bought in this neighborhood. Boo baskets are just one of the things that make our neighborhood feel like a community. And as a family that doesn't have family nearby I love that my kids experience these types of traditions during the holidays. My DS3 literally said that magic happened outside our door when we received a basket. I see so many posts on DCUM about people feeling lonely during the holidays and I have had many friends who have much nicer, newer homes say that they wished they lived in a neighborhood like ours. They even go as far to tell us to not move even if we could find a new build that we liked. So I like to participate in the neighborhood traditions and help out when I can. My kids get so much out of it that its worth it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teens like candy and fake spiders to scare their friends with. A mini pumpkin to decorate with?

Fake spiders to scare their friends with? WTH? Are you seriously thinking teens want this and teens are scared by this?


OP: you have a few choices:

- buy random stuff that the teen won’t want but will fill the container

- buy 1 thing the teen will want (this will generally be candy- most teens have socks, candles, etc)

- buy 1 gift card the teen will want

- give a new $5 bill in an envelope

Please, please don’t buy dollar store items, socks, candles, slap bracelets, fake spiders, unless you care more about filing the container than giving what’s wanted (which is fine). 100% teens do not want these things.

Do you not read the inexpensive part?

She’s looking to fill a boo basket. The basket and then 2-3 things of trash are $5+. Do the $5 as a gift card or cash and she’s done. Put it in an envelope with a free drawing from the child…everyone is happy. How much do you think an inexpensive boo basket would be?

I do boo baskets for just a couple of bucks each.

$2? I guess if you do a $1 container at the dollar store and a few pieces of candy from a bag of candy, you can do it. That’s about $2. The teen won’t care about the container, so that’s a wasted $1. If you use dollar store candy, it will be thrown away unless it’s a known brand.

I purchased Halloween bags that were 75% off from target and put a variety of good candy in each bag. Recess, twix, KitKat, etc.

12 months ago, right?

Years ago, it had about 50 bags. You know Halloween does comes every year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teens like candy and fake spiders to scare their friends with. A mini pumpkin to decorate with?

Fake spiders to scare their friends with? WTH? Are you seriously thinking teens want this and teens are scared by this?


OP: you have a few choices:

- buy random stuff that the teen won’t want but will fill the container

- buy 1 thing the teen will want (this will generally be candy- most teens have socks, candles, etc)

- buy 1 gift card the teen will want

- give a new $5 bill in an envelope

Please, please don’t buy dollar store items, socks, candles, slap bracelets, fake spiders, unless you care more about filing the container than giving what’s wanted (which is fine). 100% teens do not want these things.

Do you not read the inexpensive part?

She’s looking to fill a boo basket. The basket and then 2-3 things of trash are $5+. Do the $5 as a gift card or cash and she’s done. Put it in an envelope with a free drawing from the child…everyone is happy. How much do you think an inexpensive boo basket would be?

I do boo baskets for just a couple of bucks each.

$2? I guess if you do a $1 container at the dollar store and a few pieces of candy from a bag of candy, you can do it. That’s about $2. The teen won’t care about the container, so that’s a wasted $1. If you use dollar store candy, it will be thrown away unless it’s a known brand.

I purchased Halloween bags that were 75% off from target and put a variety of good candy in each bag. Recess, twix, KitKat, etc.

12 months ago, right?

Years ago, it had about 50 bags. You know Halloween does comes every year.

Uh, yeah, I do. But unless OP bought a ton of bags years ago when this sale happened, and then kept them for 10/2022, she’s not getting them for 75% off, is she?

Op: glad you found something appropriate. Sounds great!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teens like candy and fake spiders to scare their friends with. A mini pumpkin to decorate with?

Fake spiders to scare their friends with? WTH? Are you seriously thinking teens want this and teens are scared by this?


OP: you have a few choices:

- buy random stuff that the teen won’t want but will fill the container

- buy 1 thing the teen will want (this will generally be candy- most teens have socks, candles, etc)

- buy 1 gift card the teen will want

- give a new $5 bill in an envelope

Please, please don’t buy dollar store items, socks, candles, slap bracelets, fake spiders, unless you care more about filing the container than giving what’s wanted (which is fine). 100% teens do not want these things.

Do you not read the inexpensive part?

She’s looking to fill a boo basket. The basket and then 2-3 things of trash are $5+. Do the $5 as a gift card or cash and she’s done. Put it in an envelope with a free drawing from the child…everyone is happy. How much do you think an inexpensive boo basket would be?

I do boo baskets for just a couple of bucks each.

$2? I guess if you do a $1 container at the dollar store and a few pieces of candy from a bag of candy, you can do it. That’s about $2. The teen won’t care about the container, so that’s a wasted $1. If you use dollar store candy, it will be thrown away unless it’s a known brand.

I purchased Halloween bags that were 75% off from target and put a variety of good candy in each bag. Recess, twix, KitKat, etc.

12 months ago, right?

Years ago, it had about 50 bags. You know Halloween does comes every year.

Uh, yeah, I do. But unless OP bought a ton of bags years ago when this sale happened, and then kept them for 10/2022, she’s not getting them for 75% off, is she?

Op: glad you found something appropriate. Sounds great!

Paper bags are available at every grocery store for cheap. Bonus, you can get them too!

[Anonymous]

^^but that’s not what the poster said. She said years ago she got Halloween bags for 75% off.

And OP said a basket….

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^but that’s not what the poster said. She said years ago she got Halloween bags for 75% off.

And OP said a basket….

NP. Bag/basket. Whatever. Doesn’t matter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^but that’s not what the poster said. She said years ago she got Halloween bags for 75% off.

And OP said a basket….

No one cares if it’s a bag or a basket.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thank you everyone for the suggestions! I ended up making a "movie night" basket with theater size candy, popcorn, and pumpkin shaped hot chocolate bombs. I added a small toy for their dog (because he's really cute!) and a cute mug for the hot chocolate.

Clearly there are some people that have a very strong reaction to boo baskets. In our neighborhood this has been a tradition for many years (way before I moved in) and traditions like this are part of the reason that we bought in this neighborhood. Boo baskets are just one of the things that make our neighborhood feel like a community. And as a family that doesn't have family nearby I love that my kids experience these types of traditions during the holidays. My DS3 literally said that magic happened outside our door when we received a basket. I see so many posts on DCUM about people feeling lonely during the holidays and I have had many friends who have much nicer, newer homes say that they wished they lived in a neighborhood like ours. They even go as far to tell us to not move even if we could find a new build that we liked. So I like to participate in the neighborhood traditions and help out when I can. My kids get so much out of it that its worth it.

That’s really nice! I’m glad you have such an involved neighborhood. It must have been really fun for your 3 year old to put together and if they teens knew it was from you they would especially love it. Nice touch involving the pet.

I was a PP and said skip our house but it sounds like a different neighborhood. My teens would be touched if the little kid across the street personalized something for them and our pet. Enjoy the holidays, OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I love the Boo process in our neighborhood. It's fun! A bunch of kids just boo'd us and it was a little bag of 4 pieces of candy. My 13yr old was THRILLED as she is the youngest and we haven't been boo'd since pre-Covid. Her and friend started plotting the houses they were going to in the next few days. When it stops raining they are riding their bikes to Walgreens to pick up the loot with their babysitting money.

But I agree - just a few pieces of candy or a pack of gum. No plastics or things like that. Especially for families with more than one kid.

Agree we love how involved our neighborhood is. I miss my childhood and kids playings and parents outside hanging out. We left an uppity neighborhood where everyone had services and kids in all day events and were not neighborly. It was a bore. We researched neighborhoods for 9 months before deciding on a new location. And Boo'ing is so much fun and my kids are all tweens and still love it.

[Anonymous]

So this thread is the first that I ever heard of a boo basket. Gotta love DCUM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So this thread is the first that I ever heard of a boo basket. Gotta love DCUM.

Eventually it will be a boo wagon, and then a boo trailer.