Ideas for basket for Silent Auction

[kbkids]

DS's 1st grade has to make a basket for our school carnival's silent auction. Last year, we did family game night - bought several different board games, popcorn, etc. It only brought in $50, and I'm really hoping to make a little more this year. Any ideas??

Here's some that have been done before:

Candle basket - just everyone sending in random types of candles

Spa basket - bathroom spa treatments, small candles, bubble bath, etc

College themed basket - local college team items

Gardening basket - different gardening items



The carnival will be in early November, and I thought about a Thanksgiving Dinner basket. Gift certificate for a ham or turkey, and then different canned good items. I don't know how well that would go over though.


Any other ideas?

 

[pigletof4]

Here is a link to a previous post about basket ideas.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1564652&referrerid=&highlight=gift+baskets+silent+auction

 

[amyhughes]

We did several last year for our Soiree:

Book Lovers: Had parents donate books from children's authors through cookbooks, and boomarks and teas.

Knitting Basket: Tons of Knitting things like needles, wool, pattern books, etc.

Movie Basket: New Releases and Classics on DVD, Gift Card to local cinemas, Popcorn and Sodas with Bucket.

Those are just the ones I can remember but they each got a hefty bid!

 

[pigletof4]

Here's another link for basket ideas: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=939914

 

[Mkrop]

I made one that went over big for our Fashion Show, I was surprised. A pedicure basket. I put in all kinds of foot lotions and nail polishes, I got a foot massager and finally a gift certificate to get a pedicure done professionally.

other ideas: kids crafts basket, Italian Dinner night, Beach theme, baby basket

 

[Feralpeg]

I made a chocolate lover's basket for a silent auction for DD's school a couple of years ago. I put in all kinds of different chocolates and cocoa. I found a cute little stuffed bear holding a sign that said something like "Will work for chocolate". I figure the basket cost me about $50 to put together. It sold for $150.

 

[Mkrop]

How about a Disney themed basket, maybe you can pick up some stuff at the Disney store and a movie to go with it? Or some Mickey stuff and a Playhouse Disney DVD?

I would bid on that!

 

[deekaypee]

Wow--those are some great ideas, for holiday gifts as well as silent auctions.

I like the chocolate basket idea, or a food gourmet basket. You could include local specialties, maybe the Zingerman's food book.

Or you could try a nostalgic candy basket, with everyone choosing their favorite candies, and adding a few classics that the adults remember--Charleston Chews, Fruit Stripe Gum, Gobstoppers. Or, speaking of candy, you could go in the Willy Wonka direction, including a copy of the book or the movie?

 

[Lollipop's Mom]

Our school does silent auction baskets and each class is assigned a theme. My daughter's class did a pasta basket and it brought in big bucks! It was filled with noodles, sauce, gift card to the grocery store, ceaser salad mix,etc... It was a huge hit!

 

[MNFootballMommy]

IF you can still find some of the summer stuff on clearance in your area...how about one with an inflatable pool, water guns/Super Soakers, those big noodles, etc.? Or how about one filled with scrapbook supplies? That stuff is VERY popular!

 

[Duchie]

We're doing a Webkinz basket for our silent auction. It's getting a lot of buzz from the parents (I've had many people asking me for a preview of what will be in it) so I'm hoping it will be very popular.

 

[ChrisnSteph]

At our schools event last year, the scrapbooking basket basket and the wine basket fetched the most money.

The scrapbooking basket was a tote filled to the brim with supplies including a $40 gift certificate to a local scrapbook store. It probably had at least $100 in products, not including the really nice tote it came in.

The wine basket had several different bottles of nice wines, cheese and crackers, wine glasses, a nice bottle opener, some free tasting tickets to our local wineries and a $50 gift certificate to a nice restaurant.

 

[amyhughes]

The wine basket had several different bottles of nice wines, cheese and crackers, wine glasses, a nice bottle opener, some free tasting tickets to our local wineries and a $50 gift certificate to a nice restaurant.

Something similar we did was an "Automatic Wine Cellar", we had asked several families to just bring in one bottle of wine 15-20 dollars in value. We then donated a wine rack along with it. So the bidding went through the roof on this item! It was along the lines of 5-600 dollars for all.

Another thing we do is make Classroom blankets. We have the kids draw on muslin in fabric markers. Generally each classroom has a theme for the blanket. This year my VP and myself will sew them together and complete the blankets then put them on eBay (so that Grandparents out of town can also bid!) These go for over 600-1000 per blanket and we have 6 rooms in our school. It is really a great fundraiser and the kdis love to have their art auctioned!

 

[clh2]

Our elementary (nor any other school in our district) would be able to do a wine basket. So - check if that would be OK in your school.

We do the raffle tickets drawing for the various baskets. I've dumped many a ticket into the chocolate baskets throughout the years. Didn't win any of them though. (Darn!)

A coffee-themed basket will also do well too!

 

[pfishgirl]

Dessert Basket... Pot Holders, Cake Mix, Iceing, Cookie Mix, Spatulas, Cooking Spray, Bowls, Baking Pans, Cooking Sheets..

Wine, Cheese, Pepperoni, Crackers, Jams, Jellies, mini spreading knives, minin cutting board and knife..

Beach... Pails, Shovels, Sunblock, Mask, Snorkel, Tubes, Swimmies, Beach Towel..


Gift Certificates.. Several in a basket ?

Winter Theme.. Scarfs, Cocoa, Mittens, Gloves, Hats,


Iceacream... Scoop, Bowls, Fancy Spoons, Cones, Cone Bowls, Hot Fudge, Wet Walnuts, Cherries, Sprinkels, Carmel, Butterscotch, Strawberry, toppings..

 

[pfishgirl]

Pet Baskets ?

Dogs... Leash, collar, bones, squeek toys, balls, treats

Cats.. collar, squeek toys, balls with bells, treats

 

[aprilgail2]

I run the Chinese auction at my daughters school and these are some of the ones I have for this year so far:

A giant basket of cheer (since its done after school hours we can have this)-we ask everyone after christmas if they have any bottles they would like to donate and we fill the basket that way-I get wine all the time as gifts and I don't drink so all mine goes there too!

Chocolate lovers basket-
Garden basket
dog basket
cat basket
pasta lovers basket
mexican basket
family game night basket
craft lovers basket
candy lovers basket
baby boy basket
baby girl basket
lottery ticket basket
movie lovers basket
bath and body works basket
picnic basket
baking basket
turkey basket (in a turkey roaster pan they put gravy, yams, stuffing, turkey gift cert, etc)
book lovers basket
tea time basket
coffee lovers basket
car wash basket
webkinz basket- a local store has one webkinz every month on sale for 5.00 so for the past 4 months and the next 6 months until the auction I will be buying the one on sale and for 50.00 there will be a basket of 10 webkinz, then the remaining 25.00 they will buy cards, charms etc for the basket.

Each class collects 75.00 and the class mom has to make one of the above baskets (they get a list and are assigned one).

It really helps out having the classes make some of them but the rest we collect things all year long on clearance or donated and make baskets out of those too. Last year I have over 100 gift cert. donated from various places and we had 60.00 in lottery tickets donated so one of the more crafty people took this 4 foot tall fake ficus tree and attached the lottery tickets and then 40.00 in varous gift cards and cert. to it and it looked really great.

 

[Mkrop]

Gift Certificates.. Several in a basket ?

Oh yeah I forgot about this one, we gota bunch of restuarants and pizza places to donate gift cards and then put them in a small basket labeled "Never Have to Cook Again"

 

[ceiligh1]

We had a fundraiser for a friend who had a bunch of medical bills, some of the best baskets we we the following:

Rain/snow day basket-playdough, games, crafts, barbies ect. you get the idea anything new to get the kid through the day inside

A walk around the town: gift cert. to a local resturant, water bottle, cheap pediometer, hand weights, and a backpack with a map

A day at the beach: in a large sand bucket was a small kite, shovel, a frisbee and a donated night at a B&B

THe one I liked the most would require a little work for you or the class. they were actioning your own fan club. Each month you would recieve your fanclub news letter that was full of details of what you did that month (made up of course) different photos and experiences all telling you how great you are, perfect for someone who needs a pick me up. The kids could work on creative writing, and draw photos for it. I thought it was inventive, cheap and funny. Bidding did very well on that one.

 

[kbkids]

Wow! Thanks for all of the ideas! Me and the other room mom talked it over at the ball park tonight and decided to go with the Chocolate Lover's Basket. We wanted something that would be easy to just send a note home and not have to worry if we got duplicates on stuff. Now, how to figure out how to keep my DH from spending big bucks to win this basket!!!