Thursday, January 17, 2013

Mojito Gift Basket

Oh my gosh, such a long delay posting because I don't always have internet access.
I wanted to share a Mojito gift basket I made for my (then) boyfriend's birthday since I was pretty thrilled with how it turned out.
He's the type of person who is difficult to give gifts to because stuff to him becomes "dust collectors".
So I have to creatively come up with something useful, and this year I wanted it to be more than a case of beer and some crab legs.

First, of course, I needed some rum.
I chose Sammy Hagar's new Beach Bar Rum (complete with cute tiki tag), along with a Cuban style rum with lime flavoring


The container is something I like to really think about.
I want something unique and unusual versus a typical basket.
I knew bf wouldn't use a typical ice bucket, but I figured he would at some point find a galvanized bucket useful.
I lined the bucket with a Tommy Bahama beach towel, inserted the two rums, and a book of cocktail recipes


I found a couple vintage glasses with an etched palm tree design from a vendor at Tiki Oasis


Hand carved cherry wood muddler from Etsy, metal spoon with muddler end from eBay, and lime squeezer from Williams Sonoma (a kicked-up-a-notch version to the Mexican hand squeezers)

I purchased an amazing vintage cocktail shaker on eBay--glass with an etched marlin.
I added two silk-screened flour sack dishtowels with octopus tentacles design (from Etsy).
A bottle of simple sugar syrup.
Underneath is brown sugar, and a bottle of seltzer water (I thought of everything).



Piece de resistance: I researched authentic Cuban mint, and had a heck of a time finding any.
Most plants that are available are not eligible for shipping to California.
I finally ordered some from Hawaii.
Pottery from Mexico.



Pretty cool, right?!