It's the little things that count

When we ship your gift baskets we take great care to make sure that #1, they arrive in as short a time as possible and #2 that they look great when the recipient pulls them out. One of the things we do is put a Michigan state map in each box along with the gift basket. Since 90% of our gift baskets ship outside of Michigan (you guys love showing off the great Michigan products :) ) I find it only appropriate to help potential visitors to our fine state find there way around. We also place a label (see photo below) on the outside of the box so that as soon as the basket is delivered the recipient knows that there is a great gift basket inside.

Of course, we have always provided the free gift card messages and will continue to do so. It is a great pleasure to help so many folks send such great gift baskets across the country. These are just a few of the things we do to make sure that your gifts are memorable and enjoyed by the recipients.

Thanks for being such great customers!

Andrew Norton, Owner Gift Baskets From Michigan LLC

Changes in our Gift Basket shipping policy

I would like to highlight the changes to our shipping policy that are affective immediately. We have not changed our prices for shipping, just the timetable for getting out orders. You can still take advantage of our flat-rate shipping for as low as $8.95. Until this week, all orders that were placed by 1 p.m. EST were shipped out that same day. Our new policy is to ship orders within 24 hours of receiving them.

For Example: If you place your order on Monday before 5 p.m. it will ship Tuesday morning. If your order was placed after 5 p.m. we would see it in our system first thing Tuesday morning and your basket would ship on Wednesday morning.

Most gift basket orders arrive at their destinations within 3 Days (not counting Sundays) via USPS Priority Mail and baskets shipped via UPS generally arrive within 3-5 Business Days.

Most orders shipped within Michigan via Priority Mail and UPS will arrive at their destination in 1-2 days. Remember, when your order is shipped you will receive a confirmation email that includes the tracking information for your gift basket.

Feel free to read our Shipping Policy for all of the details and pricing information.

USPS rate increase to be effective May 14, 2007

Stamps will cost $.41 instead of $.39 and a "forever" stamp has been introduced. The "forever" stamp can be purchased at the new $.41 rate and will be valid against future increases. Unfortunately (for businesses that heavily rely on shipping - like us) they also raised their rates across the board for everything including Priority Mail. We will be evaluating our shipping rates over the next couple of months and most likely we will have to raise at least some of our shipping rates. We generally lose money on shipping as it is and with this Postal Service rate increase we will be forced into raising our rates in May.

For Example: Our most popular gift baskets weigh approximately 8-10 pounds and generally fit into the $9.95 charge for shipping. Currently to ship one of those gift baskets to Texas it would cost $12.60 so we lose $2.65. On May 14 when the Priority Mail rates increase it will then cost $15.60 to ship that same basket and if we do not raise our rates at least marginally - we will lose $5.65.

Now, this in no way means that we will charge $15 for shipping instead of the current $9.95 for gift baskets in the $50 to $74.99 range. We will run some calculations based upon current shipping destinations and the basket types that are shipped most often and come up with new shipping rates.

Again, we will not raise our rates until the new Postal rates take effect on May 14, 2007. Until then our current shipping rates will still apply.

Check out our Spring Gift Basket brochure

Spring is in the air and we have just finished our Spring 2007 Gift Basket brochure and uploaded a PDF copy to our website. It is three pages long and includes a good chunk of the gift baskets we offer. Included with the gift baskets are snippets of Michigan trivia and facts to enlighten (perhaps) you and some to make you smile. View our Spring 2007 Gift Basket brochure

You can print it out and share it with your friends, relatives, bosses, casual acquaintances, people you pass on the street, and even coworkers. What a deal! :)

Have a Great Day! Enjoy the warm weather. We might still have some winter come back later in the week.

The Top Ten Baby Names of 2006

Bronson Methodist Hospital was home to about 3,200 births in 2006. They have tabulated the number of names given to those babies in 2006 and created a top ten list of boy and girl names. Top Ten Boy Names from 2006:

1. Andrew
2. Benjamin
3. Tyler
4. Ethan
5. Michael
6. Lucas
7. Samuel
8. Jack
9. Jacob
10. Joshua / Matthew (tie)

Know someone having a baby?

Our 'Welcome Baby Basket' is a great welcome home or baby shower gift for the parents. A handmade baby blanket featuring vintage prints will be certain to become a beloved keepsake. For the parents there are delicious gourmet chocolate chunk cherry cookies (Baby Boomchunkas) and chocolate cigars (choose boy or girl) for the proud papa to pass around.

Top Ten Girl Names from 2006:

1. Ava
2. Emma
3. Olivia
4. Ella
5. Natalie
6. Madison
7. Addison
8. Sophia
9. Elizabeth
10. Lillian / Hannah (tie)

Via BronsonHealth.com

Just what is the S'more Soup in our Michigan Gift Baskets?

I was talking to a customer the other day who wanted to customize our Tastes of Michigan basket for a client. One of the Michigan products she wanted to remove from the basket was the S'more Soup because it sounded "disgusting." Well, I thought I had better clear the air about what S'more Soup is all about. On the back of the 'S'more Soup' package there is the following poem -

When you come in from the cold to warm your feet, Enjoy this little 'S'more Soup' treat. It's just for you and only you. . . I've included a delicious cookie too! Remember the nights by the fire... as the 'cold' draws near, And sip this cup of cocoa, it'll warm you up my dear.

S'more Soup is a simple yet delicious treat of cocoa with marshmallows, a cinnamon stick to stir it with, gourmet caramelized cookie, and a milk chocolate bar.

Once I explained the S'more Soup and the novelty of it all to her our customer thought it was a neat little product (we do too). I don't know, maybe she thought it was a soup that you ate out of a bowl. Chunks of graham crackers and chocolate floating in a bowl of hot cocoa with big fluffy marshmallows probably would not sound too appetizing.

You can find the S'more Soup in the Tastes of Michigan and Travel Box gift baskets.

Have a Great Weekend! :)