Longaberger's New Letter Blocks Are a Versatile Gift

The whitewashed Letter Blocks introduced by Longaberger in April have been so popular that a new red heart, the numbers 0 through 9, and the @ and # have been added, still at the great price of $8 each.  Make a fun gift of these to some soon-to-weds or those who are celebrating time together already.  Use them for your child's room or your business.

At the 2015 Bee (Longaberger convention), my friend Jackie shared  her family name wall display, created out of Longaberger Letter Blocks in the crisscrossing style of Scrabble, which began with their last name in the middle and first names crossing and connecting to it.  Jackie is excited to add a little grandbaby's name to the display this December.

                                                   

I  wasn't so creative and just added my Letter Blocks to some nautical items on my mantle, but I was pleased with how the whitewashed background let the grain come through slightly on the blocks.  The gray lettering will be beautiful with the new Pewter stain and pottery.

The Cornflower blue Large and Small Pail Baskets with the white rope trim were offered in 2009.  

Another nautical-inspired basket I located, pictured to the left and below, is the 2006 Collectors Club Lightship Basket woven in the tradition of Nantucket Island.  It features a scrimshaw-like knob and brass tacks, among other special traits.

Dresden's Old Union Schoolhouse, aka Longaberger University

One of many nostalgic events of Longaberger's 2015 Bee was getting to eat lunch in the Old Union School House in Dresden, Ohio, and finding Jerry  and Jeff Longaberger there.  It was such a wonderful treat!

 According to Jerry, all of the Longabergers passed through the Union School House.  What a beautiful old building--the wooden stairs worn in the center with age, the classic old light fixtures and chalkboards all around the rooms, the big windows I would've been tempted to gaze out--Dave Longaberger actually had trouble with staring out those windows.

 My own favorite year of school was fifth grade, and I loved teaching fifth grade for many years, so I was always particularly interested in Dave Longaberger's three years spent in fifth grade.  In The Longaberger Story and How We Did It, Dave's book with Steve Williford, Dave said, "Actually, I thought my fifth grade teacher, Ruby Adams, was in love with me because she kept me in her class so many years."  

I got to visit Dave's actual fifth-grade classroom in the Union School House.  Isn't that neat?

When  I looked back at The Longaberger Story to quote Dave Longaberger concerning fifth grade, I had trouble putting the book down . . . again.  If you have never read it or haven't lately, you'll enjoy the good stories found there.

Cool Chicken Salad Puffs: A Summery Delight

Looking for a cool, light meal that is a little different?  Invite friends over and serve some Chicken Salad Puffs.  They are fun to make and delicious to eat!  I am not much of a cook, but I was able to make these successfully.  I served these at my June Longaberger Open House and found that we all enjoyed them.  There are many recipes if you search them, and I used this one submitted to Taste of Home by Marlys Benning of Ackley, Iowa.  

 Cream Puffs:

• 1/2 c water
• 1/4 c butter, cubed
• dash of salt
• 1/2 c all-purpose flour
• 2 eggs

1.  In a large saucepan, bring water, butter, and salt to a boil.  Add flour all at once and stir until a smooth ball forms.  Remove from the heat; let stand for 5 minutes.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Continue beating until mixture is smooth and shiny.

2.  Drop by six rounded tablespoonfuls 3 inches apart onto a greased baking sheet.  Bake at 400 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes or until golden brown.
3.  Remove to a wire rack.  Immediately split puffs open; remove tops and set aside.  Discard soft dough from inside.  Cool puffs.

Filling:

• 2 c diced cooked chicken
• 3/4 c chopped celery
• 1 can (2 1/4 ounce) sliced ripe olives, drained
• 1/3 c mayonnaise
• 1 T lemon juice
• 1 t grated onion
• 1/4 t Worcestershire sauce
• 1/8 t pepper
• salt to taste

In a large bowl, combine the chicken, celery, and olives.  In a small bowl, combine the remaining ingredients, stir into chicken mixture.  Fill puffs just before serving.

Longaberger Halloween Baskets: A Great Trick-or-Treat Tradition!

Longaberger's Halloween baskets are always lots of fun and offer exciting ways to add to or create new family traditions.  My son used a Longaberger Boo Basket, the first Halloween Basket offered, for trick-or-treating for years.  Since it was made on the Spring Basket form, the Boo Basket was the perfect size for a little guy to carry.  My mother-in-law bought one for each grandchild to use each Halloween. It was a wonderful tradition.  

In addition to trick-or-treating, Longaberger's 2015 Halloween Cat Basket makes great decor at 14" tall, and the three little Ghoulie Baskets are cute and smaller at around 6 1/2" to 7" tall each. Did you see Longaberger's memorable Halloween product video on You Tube?  I love their colorful videos, and I hope you will too.  They have promised to create more!

Great Longaberger Halloween Cat Basket ideas recently shared include keeping the set out all year long to hold cat food, cat treats, cats, etc; giving as a graduation gift and/or office decor for a new veterinarian; or with a brick placed inside to use as a doorstop.  

Use Ghoulie Baskets for candy, such as black licorice in the Monster Ghoulie Basket for hair, suckers wrapped with tissue to make ghost treats in the Ghost Ghoulie Basket, and that delicious candy corn/peanut/M & M mix in the Pumpkin Ghoulie.  Battery-operated tapers surrounded by shredded paper would be fun in the Pumpkin Ghoulie, and the Ghost Ghoulie Basket would be fun throughout winter (without the ghost tie-on) since it's basically a pretty little white basket.  

Longaberger Tie-Ons have many uses besides livening up baskets, and these Ghoulie Tie-Ons do too.  Use them to snaz-up a cello bag of candy as a gift, or glue a pin on back and give to teachers, officemates, or other Halloween fans.

How about that Coffin Basket with its RIP Lid?  The basket is 11 1/2" long, so it would make a great black bread basket to use throughout the year.  It is made on the same form as the retired Heartwood Bread Basket.  Thanks to Linda Sargent for sharing at least part of these ideas.  I always appreciate the creative ones who freely share great Longaberger ideas online and like to know who to thank.  

Longaberger Bee 2015: My Top 10 Favorite Things

Here are my ten favorite things about Longaberger's 2015 Basket Bee, the annual convention held in Ohio.  Having attended over 20 Bees myself, I always enjoy getting together and especially this year loved these things, all equally wonderful:

• being in Dresden, Ohio at the high school with hundreds of Longaberger friends
• seeing familiar, reassuring Longaberger Company faces such as Tina Smythe, Brenton Baker, Lynn Longaberger, and Michael Kennedy
• traveling with fun friends, from visiting to shopping (have you been to the Warm Glow Candle Outlet in Indiana on I-70?).  We even now keep a notebook of our experiences and enjoy adding to it each year
• getting to go in the Union Schoolhouse and visit with Jerry Longaberger; being in the fifth-grade (my favorite grade as a student and as a teacher) classroom where Dave Longaberger spent 3 years
• finding Longaberger family and company leaders to be so present and accessible--I enjoyed visiting with Bob Little (Wendy Longaberger's husband) at the Homestead

• recognition in the evening at the Homestead (open only to us!) with John Rochon and his cute young family--a new Homestead memory (that's us hugging above as I got to walk across the stage)
• picking up treats in the Dresden shops for my Longaberger friends at home
• receiving a huge, beautiful $500 Consistency Basket
• being in the Big Basket again
• getting excited about new and holiday products and then getting to visit with the weavers about them as we walked around in Manufacturing

I'll be posting more about my Bee experiences in the weeks to come.  It was overwhelmingly fun!

I'm sure that you have a group of friends, whether through church, family, or another organization, with whom you occasionally travel and enjoy a shared interest.  If not, you need to make some Longaberger friends!  We have a great time together every time we gather, and we would welcome you into our Longaberger family.

I'd love for you to comment and share your favorite Bee memory, recent or far past.  We all welcome a good Bee story, and so many great friends and memories have been made there.