When my daughter moved 550 miles away to attend her freshman year of college this year she began catching colds, stomach viruses and the flu from her very first week of class. Since she has severe allergies to deal with as well, her illness toll has been rising. All I can say is thank goodness for the on campus clinic! Still, as a mom, I couldn’t help but worry that she might not be getting proper care during her bouts of illness. I decided to send her a cold, flu and allergy gift basket to ease my mind and bring her some comfort. (Scroll down to the bottom to find a complete checklist of items to include.)
My quest for the perfect gift basket took me to Walmart where I perused the aisles for just the right additions. It seems that College dorm rooms shared by four girls are a breeding ground for bacteria. I wanted to cut down on the spread of germs so I added spray disinfectant, disinfectant wipes, hand soap and hand sanitizer. During my search for other ways to keep the girls from sharing I found Kleenex Hand Towels. These could be placed in their bathroom to replace the germ filled hand towels they were using. (Believe me when I say washing these towels was not a high priority.) Now the girls had a clean fresh towel each time instead a weapon of mass destruction. This seemed like such a good idea I picked up a box for the kids’ bathroom at my home.
To ease the symptoms of illness or allergies, I added pain reliever, two types of allergy relief medication, cinnamon hard candy to sooth sore throats and Kleenex bundle packs. The bundle packs are perfect to keep in purses, backpacks and pockets and come in handy for sneezing fits or unexpected watery eyes and noses. I’ve had to whip these out of my purse on many occasions.
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| I added a box in my kitchen to replace the hand towel I had by the sink |
I wanted to make my gift basket completely reusable so I tried to find a container that the kids would need. I remembered the unfortunate accident that had befallen their last waste basket when all four girls were sick at the same time. I knew they could use a new one! To make my gift basket look full and overflowing I added a small towel to the bottom and then added my goodies. Because I used a white basket to complement any décor, I felt the basket needed something to spruce it up. I added a bright blue bow for effect. If the basket had been a bright color or patterned I would have skipped the bow.
To complete the basket and offer some comfort on dreary days, I added a package of Valentine’s candy I had found for half price.
Here’s a good checklist of items to include in the basket:
*spray disinfectant
*antibacterial gel
*liquid hand soap
*Wet wipes (you can include personalized sized for purses)
*Antibacterial wipes to clean doorknobs, etc.
*Headache Medicine
*Kleenex
*Cough drops or hard candy for sore throats
*Antibacterial Spray
*Small treats like candy
Something to package your goodies in like a small garbage can
(Towel if using a garbage can to pack into the bottom)
I liked the idea of the care package so much I made one for my elderly father and one to restock our supplies around the house. Not only is it a great way to show someone you care, it’s fairly inexpensive to make and incredibly practical. Interested in making your own care package to send to someone special?
This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study All opinions are my own.
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I would love a care package like that to be sent to my Aunt that works in Iraq!!
I would love a care package like that!
very thoughtful basket! love that you used cinnamon hard candy for sore throats!
That’s a great idea for a care package! Love that you put it all in a small wastebasket, when you’ve got a really runny nose you might as well carry one of those around to dispose of all of the tissues!
That is such a great idea. I wish I had an awesome friend to deliver that to me right now, I’m in cold bug hell.
I love the care package that you put together, definitely has all of the essentials. I’ve been curious about trying the Kleenex hand towels, they look nice!
What a great idea!!
That’s such a sweet idea.
This is great! I love that you can use everything in the carepackage, including the wastebasket! This is so practical!
I love that you use a wastebasket. That’s practical for months, and even years to come.
That’s a great idea for allergy specialty care in my Orlando, Florida home. Hopefully my kids will stop having allergic reactions after they come home from playing at the neighbors. Thanks for sharing!
This is such a great idea for someone who is not feeling well. I love it.
I also think it is perfect for my friend Lynn who is going through Chemo uses lots of Kleenex for herself, plus the hand sanitizer for herself and guests. Not to mention everyone who visits needs to wash their hands and the disposable hand towels are perfect for that.
I think I’ll make one of these for her.
I love this idea so much. And boy could I use one of these right about now.
I have never made a care package but am so inspired to now. This is such a wonderful practical gift especially for those in nursing homes.
What a great “well” basket. Love the idea; my co-workers are all sick, maybe I should make them a few to get well and to keep me well. Love the Kleenex dispensers.. super cool. Thanks for sharing
I love these, especially during cold and flu season!
What a great idea, thanks for sharing.
Love, love, love this!! Fab idea!
How perfect it would have been to find this waiting for me two weeks ago when I had the flu!!
What an awesome idea! Not just the hand towels and everything else, but the fact you put it all in a usable wastebasket!
I haven’t tried the hand towels but I can definitely see how much more sanitary they are verses using a hand towel.
Awesome care package and I current have a cold so I could use this right about now. LOL.
I need to copy this care package for my brother who is at school!
What a terrific idea! I need to make one of these for my elderly neighbors. They are always taking care of our pets when we are away and I like to gift them with things they could really make use of -this totally fits the bill!
what a great care package for those with a flu or cold!
I love your care package – especially how you used a new bin for the basket so that it would all be reusable. They will thank you for that the next time Montezuma’s revenge hits the dorm…lol!
That is cute idea! Found you on twitter!
That care package is awesome! We are big fans of Kleenex in this household 🙂
What a great idea. I love this care package. I bought the Kleenex hand towels and love them. Nice looking box also.
That care package is AWESOME! When I moved to Oklahoma from Florida my parents sent me a package like that and it was a life saver! Now I take so many vitamins that I breeze right through cold and flu season, but we still have Kleenex boxes in every room of the house just in case! HA!
You can send one of those baskets this way. It’s been a horrible cold season for us. I don’t think I’ve ever bought so many boxes of Kleenex.
I would have never thought to use waste basket in such a way.
I loved that you used a waste basket as the container! So practical and it fits the theme perfectly!