And not a necktie or playlist among them… not that there’s anything wrong with that.

New River Valley, VA -- (ReleaseWire) -- 06/03/2009 -- Elizabeth Woodson, owner of Elizabeth W. Gift Baskets, lists 10 unique Father's Day gifts you can make yourself. Elizabeth W. Gift Baskets is an upscale gift basket service specializing in artfully tailored, high-end gifts, embellished with handcrafted details.

1. Animal Cracker Ice Cream Sandwiches – Kids will love helping make these bite-size beauties. Sandwich ice cream or sherbet between two animal crackers using a melon baller to make mini-scoops. Wrap each sandwich in plastic wrap and freeze. Decorate a plain round tin with circus animal stickers and layer the wrapped sandwiches inside. Since the filled tin will need to be stored in the freezer, you may wish to present Dad with a card listing mysterious clues that eventually lead him to his present in the freezer.

2. Tree of Promises – Purchase a ready-to-plant potted tree, such as a Dogwood, from a nursery or home supply store. Buy fancy tags from a craft supply store (or, make your own on the computer.) Have each family member think of two or three chores or favors they are willing to promise to do for Dad. Younger kids might promise to shine his shoes or read him a story, while teenagers could commit to washing the car or babysitting their young siblings while Mom & Dad have a night on the town. Write each promise on a tag and hang it on the tree for Dad to pluck when he needs a special treat. When all the tags are gone, Dad can plant the tree outside and use it to hold tags for family celebrations for years to come.

3. Daddy Dossier – You Tube has turned us all into amateur cinematographers. Gather your siblings and make a movie of memories for Dad. Visit spots around your area where Dad earned his reputation for being the best Dad in the world… The local baseball field where he, fearlessly and without the aid of controlled substances, taught you how to drive… The row of 40-foot walnut trees that you and Dad planted as seedlings for a school 4-H project… The Wishnik troll doll (am I dating myself?) that Dad gallantly rescued after it accidentally flew out the car window on I-95. Film each other on location documenting the events in your lives that shaped treasured memories of Dad.

4. King for a Day – Plan a full day of activities that Dad loves and type up a fancy itinerary on your computer. Entries might include breakfast in bed, followed by a round of golf, followed by a picnic in the park, followed by his choice of movies and so on. Put the itinerary in a box and wrap with pretty paper and ribbon. Present it on a tray along with the breakfast in bed.

5. Thrill of the Grill – Mix up a couple of barbeque spice rubs for grilling. Here are two good recipes. http://itsagift.wordpress.com/ Put the rubs in airtight bottles or jars and add pretty labels. Buy a large washtub (that can later be filled with ice for chilling drinks), a bag of charcoal, grilling tools, an apron and perhaps a 6-pack of beer. Arrange all the items in the washtub and add a big bow.

6. Storytime – This is a great gift for grandfathers. Choose one day a week, or one day a month, depending on your availability, to read aloud to your recipient. Pick a book you both like and read a chapter each visit. Sure, you could just buy a couple of books on CD, but that's not the point. This is actually nothing more than a commitment to spend time with a loved one. Besides, with a book on CD you can't stop and discuss the plot with the reader, or share a cup of tea, or a hug.

7. Cookie Emergency Kit – Nothing tastes better than freshly baked cookies, still warm from the oven. Mix up cookie doughs in three or four flavors you know Dad will like. An assortment of chocolate chip, oatmeal, peanut butter and sugar cookies makes a good combo. Shape the doughs into logs and wrap each in parchment paper. Attach a tag with baking instructions to each log of dough. Buy a nonstick cookie sheet, an oven mitt, and a metal spatula. Arrange the logs of dough, mitt and spatula on the cookie sheet and tie with a pretty ribbon. Dad can store the doughs in the freezer and lop off a chunk whenever he is craving homemade cookies. He can bake a whole plateful or just slice off enough dough to make one or two cookies at a time. (Like anybody just eats one or two cookies at a time!)

8. Young Wine - This is a great gift for a young Dad-to-be. Ask the folks at your local wine shop to help you pick out a wine that needs to age for several years before it becomes truly spectacular. Give it to the Dad with a note that says, "Drink this wine to celebrate your baby's 13th birthday," or "Do not open until the day you write your first school tuition check."

9. Tub-o-Treats - Maybe Dallas Cowboys season tickets are not in your budget, but you can still surprise Dad with an impressive gift that keeps on giving. Collect lots of little things that Dad can use while he watches his favorite sports events on TV. Wrap each one in pretty paper and ribbons and put them in a large bucket or canvas tote. Let Dad open one gift every time he sits down to watch a sports event. Items might include a large tin of gourmet nuts, a baseball cap with his team's logo, a Rubik's Cube, a beverage can cozy, a case of microwave popcorn, a stadium blanket, a TV remote holder and a book about his favorite sport.

10. Cook the Book - If you like to cook and your Dad lives nearby, this is for you. Buy a cookbook with recipes for foods Dad likes. Wrap it in fancy paper and include a special handmade coupon with the card. The coupon entitles the bearer to one recipe of his choice per month, prepared and delivered by you. For example, if Dad has a sweet tooth, you might give him a dessert cookbook. The card could say something like, "Real men eat dessert first. Here's a coupon for one sweet treat a month for the next year. You pick it and I'll make it."

Elizabeth Woodson, owner of Elizabeth W. Gift Baskets, is the former Creative Director of Food & Wine magazine and coauthor of "Lemons: Growing, Cooking Crafting" (Chronicle Books, 2003) You can find more of her gift-giving tips and party recipes on her blog, shindig411

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Former Creative Director of Food & Wine and Eating Well magazines has opened ELIZABETH W. GIFT BASKETS. http://www.elizabethwgiftbaskets.com

New York, NY -- (ReleaseWire) -- 12/06/2007 -- After spending over a decade designing national food magazines, Elizabeth Woodson has begun designing gourmet gift baskets graced with the human touch. Whether you're pampering a big client, welcoming a new pet, or sending holiday greetings to family and friends, Elizabeth W. Gift Baskets will help you do it brilliantly. This stylish newcomer is expert at creating artfully tailored gift baskets that reflect not only the recipient's sensibilities, but the exquisite taste of the giver as well.

Seasonal celebratory baskets such as Old Fashioned Christmas, Cocktail Party, Hanukkah Holiday Hamper and Holiday Extravaganza are designed to help get the party started. Christmas-Party-in-a-Box for example, contains ingredients for an impromptu party packed alongside the essence of the holiday, a miniature live fir tree.

Upscale gourmet presentations delight the corporate crowd. Fit for the CEO and designed for sharing, the Gourmet Office Party will impress the most discriminating noshers. Epicurean savory delights are accompanied by an ingenious box of Scharffen Berger fine chocolates, which comes with a slot for inserting a business card.

Organic coffees, a French press and artisanal chocolates form the basis of The Buzz Basket™, a coffee and chocolate duo designed to impress and reward high-energy executives and keep them on their toes. Members of The Corporate Birthday Club can hand over a list of their employees, along with their birth dates, and their shopping is done for the year.

The innovative Good Cook Series features gifts for foodies. Offerings include Double Truffles™… exquisite Joseph Schmidt chocolate truffles for instant gratification, plus a beautiful, full color truffle cookbook, cooking utensils, and top-quality couverture chocolate for whipping up a batch of your own. It's all packed into a pewter finish basket that will find a permanent home on the kitchen counter. More foodie fun can be found in the Cookie Emergency Kit™, Hot Chocolate Box, Luscious Lemons, Coffee & Cake, Gingerbread House Kit and the Holiday Baking Basket.

Other offerings include unique birthday baskets, high-end spa baskets, "green" baskets, charming new baby baskets (including The Top Tadpole™, a sibling gift designed to drive away new baby jealousy) and wedding survival kits for both bride and groom.

There are party favors for grownups and take-home bags for kids. Bunch-o-Munchlers (for kids) features the trendy insulated lunch bags designed by award-winning children's book illustrator, Stephen Savage, for Built NY. The polypropylene animal-head lunchboxes come in four styles… Bengal Tiger, Rabbit, Panda Bear and Puppy, and come filled with treats and age appropriate craft supplies.

The sympathy and get-well choices include a variety of Tea Time baskets featuring delicate glass teapots and flowering teas, Platinum Gourmet baskets filled with exotic noshes, and an array of organic and healthy snack baskets.

There are even baskets for pets. Doggie Dossier™ features a sophisticated photo album hybrid– a case that has a photo album on one side, and a shadowbox on the other, for collecting canine memorabilia. The shadowbox side comes filled with peanut butter dog biscuits, a bone shaped cookie cutter and a copy of the adorable book, "Pooped Puppies… Life is Too Short to Work Like a Dog."

No matter what the occasion, elegant, handcrafted details will customize and personalize your gifts, distinguishing them from the standard fare. Consider the following:

"My best friend just got dumped. She knows time heals all. She knows she'll live to love again, but right now she needs chocolate!"

The solution? The Breakup Bag™. A charming, purse-worthy satchel, embellished with the recipient's initial, comes filled with choco-therapy… gourmet sweet treats designed to encourage the recipient to snap out of it and start smiling again. The crowning touch to this sugar-high-in-a-basket is a customized, handmade card inscribed with a choice of three sentiments: "He Doesn't Deserve You," "Shopping Cures All," or "May He Burn in Hell."

All of the 80-plus basket choices come with handmade gift cards, hand-tied bows, initialed tags and other artistic touches aimed at giving each basket a one-of-a-kind look.

Elizabeth W. customers want impressive, customized gifts of high quality, highlighted with personal touches. They do not have time to search out or create the perfect gift, but they'd like the recipient to think they did just that. To that end, regulars are encouraged to store a stash of their personalized notecards with Elizabeth W. so that greetings can be written on their own stationery for inclusion in the baskets they send.

Fact Sheet
Opening: November 2007
Owner: Elizabeth Woodson
Website: http://www.elizabethwgiftbaskets.com
Hours: Monday through Saturday – 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. Sunday - Closed
Company Focus: Specialists at artfully tailored, high-end gift baskets, embellished with handcrafted details. Old-fashioned values, cutting-edge products and designs, and exemplary customer service appeal to those in search of clever, one-of-a-kind gifts. Sleek presentations reflect the good taste of the giver as well as the sensibilities of the recipient. Gifts are designed to appear as if the buyers themselves might have assembled them, given the time and skills.
Basket Categories: Seasonal, Holiday, Corporate, New Baby, Birthday, Congratulations, Get Well, Hospitality/Housewarming, Kosher, Organic/Healthy, Sympathy, Thank-You, Spa/Personal Pampering, Welcome, Romance/Wedding, The Good Cook Series, Welcome to New York, Favors, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Gifts for Kids, Gifts for Pets, All Occasion, and New York's Taub Institute Alzheimer's Research Gifts.
Community Involvement: Gifts featured on our New York's Taub Institute Alzheimer's Research Gifts page are designed for patients with Alzheimer's Disease and their caregivers. Each of these gifts can also be adjusted to suit general hospital patients and caregivers. Either way, a percentage of the profits from the gifts on this page are donated to New York's Taub Institute at Columbia University Medical Center for Alzheimer's research.
Prices: Gift basket prices range from $36.00 to $275.00. Favors start at $9.95.
Credit Cards: All major credit cards accepted.
Owner's Biography: Elizabeth Woodson is the former Creative Director of national gourmet food magazines, Food & Wine and Eating Well. She is the coauthor of Lemons: Growing, Cooking, Crafting (Chronicle Books, 2003). Elizabeth has produced cooking and craft features, and styled all manner of holiday decorations, greeting cards, handmade gifts and gift baskets, for such magazines as Family Circle, Food & Wine, Parenting, Nick Jr. and Child, as well as The CBS Morning Show.
Images: High resolution photographs of baskets are available upon request. Please see the website.

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm