Flower Basket Fail

but eventual success. I spent weeks recently scouring the internet for the perfect flower girl basket. I'm not too picky, but this kind of thing, which seems to be the most common type of flower girl basket, is just not for me.

So I was seeking a simple woven basket with a handle that I could decorate a bit. If it was a Nantucket style basket, all the better. I searched all kinds of basket wholesalers, wedding supply stores, and ebay. I eventually found a small basket that seemed like it could work for about $3. The shipping was around $6, but I still thought it was a pretty good deal.

Until I forgot to double check my ebay address and the basket was sent to my old address. Despite being assured by the local post office that packages would forward for up to a year, the package never made it to this apartment, but got sent back down to the seller on Cape Cod. Oy! Committed now, I then paid an additional $5 for the basket to be sent back up to New Hampshire. With all the shipping costs, the total for this basket ended up $15.74.

Fine, though, I thought, at least I have the basket. Hurrah! Until I opened the box. Photo of the basket below, with some books and a bud vase for scale.

Yeah. Turned out the basket was really teeny and I apparently don't pay enough attention to measurements. I don't think our then-9-year old flower girl can get her hands in there, do you?

On a whim, Justin suggested we check out Christmas Tree Shop, on the grounds that we'd seen baskets there months ago and they have everything dirt cheap. And, of course, we walk in and find a whole wall of nice Nantucket style baskets. The perfectly sized flower girl basket below? Cost us a grand total of $2.99 (no tax as we live in NH - live free or die!).

We even snagged a basket for the extra maps for $3.99.

Now, this is the story Justin tells to explain what we're talking about when we tell folks that I need to seriously let some things go and stop price-shopping already!