We had our Tricky Tray in the High School. No one said anything. I think it might have been an issue if we'd had it in the elementary school, but since this was an adults only event anyway it never came up.

Hi Pearlie!

We hold ours in a banquet hall so we can have alcohol in baskets. We just can't store it in the school and have to store it elsewhere until the event. We have a local liquor store that donates 2 cases of wine, so we do have a decent amount of alcohol prizes.

Your Principal is correct. Alcohol is not allowed anywhere in a public school at any time. The only schools who can do this are Catholic Schools and private schools.

Having the event at a facility also allows for people to drink during the event. Alcohol is not included in the ticket price, but there is a cash bar in the room.

[ 01-27-2005, 09:54 AM: Message edited by: Serendipity ]

I think those are all great ideas and i can't think of any thing to add that we have done in the past.

I have a couple of questions though.

Do you all hold your auctions at the school and are you all allowed to have alcohol in your baskets?

We hold our auction at our public school and the principal will not allow us to have any type of alcoholic beverages in the baskets. I personally don't have an issue with having alcohol in baskets since it is not open or being served on the premises and no one is forcing anyone to bid on it - I guess it's just one of those calls that are up to the principal. There are so many other items to have in baskets, that it's really never been an issue with us though.

Here are a couple ideas that our parents have used, one family folded up dollar bills to look like flowers and tied them with pipe cleaners and stuck them into a watering can with tissue paper coming out of the can around the flowers, take a nice bowl or some other creative container and fill with full size candy bars..the kids love trying to win this one, a breakfast basket filled with a frying pan, pancake mixes and different syrups, lottery tickets are always a huge hit and parents have been creative in the way they display them..in a plant, in decorative card or picture holders, on a wreath, movie baskets are always a big hit with parents and kids. Good luck!

I just did a "Play Dough" basket for a Tricky Tray filled with all Play Dough boxed sets (I got everything on clearance at Target!). I got the idea from another Tricky Tray I went to.

Most of the themes are covered here, but some other ideas are:

Puzzle-mania --jigsaw, word searches etcetera

Party Lite Products

Sports Teams (All things Yankees, Mets, Giants etcetera)

All Things Spongebob, Spiderman etcetera

Hotwheels - Matchbox cars

Any Holiday (Usually if there has just been a holiday you'll get a huge basket filled with all the great left over sale stuff you can use for next year. Just make sure you say, "No Candy!")

Hair care - shampoos, blow dryer, brushes, scrunchies, that sort of thing

Rub a Dub Dub - all sorts of playthings for the bathtub, cute towels/wash cloths, bubblebath

Barbie/Bratz - If you can find stuff on clearance (I got lucky with Bratz) you can make a killer basket

Camping/Fishing

Scrapbooking (Paper, punches, decorative scissors, stickers, pens, an album)

Margaritaville- blender, Tequila, mixers, glasses

Baker's Delight - Cake pans, Muffin Tins, Cookie Cutters, Springform Pan

Desk Set - Stapler, electric sharpener, pencils, a god pen (i.e. Cross) Post Its, a blotter, Pen/Pencil cup, thumb tacks)

Good Luck!

Here are some we do that were not listed yet.

A lottery ticket basket ~ Filled with Scratch off lottery tickets

First Aid Basket- Band aids, peroxide, first aid cream, calomoine lotion, gauze pads, ice packs, etc.

Pasta Basket - Collander, Cheese Grater, various pastas, & Sauces

Junk food basket- soda, chips, cookies, candy

Arts & crafts basket- Construction paper, markers, caryons, pencils, stencils, stickers, etc

Cat Basket - cat treats, toys, & grooming products

Dog basket - dog treats, toys, & grooming products

Coffee & Tea Basket - Mugs, Assorted Teas & coffees, Chocolate spoons, biscotti

Manicure basket - nail polish, polish remover, emery boards, cuticle remover, orange stick, hand lotion

Cleaning supplies basket - fill a bucket with all kinds of products and sponges

Car wash basket - fill a bucket with all kinds of car cleaning products, air fresheners, & sponges

Summer outdoor basket - filled with all kinds of outdoor warm weather toys