The first time I met my sister-in-law, I wanted to impress. I mean, let’s be honest, we all know that it could be a make or break situation. If the family doesn’t like you, there’s a good possibility that it’s over. I made sure to tell my husband that before he met mine…and now they’re inseparable. Seriously. He calls them more than I do.

My SIL (We shall call her “C”) flew out from the East Coast to visit us for a weekend. I knew we’d be spending most of our time at the beach, so I wanted to come up with a little “beach themed” gift. I also didn’t want to put a bunch of random things she couldn’t use in it, so I looked for things she could actually get some use out of. C is verrryyyyy trendy, in ways I can only hope to be someday (am I too grown up to hope to be just like her when I grow up?). Now that C and I are real sisters, maybe her coolness will rub off on me. A girl can hope.

On a side note, I didn’t get good photos of this gift because I actually made it a few years ago, back when I could have never dreamed of having my own blog.

It all started with a bucket. Not a dream. A bucket.

I picked up some essentials:

Sunglasses

Sunscreen

Snacks (Goldfish Crackers, fruit snacks)

A beach ball (DUH!)

A magazine

A lei

Fish Skewers (see instructions below)

Red Neck Wine Glass (substitute with fun plastic cup)

Lifesavers (Get it? Hehe)

Bottle of Water

When I had everything I thought I needed, I went out and found more. No really, I think I have a shopping problem. These gift baskets always ruin me. But there are a lot of other ingredients you can use too for baskets. You could also buy a cute beach bag and use that instead of the bucket. Some other ideas would be:

Cheap sandals (Old Navy always has perfect flip flops!)

 A fun Tank Top

Towel

Aloe Vera

Chap stick with SPF

Hair Ties (For a woman. Or a man with really long hair. No discrimination here.)

Bottle Opener and a Bottle of Beer

Good Book

Piece of Fruit

Cleansing Wipes

Take everything you have purchased, put it in your bucket or bag, and tie a little tag to the side. You can print the one I made here: Life’s A Beach. I know…real tough right? Super cute, super easy, and a really fun gift. I think that this gift definitely was a hit for C. That, or the jello shots I made in lemon slices. Those were definitely the hit of the weekend.

So these fish skewers? Super easy. Finding the dang little buggers is the hardest part. I found mine at one of those random candy stores in malls that never has anyone inside, and you constantly wonder how they stay in business? Yeah. That place. I could have just purchased Swedish Fish, but those are only red, and I am not racist. I wanted all colors! Love to all. Okay really I just wanted it to be pretty. I also found these awesome blue sharks at that random candy store, so I picked up a few of them too. I put them all on kabob sticks, tied them in clear wrap, and put the little tags on them. You can print your own Fish Skewers tags too.

And just in case you read this whole blog post, and the only thing you were thinking was, “I want to make my own jello shots in lemon slices” – Here’s a good recipe to follow. I didn’t have any special tools to hollow out my lemons, so I just used a spoon. If you’re anything like me, you do what you can with what you have. No need to go out shopping for a random tool you will use once. Mine turned out fine without. Well actually…I think they turned out amazing, but that’s just me.(My brother in law “K” and my Lemon Jello Shots! Model Material!) 😉