The Amish are a simple people with simple values. The Amish baskets sold here reflect those values with their plain, understated, functional forms and colors. If you are looking for fancy, elegant baskets with intricate weaving patterns, you'll not find them here. Neither will you find here baskets made by machine, or by underpaid workers in Asian sweatshops. The baskets sold here are American made by one rural Amish craftsman and his family. The family has a workshop/store at their home just off a rural Kentucky lane. While visiting the workshop one can occasionally here the rhythmic clip-clop of a horse's hooves as it passes by on the lane below, pulling a buggy of a neighboring Amish family to town.
While the baskets all have commonly used, individual names relating to their purpose, most baskets have many uses other than just what is indicated by the name. Alternate uses are limited only by one's imagination.
Baskets make great gifts for many occasions. Easter, Christmas, birthdays, and baby showers are great times to give gift baskets. And baskets are the type of gift that keeps on giving. A basket makes a perfect presentation for wine and cheese or other gifts. Once the initial gift is gone, the basket can be used for display, for dried flowers, or for another gift!
The construction of all our baskets is pretty much the same. Materials include plywood base, plywood lids, vertical pine staves, solid bent oak handles, hemp rope, bamboo, brass nails, solid copper rivets and leather hinges and handles. All baskets are thoroughly coated with linseed oil and a light stain to protect the wood and give it a warm glow.
Handles vary on the baskets, so study the pictures carefully. Some baskets have stationary oak or leather handles that do not move because they are nailed or woven into the basket. Others have oak handles that swivel on copper rivet hinges. The oak handles may vary slightly in shape because they are all individually hand cut, steamed and bent on drying racks. This handmade process causes slight variations due to individual grain patterns in each piece of wood.
Although nearly all the baskets shown here have the distinctive blue/green and burgundy colored stripes, they can also be made without the colored stripes if that is preferred. A few representative samples are shown without the colored stripes. Take care when ordering to be sure you have selected the basket you really wanted - with or without the colored stripes.
Click here to see a basket in the progress of being made.
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Mail, medium Item #: MH57 Click on picture to enlarge  | Has small leather strap on back to hang on wall or front door. Hinged wooden lid to cover mail. Woven lid as shown no longer available. Length: 9", Width: 6", Height: 10"
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Mail, large Item #: MH58 Click on picture to enlarge  | Has small leather strap on back to hang on wall or front door. Hinged wooden lid to cover mail. Woven lid as shown no longer available. Length: 9", Width: 6", Height: 10"
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Napkin Holder, square Item #: MH59 Click on picture to enlarge  | Pefect for holding napkins (flat) on the dining table. Length: 7", Width: 7", Height: 4"
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Napkin Holder, oblong Item #: MH60 Click on picture to enlarge  | Pefect for holding napkins (on edge) on the dining table. Length: 7", Width: 4", Height: 4"
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Newspaper Item #: MH61 Click on picture to enlarge  | Holds newspapers on edge or folded. Length: 16", Width: 6", Height: 9"
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Note Pal Item #: MH62 Click on picture to enlarge  | Great for those little paper notes having no place else to live. Length: 7", Width: 5.5", Height: 4"
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Peanut Item #: MH64 Click on picture to enlarge  | Use for shelled peanuts before you've eaten them and for the empty shells afterwards. Wooden divider down the middle separates whole peanuts from empty shells. Leather handles on each end. Length: 11", Width: 5", Height: 4"
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Pie Carrier, small, single pie, round with lid Item #: MH65 Click on picture to enlarge  | Securely carries one large pie. Swivel handle, wood lid. Diameter 12", Height: 6"
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Pie Carrier, large, two pies, round with lid Item #: MH66 Click on picture to enlarge   | Securely carries two large pies. Swivel handle, wood lid. Diameter 12", Height: 9"
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