Splendid baskets cater to any taste

May 11, 2009

Mindy Tulsi-Ingram is a basket case, if ever there was one. Wrapping and giving gifts is like a calling to her, so she made a business of her passion and called it Green & Green: the Creative Gift Co.

“I love it. I just love doing gifts and always did,” she says.

She makes up unique gift baskets, sometimes large enough to require a truck for delivery.

“I like to make sure every gift has mileage for my clients,” she says. “I try to make them memorable, something of a keepsake.”

Those in the OMG stage of Mother’s Day neglect can go online (www.greenngreen.com) to see what’s on offer or ask her to customize a gourmet basket. The business operates 24/7, she says.

“I think my most special [recipient] was the Dalai Lama. Here’s a man who is so holy. I was touched.”

She made up a gift basket for his hotel room on two of his visits. By the second time, she’d learned he likes mangos, so he got lots of them, mixed in with other edibles.

Desmond Tutu was another special customer, she says. “I do a lot of movie stars, too — directors, actors.

“The biggest basket I ever created was for [horror-film director/screenwriter] John Carpenter. I had to have a truck deliver it. It was almost $2,500,” she says.

It included an Xbox, a Sony PlayStation, his favourite “modern comics,” organic apples, chocolate and his favourite American candies.

Jack Nicholson and Danny DeVito received Green & Green welcomes in their hotel rooms, too.

Tulsi-Ingram keeps unique items on hand to make up ultra-special baskets. A $355 Dualit toaster (toasts 65 slices an hour, keeps toast warm until ready to eat — a favourite of the Queen) might be packaged up with some artisan breads and jams, for example.

A big no-no, she says, is to mix bath items with food. “The last thing I want is for chocolates to smell of soap.”

Quality is a yes-yes. “Quality and locally made things make them unique.”

Green & Green’s showroom/ warehouse is at 1576 Rand Ave., Vancouver. It’s open 9 to 5, Monday to Friday (604-689-5027).