34 | AUGUST 24 • 2023 

I

n the late 1970s, Metro 
Detroit native Pamela 
Cohen and her husband, 
Donald Cohen, left Michigan 
for Arizona to finish their 
schooling. With no family in 
the area, Pamela struggled 
with sending meaningful gifts 
via mail.
She began by taking the 
usual route — sending a 
check with a card — but soon 
realized her gifts didn’t have 
the personal touch of giving a 
thoughtful gift in person.
“I just didn’t think the 
words were enough,” recalls 
Cohen, now owner of Basket 
of Smiles.
Tapping into her creative 
side, she began sending 
money trees and boxes that 
open up to spring out money. 
For 17 years, Cohen followed 
this gift-giving pattern with a 
twist before returning to live 

in Farmington Hills. 
Family and friends quickly 
realized Cohen, now 68, had 
a talent for creating unusual 
gifts. In the 1990s, they 
encouraged her to make gift 
baskets for anniversaries, 
parties and more.
Cohen, who worked as a 
catastrophic medical claims 
injury adjuster, found relief in 
this hobby, which served as 
an escape from what was an 
often difficult and emotional 
job.
“I found a lot of joy in it,” 
explains Cohen, who was long 
affiliated with Congregation 
Shaarey Zedek. “It was a big 
stress reliever.”

CREATING SMILES ONE 
BASKET AT A TIME
Following her recent 
retirement, Cohen decided to 
take her passion to the next 

level.
As a lifelong creative who 
studied journalism and 
created Halloween costumes 
for her daughter, Emily 
Cohen, opening a creative 
business felt like a natural 
transition.
Pamela Cohen 
knew she wanted 
to share her gift 
baskets with the 
world. So, in 
January of this year, 
she launched Basket 
of Smiles, a one-stop 
shop for custom gift 
baskets that span 
everything from 
themed to holiday to 
welcome baskets.
No two baskets are exactly 
alike. Depending on the 
customer’s needs, Cohen will 
create a one-of-a-kind gift 
basket that has everything 

they need for their special 
occasion.
Cohen built up the business 
on Etsy and eventually 
transitioned to her own 
website, which was designed 
by her daughter. There, 
customers can place orders for 
just about any celebration, the 
latest of which includes a gift 
basket for Rosh Hashanah. 
“You can never get really 
good Jewish holiday baskets 
out there,” Cohen says. “I love 
the Jewish holidays, and I 
think there’s a need for [Rosh 
Hashanah] baskets.”
In the Rosh Hashanah 
basket, which costs $94.95, 
customers can find a range 
of apple and honey-
themed goods, 
including Amish 
apple butter, honey 
tea and honey 
candies.
Orders for the 
Rosh Hashanah 
basket can be placed 
through Aug. 31 for 
on-time delivery.

MORE THAN JUST 
WORDS
While Cohen calls her 
business primarily a “word-of-
mouth” business, traction is 
quickly picking up. She ships 

Custom Gift Baskets 
for Rosh Hashanah

OUR COMMUNITY

Basket of Smiles creates one-of-a-kind gift baskets 
for all occasions.

ASHLEY ZLATOPOLSKY CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Pamela Cohen

