Gift Baskets For Christmas - Ideas and How-To Guide

What do you do if you're uncertain of what gifts to buy for your family or friends this Christmas?
If you go to the mall, whether local or online, you get countless gift ideas. The problem is which to choose.

People, usually give Christmas gift baskets to families, friends, loved ones, neighbors, and co-workers as gifts during the holidays. There are a lot of pre-made Christmas gift baskets available in the supermarket and can be quickly purchased. But if you can spare some time, you can go one step further by making personalized gift baskets. It will show how much care and thought you put into preparing the gift basket and the person who will receive the gift basket will surely appreciate it.

You can make different types of gifts baskets. You can put food items, bath and beauty products, or hobby and craft supplies. You can also fill your basket with small items or what you call stocking stuffers, such as pens, socks, chocolates or even Christmas ornaments.

A person who loves to cook can be given baskets with some bread, along with recipes, spices and kitchen tools.

A gardener can be gifted with a basket of gardening supplies, or perhaps a subscription to a garden magazine with seeds and gardening gloves.

How to Make a Gift Basket

As I mentioned before, you can decide to buy Christmas gift baskets from online or local stores.  But you might not want a generic basket. Many people buy the gift baskets that are already assembled, such as meat and cheese baskets or wine baskets. These are nice and contain quality products, but it lacks personalization.

A gift basket is a little more meaningful when you have full control over what goes into the basket. So, consider preparing one yourself. It can be a little intimidating in the beginning, but it is actually simple and cheaper to make – and a lot of fun.

So, do you want to personalize the Christmas gift baskets you're giving away? Follow these how-to guide. You can have your gift basket prepared in just 6 steps.

Step 1: Decide what type of gift basket you're going to make. 

The first step is to decide what type of basket it will be. There really are no set rules for a DIY gift basket. So you can actually get a large basket or any container and fill it with small items that you think your friend or relative would like. Be creative.

If you want to follow a theme, consider the following tips when choosing a theme:

Think about interests or hobbies – Is your friend an avid runner? Then she is probably interested in stuff related to running or fitness in general. A runners’ gift basket may include things like an armband, a set of ear buds, and even running shoes and gear if you know her size. For somebody who loves cars, why not create a car care gift basket filled with a sponge, glass cleaner, car wax and car soap.

Consider what their needs are – Instead of giving something they want, think about what they truly need. For a sister who just bought a new house, a housewarming gift basket with kitchen tools, a small rug for her bathroom, and picture frames would be nice to help start the decorating process. For teenagers, think of items they will need for school or home.

Consider what they enjoy – Is this person a coffee drinker? or a wine aficionado? a beauty junkie? Think about the treats they keep on their desk at work or what concerns and events they go to. These are handy information when thinking of a good theme for the gift basket.

Step 2: Select your basket or container.

Many gift baskets use a basket, but you can use other types of container if you want. Sometimes, a better container is one that doubles as a bonus gift complementing the other gifts. So, you can use a basket, a bucket, a bag, a glass jar or a can.

Think about the types of items included in the gift basket. What other gifts the recipient might like when choosing the container. Here are some ideas:

For a car care gift basket, use a plastic bucket . The car wash items can be used together with the bucket itself.

For a travel gift basket, put travel items into a small carry-on bag. The container will be the carry-on bag which includes different travel essential in the ‘gift basket’.

For a general gift basket, use a big basket. If there's no specific theme for the collection, an actual basket is perfect.

Step 3: Buy what to put in the gifts basket for Christmas

This is the fun part – buying the gifts! A good gift basket must have variety. You don’t need to spend a lot, but it is good to pick different types of gifts that follow the theme and of different sizes. If you are using a basket or other open container, you want to layer the items, so having small, medium, and large items definitely helps.

Here are some recommended products you can include for different themed gift baskets

Gardening Gift Basket – Use either a basket or a gardening tote for the container, then fill it with things like vegetable and herb seed packets, a set of gloves, handheld gardening tools and a small knee rest. If a small watering can fits in the basket, include one.

Pasta Cooking Gift Basket – Fill a tall cooking pot with a bottle of pasta sauce, box of noodles, container of parmesan cheese, tongs or other cooking utensils, and a bottle of wine. Another option is to add wine glasses or other glassware.

Date Night Gift Basket – A date night gift basket would probably include a small blanket, a bottle of wine, two wine glasses, and some DVDs, or give gift cards for places they could go out on a fun date night.

Step 4: Arrange the gifts in the basket

This step can be intimidating for some people, but remember there is no right or wrong way to do it. You actually don't need to do much if you are using a bag or anything with cover. Just put the items inside and close. A quick tip is to put the larger items at the bottom so that when opening it, the recipient can see all the products easily.

When using a basket or an open container such as a cooking pot or plastic bucket, consider these simple tips:

Start with the tallest items first. With a basket, you want to be able to see everything that is included, which means you don’t just want to throw everything until it fits and then wrap it up. Put the taller and bigger items at the back, then add the rest of the items so that the taller items can still be seen.

Arranging a gift basket sometimes means you might need to rearrange a few times until you get it right. You can move things around as needed until everything can be seen when someone receives the basket.

Line the bottom of the basket with towels and other similar items. When you are giving something like a towel or small blanket as part of the gift, use that to line the bottom of the basket. This keeps it out of the way, but can still be seen.

Step 5: Add filler to the gift basket

This is easy because you are simply choosing some type of material to act as filler in your basket. We add filler material in the basket to fill in empty spaces so the basket looks full and the items remain in the desired position. Filler can be added to the bottom of the basket, but not always.

Examples of fillers includes shredded tissue paper or paper. You can use cut-up wrapping paper that matches the gift basket. Just fill the little holes around items with the filler.

Step 6: Decorate and Wrap the Basket

After adding the gift items and the filler, you then wrap the entire basket to keep all of the items in place and make it easy to carry the basket. There is gift basket wrap which is a large piece of plastic that wraps around the basket. Gather the plastic at the top of the basket, twist it, and secure it with some ribbon. Tie it in a bow and you’re done with your gift basket! If you're using other containers, you can still add a ribbon or a bow for more attractive gift baskets.