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Purchased Gift Baskets - Gift baskets are easy to buy online for direct delivery, and may include an option to customize the contents - to some degree. You will have choices as to quality, quantity, variety, luxury, creativity, convenience, last-minute speed, or some combination of these features.
Prices vary widely, too! We priced gift baskets at a huge online gift directory listing over 1,000 gift baskets from scores of merchants. Prices range from US $20 to over $250, some up to $750! Fewer than 5 per cent are priced at $25 or less; most are between $40 and $100, plus tax and shipping.
Choosing a theme. Your recipient's interests and personality are more important than the occasion or your relationship – a kitchen-themed gift basket will please a cook whether s/he is your sibling, colleague or neighbor, and whether it's for a birthday, holiday or housewarming gift.
Whatever the theme, food and treats are the most common component of purchased gift baskets. Flowers, wine, spa or baby products and golf accessories are easy to find, as are gift baskets keyed to various occasions and holidays. However, the contents of most purchased themed gift baskets are quite general in nature.
To obtain the perfect contents for your special recipient, at a price you can afford, you may wish to assemble a themed gift basket yourself. Here are the basics:
First, let's find a container. For inexpensive baskets, try a dollar store, discount department store, crafts supply or party shop. Keep an open mind – baskets are made of wicker, splint, wire, plastic, and more. They're found in every sort of store, from hardware to bed and bath, office/stationery to yard and garden, housewares to seasonal shops.
Don't forget that the basket can set or enhance the theme - for example, a knitting basket, fishing creel, bath/shower tote, picnic basket, bicycle basket, even a laundry basket.
Creative ideas: Don't forget to think "outside the basket" – why not a pail, tray, flower pot, bookbag, hatbox or baking pan? How about a pitcher, hat, office inbox, toiletries case, tool caddy or ice bucket?Any container with a wide enough opening is suitable for a themed gift basket. Just be sure it sits flat and is sturdy enough to hold the gifts. A rigid handle is helpful for anchoring tall or breakable gift items.
Next, the contents. You may wish to feature a special gift and add in some accessories. Or you might include a full-sized favorite product surrounded by sample sizes of other brands. Fill remaining spaces with treats and inexpensive fun or useful items (e.g., note pad, granola bar, lip balm, lottery ticket, keychain, box of crayons). Look for items to enhance the theme, especially your recipient's known favorites.
You may wish to conceal a few surprises by wrapping them individually. For unboxed items, a simple tissue paper pouch will do the trick. For small gifts, you can cut a length of cardboard tube and wrap it in tissue paper, closed with a twist at each end.
Tip: Start a collection of small gifts to include in your home made themed gift baskets: interesting, well-made, inexpensive items. Be on the lookout wherever you shop! You can find creative gift ideas in almost any discount store, and at seasonal sales in the more expensive shops.
Base padding may or may not be needed (depending on the container and the contents), but you may want it for one or more of these purposes:
- to provide a soft cushion for fragile gifts
- to help stabilize the container
- to elevate the gifts so they show over the rim of the container.
Creative ideas: a plastic bag full of popcorn will do both jobs. For a garden-themed gift basket, a small bag of potting soil works well.A piece of stiff cardboard at the bottom (e.g., pad backing) will add stability to a non-rigid container. Or, placed atop the base padding, cardboard provides a sturdy platform for gifts that need to remain upright.
Position the gifts, largest first, in an attractive arrangement. Your container will dictate whether gifts are laid flat (e.g., a tray) or placed upright (deeper containers). For a relatively deep container (like a bean pot) it's OK to hide a few gifts below the rim. A 360-degree arrangement is not a must, especially for a wide container; instead, you can arrange themed gift baskets with a front and a back.
Creative idea: To insert a themed backdrop, glue a colorful picture or patterned paper onto a piece of cardboard that's shaped to fit.Decorative filler is used to fill in the spaces between the gift items. The most commonly used fillers are colorful shredded paper, lightly crumpled tissue, Easter basket grass, and tulle or netting.
You may wish to embellish the filler with small silk or paper flowers, sprigs of artificial greenery, tiny bows or other decorative items.
Crinkly shred can be purchased inexpensively at craft supply shops. If you make lots of gift baskets, consider investing $25-$50 in your own paper shredder at an office supply or warehouse store. Avoid a "crosscut" shredder, or you'll end up with confetti instead of shred.
Creative ideas: Shred used giftwrap, magazine pages, newspaper circulars and other colorful throwaways for environmentally friendly gift baskets. Curled curling ribbon makes beautiful filler too!Ribbon, cord, elastic bands and/or double-stick tape can be used to hold gifts in place. Tall or fragile gifts can be anchored to the container itself, or you may wish to tie or tape two or more gifts together to prevent shifting.
Your themed gift basket may need nothing more than a pretty bow and gift tag, but if you're going to transport your gift, we recommend that you wrap it. Extra-wide cellophane wrap (cello) provides protection and an attractive finishing touch. Cello comes in solid (transparent) colors and is also available in patterns.
Creative idea: To conceal the gifts within, line the cello with tissue paper, thin wrapping paper, tulle, or a very lightweight fabric remnant.
The wrapping technique for gift baskets is similar to making a tissue paper pouch. Cellophane wrap is bulkier than tissue paper when gathered together at the top, and you may have difficulty tying it tightly. A strong elastic band will hold the cello firmly; then you can easily conceal the band with a ribbon.
Tip: For an extra-large container or one with protruding features, you may prefer to cover just the gifts by lining the interior with enough cello to extend around the contents. Arrange the gifts and filler, then draw the wrap over the gifts and secure it at the top. To unwrap, lift out the gifts parcel or just cut away the cello.Add a puffy bow or a cascade of curling ribbon, along with a gift tag, and your themed gift basket is good to go!
Having trouble thinking of a theme? Gift basket content ideas? Homemade Gift Basket Ideas: Themes and More Themes provide lots of ideas to get you started.
back to Great Gift Ideas
No wonder Themed Gift Baskets are such a favorite!
Logo photo by Jane M. Sawyer, courtesy of morguefile.com.