It’s not long until Christmas – at least, not in terms of preparing for Christmas – and you’re starting to think about gifts. There are always people you struggle to buy for, from close family members to people you don’t know very well. It’s especially hard to buy for people you’re closely related to, but not close to (in a relationship sense). But even the people you know well can cause a problem, especially when you’ve been buying them presents for years. Sometimes it feels like you’ve run out of steam, and you’ve already bought them everything they would enjoy. When you’re stuck for ideas for big gifts, the next best thing is lots of little gifts. A gift basket or hamper makes a delightful gift for Christmas, as well as other occasions. You can buy them ready-made, but where would be the fun in that? Here’s your guide on how to start putting one together.
Choose Your Basket and Theme
To start you off, you can choose a theme to create your basket around. You don’t have to do this, but if you want to get creative, it can help you to make your basket more cohesive. Otherwise, it could end up just being a collection of random gifts that don’t have anything to do with each other. When you choose your basket or hamper, think about how much you’re going to put in it to make sure it’s big enough. It doesn’t have to be a woven basket if you don’t want it to be. You could use a large vase, a big decorative bowl or even a colorful bucket.
Buy Wrapping and Lining
Before you start filling your basket, choose fabric, paper or cellophane to wrap and line it. You might decide just to wrap everything in clear cellophane, so you can see everything in the hamper from the outside. If you use paper, make sure it’s durable; normal wrapping paper is too thin to wrap or line your basket without breaking. You can use colored cellophane too, and line your basket to make the inside prettier. Follow your theme, if you picked one, to come up with a color scheme.
Decide What to Put Inside
Now it’s time to start filling your basket. If you picked a theme, concentrate your items along the theme, as you did with your lining and wrapping. Some things you might put in your basket include wine, homemade cookies, chocolate, jewelry or baby items. You don’t have to spend a lot of money on everything you put in the basket, which is one of the bonuses of filling a gift hamper. Everything should be good quality though, especially if you’re filling a food basket. Wine and chocolate in particular should be good quality – try Venchi dark chocolate for indulgent Italian chocolate.
Decorate
When you’ve tied your wrapping around your basket, add a few finishing touches to decorate. You can tie on some ribbon curls, add some stickers or stick on a bow. Don’t forget the gift tag!
