Christmas Gift Basket

Basket Theme Ideas

Generally, Christmas gift baskets are tailored to the interests of the recipient. Most themes are fairly gender-neutral, but you can use add custom touches for a more masculine or feminine feel.

Hobbies

The easiest way to create a Christmas gift basket is to choose a theme that reflects a hobby you share with the recipient. For example;

• If your gift recipient loves to watch movies, create a basket filled with a soda, microwave popcorn, candy, and a favorite DVD.
• For someone who enjoys gardening, fill a basket with seeds, plant markers, garden hand tools, and a new pair of gloves.
• Give an avid fisherman a Christmas gift basket that contains fishing magazines, hooks, bait, line, and small container of trail mix.
• An auto buff will love a gift basket with a new air freshener, key ring, ice scraper, and car wash gift certificates.
• For the avid reader, create a Christmas gift basket that features a book by a favorite author, bookends, and a mug filled with coffee beans or herbal tea bags.
• Give a girl who loves to pamper herself a basket filled with aromatherapy bath products, manicure essentials, and the latest issue of her favorite magazine.

Food

If you don’t know what your gift recipient likes to do for fun, a Christmas gift basket featuring a food theme is sure to be a hit. For example:

• Create a coffee lover’s basket that contains an attractive mug, flavored powdered creamer, gourmet coffee beans, and an assortment of biscotti.
• Create a chocolate lover’s basket with brownie mix, chocolate chip cookie mix, hot chocolate mix, and an assortment of the recipient’s favorite chocolate candy bars.
• Create a soup lover’s basket that features pretty soup mugs, oyster crackers, and an assortment of dry soup mixes.
• Create a healthy snacking basket with roasted mixed nuts, an assortment of dried fruit, and some bottled water.

Miscellaneous

If you don’t like any of the ideas mentioned above, consider a theme that relates to your recipient’s daily life. For example:

• Give new parents a gift basket filled with diapers, wipes, bibs, baby toiletries, and gourmet baby food.
• Pencils, erasers, notepads, and paper clips make great gift basket fillers for teachers.
• New homeowners will appreciate a gift basket that contains a picture frame, potted plant, welcome mat, scented candles, or other items to make their new place feel more inviting.
• Give newlyweds a gift basket that contains a CD of romantic music, a bottle of wine, some gourmet chocolates, and a bottle of massage oil.

Baskets on a Budget

Christmas gift baskets are typically fairly inexpensive presents. But, if you’re on a tight budget, remember the following tips to help minimize the cost of your gifts:

• Buy items in bulk and split them up among several different baskets. This works especially well with candy and other edible goods.
• Look for attractive baskets at garage sales, thrift shops, and consignment stores.
• Plan ahead and watch for sales on items that can be used in gift baskets.
• If your basket looks empty, pair your more expensive gift basket items with small trinkets from your local dollar store.

Beyond Baskets

While wicker baskets are the traditional Christmas gift basket container, you don’t need to package your present in a basket. You can use a container that relates to your theme, such as a popcorn bowl, cookie jar, or large flower pot. If you’re feeling crafty, you can even be creative and make an altered paint can or embellished jars to use in place of a basket.