How to Make a Personalized Gift Basket

With so many celebrations every year, it gets harder to come up with unique, creative gifts that will wow the guest of honor. A personalized gift basket is just one way to do that.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• Large basket, preferably straw or wood
• Cellophane (or saran wrap in a pinch)
• Items that the celebrant would enjoy

1. Think about the person's hobbies, likes and favorite activities. Choose a theme that is either relevant to the occasion (such as lingerie if it's a bachelorette party) or relevant to your friend's personality.
2. Search for one or two large or significant items that can be featured center stage in the gift basket. For a basketball lover, an autographed basketball might be the signature piece. For a housewarming, an expensive bottle of wine will work.
3. Try to incorporate an activity into the basket, including such items as tickets to a local sporting event or a gift certificate to the popular local restaurant.
4. Scope out inexpensive stores that might have filler items. Places like toy stores, craft stores, party stores or even the dollar store will likely provide many options. You can also search clearance bins at stores like Target or Wal-Mart.
5. Try to add a humorous item or two to the basket. For the sports enthusiast, add an old-school Nintendo basketball game that you found for a $1.50 at a garage sale. For a welcome basket, add a mini-scrapbook that contains news cut-outs highlighting your town's quirks or less popular tourist spots.
6. Add a food item to the basket. Microwaveable popcorn works for a basketball gift basket. Cheese or even a product from the local farmer's market or gourmet food store will complement the wine in the basket.

Tips & Warnings

• Try to have fun with the gift basket. It doesn't have to be all serious, over-priced items. As long as you have one truly gift-like item in the basket you can fill the rest with inexpensive trinkets or items that the guest of honor will find either helpful or humorous.
• It is easy to get overzealous with a gift basket when you're working with a theme so it's always a good idea to buy the staple present first, then the actual basket. This way you know how much space you're working with and how many items it can accommodate.