How to Make a Gift Basket for a Book Lover

Buying a gift for a book lover can be difficult at best--and boring at worst. Books are highly personal, which means it is hard to choose a book for someone else. You can buy a gift card, but a gift card is not a very original gift. Instead, consider putting together a gift basket for the book lover on your list. Gift baskets are a creative way of giving a gift, and they are fun to put together also. You can also make your basket as elaborate or simple as your budget allows.

Things You'll Need

• Basket or other container
• Ribbon and gift tag
• Tissue paper or newspaper
• Items of your choice to fill the basket

Instructions

1. Choose a container to serve as your basket. You can find many large baskets for low prices at thrift stores. Alternately, you can use another container that is not a basket at all but is book-specific, such as a book bag.

2. Choose reading materials to put in the basket. Try to include a wide variety of items you know the recipient will like, such as favorite magazines, novels and short stories. If the recipient has children, include a picture book for the recipient to read to them.

3. Choose other items for the basket, such as snacks to munch on while reading, a book light, a comfy pillow to rest on, warm slippers or even bath items if you know the recipient likes to read in the bathtub.

4. Include some whimsical items such as bookworms (gummy worms), fun bookmarks, coupons for babysitting so that the recipient can have uninterrupted reading time, and a few books recommended by family and friends.

5. Consider enrolling the recipient in a local book club, or including a gift card to a local bookstore. If the recipient does not have a library card, see if you can get one for him.

6. Line your basket with tissue paper or newspaper, place the items in it, and finish it off with ribbon and a tag.

Tips & Warnings

• Ask the recipient's spouse or loved ones to recommend books and magazines.

Resources

• Use these creative gift baskets for sale as ideas to make your own.