How to Make a Cocoa Basket

Create a cocoa gift basket for friends and family.

Surprise a friend who has spent an afternoon shoveling a driveway, or a family with kids out of school for a snow day, with a homemade cocoa basket filled with chocolate treats. Suitable baskets in a variety of sizes can be found at discount or dollar stores. Basket treats and supplies are purchased new or recycled from your own kitchen. Enlist the help of your children to quickly create a batch of gift baskets to have on hand when needed during the busy holiday season.

Things You'll Need

• 3 wide-mouth canning jars with lids and rings
• Purchased hot cocoa mix
• Miniature marshmallows
• Chocolate chip cookies
• Decorative paper
• Pencil
• Scissors
• Stick glue
• Clear cellophane
• Ruler
• 2 yards ribbon, 1/4-inch-wide
• Chocolate candies
• 4 coffee mugs
• 4 flatware teaspoons
• Spray adhesive
• Index card
• Shredded-paper basket filler
• Basket, 12 inches wide by 16 inches long by 7 inches tall
• 1 1/3 yards wire-edged ribbon, 1 1/2-inch-wide

Instructions

1. Fill one wide-mouth quart canning jar with purchased hot cocoa mix, one jar with miniature marshmallows and one jar with purchased or homemade chocolate chip cookies. The cookies are stacked in a tower from the bottom of the jar to the brim, so they need to fit within the mouth diameter of the jar.

2. Trace one wide-mouth canning jar lid three times on decorative paper. Cut out the circles. Apply stick glue to the back of the circles and attach them to the top of the three lids. Place the lids on the jars and attach the rings.

3. Cut four 12-inch squares of clear cellophane. Cut four 12-inch lengths of 1/4-inch-wide ribbon that coordinates with the decorative paper on the lids. Place a handful of your favorite chocolate candies in the center of one cellophane square. Bring the corners of the square together, trapping the chocolates inside. Gather the cellophane corners above the chocolate until snug. Wrap the ribbon around the gathers and tie into a bow. Insert the wrapped chocolates in a coffee mug. Repeat with the remaining cellophane squares and three more cups.

4. Cut four more 12-inch lengths of 1/4-inch ribbon. Place a flatware teaspoon against the handle of a coffee cup with the bowl of the spoon at the top. Wrap a ribbon around the handle of the cup and the handle of the spoon and tie into a bow.

5. Apply spray adhesive to the back of an index card. Place the card on the back of matching decorative paper. Press firmly with your hands to fully adhere the two pieces. Cut the paper around the edges of the card. This is your recipe card. Write a greeting on the card, and the instructions needed for the cocoa mix.

6. Place shredded-paper basket filler in a miniature 12-by-16-by-7-inch wicker laundry basket or a basket with similar dimensions. Fill the laundry basket half full with the shredded paper. Stand each of the filled jars down the center of the basket. Place two coffee cups on each side of the row of jars. Tuck the recipe card between the cups and jars.

7. Cut two 24-inch lengths of 1 1/2-inch-wide wire-edged ribbon. Thread one ribbon through the handle on one end of the cocoa basket and tie into a bow. Repeat with the remaining ribbon on the other handle.

Tips & Warnings

• Decorative paper, shredded-paper basket filler and ribbon colors can be chosen to match the holiday or occasion.