Making Holiday Gift Baskets

One of my favorite gifts to give at the holidays (or any time of the year) is a homemade gift basket.  I add homemade treats and store bought items to make the basket personal. The baskets below were purchased from the Christmas Tree Shoppe.  There are similar ones made from metal at Michael's.

What you need to put together a basket:

Baskets or decorative containers
basket filler
paper or plastic bags
cellophane wrap
ribbon
tape
scissors


Here's how:

Place you basket on a large flat surface.

Container in the shape of Santa's pants and belt.

Basket in the shape of Santa's belt and pants

Put in paper or bags to fill the basket almost to the top.

Fill the basket with paper

Place the decorative basket filler on top of the paper or bags to cover it.

Place your items in the basket - larger items in the back and smaller items in front.

This one is an Apple Pie basket - all the ingredients to make a pie

Ready for cellophane

Once the basket looks good, roll out the cellophane wrap on the table.  Place the basket in the middle of the wrap.  Pull up the cellophane around the basket until you have all the wrap in your hands.  Tie the top with ribbon.  Using tape, pull the sides back behind the basket and tape it closed.  Cut the top of the cellophane so it is even.

Wrapped and ribboned and ready to go

These tips can be used anytime you want to give a gift basket.

Some ideas for for baskets are:

Apple Pie Basket filled with:
Homemade Apple Pie Filling
Pie Plate
Pie Dough Cutters
Container of make your own Pie Dough
Recipe Card

Jam Basket filled with:
Jar or two of your homemade jam
Spoon for Jam
Pound cake in a decorative bag
Small four serving plates
Candle
Bottle of wine
Decorative napkins

Wine basket filled with:
2 Bottles of wine
Wine charms
Wine glasses
Cheese plate
Cheese knife
Decorative napkins
Wine bottle opener