101 Gift Basket Ideas!  

Create An Easter Gift Basket

Easter gift baskets are a lovely way to help a person celebrate this springtime holiday. There are many ready-made baskets full to the brim with goodies, but these can be expensive. If you want to give a present that is a bit special, but you don’t have the cash, making your own Easter gift basket is a way round the problem as you can make it whatever size you want. Even if it’s small, a few treats arranged nicely look delightful, and will show you’ve taken time and care over the gift. 

An Easter gift basket is ideal also for the creative present giver. Just think of the fun you’ll have choosing a basket, filling it with delicious or seasonal gifts that you’ve bought or made yourself, decorating it and finishing it off with a flourish like a big bow.

When making any kind of gift basket, of course you need a basket or other container first. These can be bought quite cheaply if you look around. Try large department stores, thrift stores or eBay for inexpensive baskets. An Easter gift basket doesn’t necessarily have to be a basket; a pretty decorated gift bag or box will do. Even a shoe box can be used – just cover it with pretty wrapping paper. If I’m ever given a present in a container, I keep it to reuse at a later date.

Next you need items to put in it. The primary gift theme at Easter is chocolate so have a look around for little chocolate treats that are inexpensive yet look good; nice wrappers can make all the difference. Make sure you have some wrapped candy eggs in the mix. If you want a variety of items rather than just chocolate, then fudge, cookies or jelly beans are all good choices for your basket. Small cakes or cookies are simple baked gifts, if you prefer to make the basket contents yourself. Preserves like lemon curd are also a good idea, and if you have the molds you can even make your own Easter eggs. For someone with a savory tooth, give crackers, cheese and a selection of coffees or teas. For a person with special dietary needs, there are gift selections which include sugar or gluten free treats.

Non-food items can be added to your Easter gift basket or, if you prefer, make up the bulk of it. Some ideas for this are scented candles, gift cards or stationery with spring flower themes, everlasting flower arrangements (there are wonderfully realistic ones nowadays), small gardening tools, flower seeds or pampering home spa treatments. Don't forget the soft toy! Adding a plush duck or Easter bunny to your basket will raise a smile, and is perfect for a child's basket.

Before you start to assemble the Easter gift basket you need to prepare it by adding some filling. This helps to display the contents nicely, keep them in place and protect them a little. The best thing to use is shredded paper. It comes in lots of different colors – pastels are nice for Easter. If you have a document shredder at home, then make your own from old magazines or wrapping paper. If the container is very deep then you can put padding in first such as bubble wrap, before adding the shredded paper.

The easiest way to arrange the items in the gift basket is to start with the bigger items. Arrange these in a fairly even pattern with the largest or prettiest one in the center. Push them down into the shredded paper a little to make sure they stay in place, and then arrange the smaller items around them. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but if you take the time to position the contents nicely it will make your Easter gift basket look even more special. Finish by scattering tiny objects around – little chocolate eggs, for example, or even rose petals. To finish, take a large piece of cellophane, place under the basket and bring the sides up and over, securing with some curling ribbon. If it’s a box, then simply put on the lid and decorate with a stick-on bow and a pretty gift tag.

All that’s left is to give the Easter gift basket to the lucky recipient and watch the enjoyment on their face as they discover all the treats it contains!