Holiday gift baskets

A gift basket is a festive gift that will certainly delight the senses. Put on your thinking cap before you start shopping. First take a look around,the holiday season offers many possibilities fot a theme. A theme gives you something to build on, a jumping off point for collecting a variety of items to create that fun basket. There are many ways to go, keeping in mind the occasion and who it is for. Setting the mood of your gift selections could be considered a sub-theme. Here you have the opportunity to be playful, completely wacky or formal, to name a few of the possibilities. Keep in mind the visual presentation as you go along.

To get the ball rolling try to imagine the excitement you can create by gathering together a few unusual gift items that will enhance the effect. A fruit basket, for instance, doesn’t just have to be about island mangos an Fiji apples - although they are very nice. A set of hand carved wooden spoons from a craft fair or a couple of fortune cookies - if you can replace the fortunes, even better.

To be successful, not everything in a food themed basker has to be peeled or sliced. The same goes for any other theme you choose. This could mean a bunch of artificial grapes or other items that could be used in a table arrangement. Even a few artificial flowers, this is a time to think creativitly. Bath products, gourmet foods, wine and cheese and craft supplies are a few of the populr ones. You should be able to come up with a variety of items that will make your theme perfect.

Once you’ve got all your bottles, boxes and oddities in hand it’s time to do some arranging. Putting it all together - the presentation, is thing that creates the magic. It’s good to start with a bed of raffia or some similar material. Darker colors usually work best for this. To ensure success, put heavier items in the center, tall bottles like wine and olive oil reclining and lots of small things to fill in the spaces. If you would like to specially wrap a few items, feel free - it will add to the mystery and visual excitement. Use your good judgment - the finished look should be bountiful but not cluttered.

Time to wrap it up - the finishing touches will give your gift basket that professional look. Wrapping gift baskets in in clear or tinted plastic is the usual way to secure things, as you probably have noticed. The reason is simple, it doesn’t hide the effect you have worked hard to create and conforms well to irregular shapes. So add a few special touches, like a bow and gift and happing gift giving.