Give homemade gift baskets this Christmas

I think Christmas gift baskets make great gifts for just about anybody. You can easily create unique one-of-a kind Christmas gift baskets for relatives, kids, entire families, clients or customers, neighbors, or anybody else on your list who may be hard to buy for. Keeping a couple pre-made gift baskets on hand for a suprise guest or other situation is also a great idea. So when cousin Candy and her family show up unexpectedly, you aren’t put on the spot or embarassed to be caught empty handed, because you have a nice gift already on hand. Don’t forget to add a signed card perhaps with a nice Christmas poem to your baskets. I use a hole punch to make a hole in the corner of my cards after I’ve sealed them in their envelopes. Then I run ribbon through the hole and let the card hang down off the handle of the basket. Leave the envelope blank so you can easily write in a name in a hurry.

For families, I suggest a Christmas movie theme gift basket. Pick 2 or 3 family friendly Christmas DVD’s or Blu Ray such as National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, Home Alone, The Santa Claus, or maybe some classic Christmas TV specials like the Grinch, or Rudolph for families with smaller children. Add in some microwave popcorn, boxes of movie theatre candy like Milk Duds, or Junior Mints and 3D glasses if needed. It really depends on the size of the basket how much you can stuff in there!

For a couple or neighbor, the classic ‘country picnic’ basket comes to mind. A bottle of wine, a pair of wine glasses, then tuck in some gourmet cheeses and a variety of whole wheat or other multi grain crackers.

For the Christmas-aholic… you know, that guy who listens to Christmas music year round, and quotes Buddy the Elf, I have a perfect basket for them! Fill it wth a can of Borden’s canned Eggnog since there’s no refrigeration needed until after it’s opened, a pair of Moose mugs or a Christmassy coffee mug, a fruitcake, a can or bottle of Coke with the Coke Santa on it, a Hallmark ornament, Christmas DVD, Perry Como or other classic Christmas CD, some candy canes, and other stocking stuffer type items.

You can get all different sizes of baskets in department stores, big craft stores, and even dollar stores have a nice selection of baskets at times. I also like picking up unique baskets at yard sales and thrift stores through out the year. You can spray paint them solid Christmassy colors then use craft paint and foam stamps in Christmas shapes to decorate the outside of the basket. I run leftover Christmas wrapping paper through the paper shredder and use that in the bottom of the basket for padding, like Easter basket grass.

A few more ideas for Christmas Gift Baskets

Christmas gift basket for chocolate lovers: add gourmet chocolate bars, boxed chocolates, chocolate syrups for ice cream or chocolate flavorings for coffee, chocolate flavored novelty items like lip balm or hand creme.

Christmas gift basket for coffee lovers. add fresh gourmet coffee, specialty flavored creamer or syrups, coffee cakes or tea cookies, chocolate melting spoons and of course a Christmas coffee mug of some sort.

Another great idea for Christmas Gift Basket is Italian gift Basket. The Italian gift basket includes gourmet or homemade pasta sauce, gourmet pasta, fresh mozzarella, Parmesan cheese, garlic bread and olive oil.

For the guy who really loves his car: steering wheel cover, little tree shaped air fresheners, car wax, Armour All wipes and a can of tire shine, a microfiber chamois or washing mit, and maybe some fuzzy dice for a laugh.

Use your imagination and go crazy! Everyone loves a thoughtful gift basket!