GREAT GIFT BASKET IDEAS--SUPPLIES

GETTING STARTED!
For all of your great gift baskets, you'll need to keep a few fundamentals on hand. Here is a basic list of items you will need to start making exciting gift baskets.

A Container:
You can use a basket, of course, but there are all sorts of other possibilities for containers.
Tins, Colorful Chinese Take-out Style boxes, Fabric covered baskets, Gift bags, Hat boxes, Soft vinyl bags, Tea pot, Cooking pot, Stainless steel strainer, Beach bag, Floppy hat, Extra large tea cup, and the list goes on.

Filler:
Colorful SHRED is a very common filler. It comes in many different varieties like shredded cellophane, tissue paper shred, or typical Easter basket grass. You can find some thicker varieties of shredded paper, or even raffia is appropriate. If you have a paper shredder, you can shred your own news papers, comics, brown package wrap, etc.

You can also use colorful TISSUE PAPER that is crumpled up and stuffed into the bottom of the container and around the products in the basket. Colorful filler adds a lot of dimension to the basket, but if you're making a wedding basket, you may want to use white tissue paper or shred.



STRAW OR RAFFIA would be a great filler for more rustic gift baskets like a cabin-themed basket, or a basket for an outdoors man. Some coffee themed gift baskets or even a wine and cheese basket would be great with a more rustic type of filler.

EXCELSIOR also is a great filler for a more rustic basket. Excelsior is a natural, very finely shredded wood. You can find it at craft stores or a store that sells packing materials.

TULLE OR NETTING can be a great filler for a wonderful gift basket as well. It is pretty cheap per yard, comes in all varieties of colors, and goes a long way in a basket.

Wrap:
Most often a clear, colorful CELLOPHANE WRAP is used to wrap the whole package. You can get plain wrap, or there are lots of wraps available that have designs on the cellophane, like flowers, baby items, birthday themes, etc. You can purchase cellophane bags, but you can also purchase it in rolls or sheets.

SHRINK WRAP is great for making sure everything stays put. To use shrink wrap, you simply surround your container with the shrink wrap, secure the top with ribbon, and use a heat source like a blow dryer to shrink the cellophane. Once the cellophane cools, the cellophane will tighten, keeping all items secure. Note that only cellophane marked as "shrink wrap" will actually shrink and tighten. Regular cellophane will not.

TULLE OR NETTING can be used to wrap your container as well. If you are using a basket, you can either put the whole basket onto a piece of tulle and lift the sides, securing at the top with a ribbon. Or you can put the gift items in the tulle and then place them inside the container.

Ribbons and Bows: This is pretty self-explanatory. There are all sorts of colors, sizes, textures, and patterns of ribbons to use when securing your great homemade gift basket. I personally like to use wired ribbons because they hold their shape beautifully. Bows can be pre-bought or you can make your own.

A few other things to make sure you have on hand are TAPE, or GLUE DOTS,
SCISSORS, and DOWEL RODS. I use dowel rods taped to the back of an item that you want to stand higher in the basket. You'll notice in great gift baskets that items in the back have more height and a great way to achieve this is simply to tape a dowel rod to the back of the item and stick the long end of the dowel rod down into the basket or container. If you have a more shallow container, you can use a piece of dry floral foam that is taped to the bottom of the container to put your dowel rod into. This will provide more stability for the dowel rod and product.

With these basic supplies on hand, you'll be ready to start making GREAT HOMEMADE GIFT BASKETS in no time!