Designing a Gift Basket

When I think of June I think of weddings (and my Grandma Delcie June's birthday). When I think of weddings I think of gift baskets. This is probably because when Larry and I were married someone gave us a picnic basket full of gourmet treats. We took it along on our honeymoon in San Francisco and Napa. It was wonderful having an impromptu picnic with us. So, June is here and I thought I would pass along some tips on putting together a pretty gift basket.

The first thing I do when putting together a gift basket is think of the recipient. What do they love? What kind of person are they. I don’t plan everything before I go shopping. I usually go to a store where I can get a basket and a few things to get me started and start looking and thinking. Be prepared to invest some thought in your gift. Begin by looking for the spark, something to light your imagination and get you going. Once you find it (for the Zen basket below it was the teak tray). Build on the theme and color scheme. This is really important to keep you focused and to keep your basket design special. Sticking with a theme and one or two prominent colors will ensure that your gift is beautiful and memorable. You may be surprised how much looking for items in this way helps your shopping too.

As you build your basket keep in mind the scale of the objects you are collecting. If you have selected a really large container (basket, canister, jar, tray) you should look for items that will fill it well. A lovely generously sized basket will look skimpy if the items inside are comparatively tiny, no matter what they cost. The Zen Basket below was the result of what was available on my shopping day. You may not be able to find the same exact items and you wouldn’t necessarily want to. Spend the time and effort to create a gift that is based on who the recipient is and they will know your gift is from the heart. Use these ideas to spark your imagination.
A few years ago, my daughter‘s teacher had told the kids she liked “Zen” things. So together my daughter and I went to the imports store and put together a Zen Tray:

ZEN TRAY

• Teak Tray - this was the foundation of our gift – I thought about using a silk sampan hat.
• Incense in a teak box with a glass top – from here we started building on the relaxation and Zen them and using the violet color of the incense boxes enclosed
• Calming tea – with an simple oriental style box and a violet
• Candle – scented, violet, simple clean “zen” style. Try to include some form of scent in your gift packages. Treat all of the senses of the lucky person who gets your gifts. This can be a sachet of potpourri, a tiny block of cedar, jasmine tea, or fresh flowers.
• Spray of dried lavender from the yard – flowers from your garden are one of the most personal, inexpensive and beautiful additions to a basket that you can make.
• Silk chrysanthemum pin – we used this instead of a bow. Try thinking of other things that you can decorate your package with that can be part of your gift. I could have used a paper fan with cherry blossoms on it, paper umbrellas or a pair of teak chopsticks.
• Bright yellow-orange paper goldfish topped toothpick – Along the lines of the chrysanthemum pin. This was just another extra decoration. I know this on sounds a bit “out there,” but the package needed a bright spot. The toothpick was meant for hors d‘ oeuvres or drinks, but I tucked it in among the goodies. The touch of yellow-orange looked great with the violet and the oriental style goldfish was in keeping with our theme.
  

All of this was wrapped up in clear cellophane (you can use tulle for a wedding gift) and topped with some purple curly ribbon. We added a home made card that looked like the picture above!