How to get creative with gift wrapping & make a basket!

There are a few steps involved in creating a basket, all of the steps are linked and work together. Step 1 is where you begin. First and most important is your theme! In order to start creating your basket you need to pick a theme and stick with it. The theme will depend on the occasion, and who your gift is for. Some example themes are:
- cheese basket for Christmas
- Princess basket for little girls birthday
- Easter basket
- Baby shower gift basket (boy or girl)
- Pick your friends favourite thing and create a personalized theme (Birthday)
These are just a few example ideas, again depending on the occasion. You should have fun with this step and get creative!

In Step 2 variety is key! This step involves picking the gifts that you will include in your basket. For the most part, you want these gifts to match your theme. Picking mostly smaller thoughtful gifts will help you to avoid overspending. You want to only get one or two bigger gifts, which are your main gifts and your focal pieces. This gives you a chance to really personalize your basket and tie it back to your theme (step 1).

Choosing the right basket is another important step. Again you should try and match your basket to your theme. You need to choose the right size basket, depending on the amount of gifts you have to put in it. You might purposely choose a smaller basket to emphasize the contents of your basket, or you may want to make a very large basket. In either case it is important to remember the basket that you choose is part of your gift and that it can be used again. For these reasons you want to make sure that the basket is durable and aesthetically pleasing, something that can be reused for another purpose. Some examples of baskets you could use:
- Wicker baskets, with lining (dark or light color)
- Choose different colors
- Flat baskets with handles
- Instead of using a basket use a big glass bowl (great re-use it gift!)
- Laundry basket (great Idea for baby shower gifts!)
- Boxes with lids (to be re-used as storage!)
- Sleigh (perfect for Christmas!)

Every basket needs some stuffing to elevate the gifts and to be able to place them creatively. The stuffing, as you may have guessed, goes in the bottom of the basket, kind of like the lining. Picking the right stuffing can add to your basket and make it look like you spent more; it also creates the illusion that there is more in your basket. You want to go with stuffing that is creative, and again, part of your gift and can be reused. Of course you can use regular tissue paper, but that's boring. Here are some fun ideas that you could use for your stuffing:
- Linen (matching your theme)
- Towels
- Tea towels
- Diapers (for baby shower)

This step throws the look of your basket all together. By now you should have all the tools you need to create your basket. The way that your items are placed is very important. You always want the biggest gift(s) in the back of the basket and it should be placed in first. Everything else will now be placed around the big gift(s) in a way that allows you to see a little bit of each gift. An easy way to do this is to stagger and angle each item. The goal here is to make sure the majority of the gifts are visible.

The final step is to wrap your entire basket. In order to do this you will need cellophane, lots of ribbon and bows, anything that will emphasize your basket and make it stand out. There is lots of different cellophane wrapping out there with different designs or just the traditional plain clear ones. I prefer using the clear cellophane, that way you can see the entire contents in your basket. Start with placing the basket on top of the cellophane, then just pull up on all four corners and bring the cellophane together. Tie it with lots of curly ribbon, and add big bows for the finishing touch. Be sure to pick ribbon and bows that match your color scheme.
Now your beautiful basket is complete!