So you're looking for a great gift for your man, and you're stuck for ideas. Or maybe you've got a budget and you're trying to maximise your budget.

What do you get for him that isn't going to cost you the earth and really MEANS something to him?

Have you considered a gift basket?

Now I don't just mean heading on over to a site that sells gift baskets, buying him one and getting it sent. Not that there's anything wrong with that. There's some wonderful gift baskets for men available. Gourmet food gift baskets, wine gift baskets, themed gift baskets, I could go on and on.

BUT, if you're looking to maximise your budget and want to make that gift for him extra special, why not consider a homemade gift basket?


That's right. Make it yourself.

Why? Well several reasons. Firstly it can be cheaper than buying a commercial gift basket. Because of course the commercial gift basket companies need to make a profit, and you pay for the profit. But if you make it yourself........

And also, most importantly, it from YOU. It's personalised for him, from you.

You can always make a better gift basket yourself (if you put the effort in) than you can buy, because you can always make sure the gifts are extra special to your man.

Convinced? Good.

What is the main ingredient for making a great homemade gift basket? I've already said it, it's personal, it's from you. It's from you for him. Not just something that you've purchased in between reading your emails.

It involved your own effort, and he knows that, so he'll really appreciate the effort you've put in. He knows you've put your heart into it.

Great, we're decided then. You're going to make your own gift basket.

(If not then have a look at my site about mens gifts for some commercial gift basket ideas)

Where do you start?

Of course any gift basket needs a basket doesn't it?

No, not necessarily. What it needs is a container.

Something to hold the gifts in. Now of course that can be a basket, but it needn't be.

I like to think of a theme for the gifts. For example lets say you are making a homemade gift basket for a man who's a fishing nut, so you're going to be giving him some great fishing gifts. The theme for your gift basket for him is fishing.

So instead of getting a basket for his gift why not a fishing related container? Like a fishing creel for example, there are some lovely inexpensive cane creels available.

See what I mean? Think theme. And if you're going to wrap it then when you're shopping for paper look for a fishing theme wrapping paper.

There's so many ideas you can use for a "basket". Boxes, trays, packing cases. If your man is a photographer and your going to make him a photography gift basket then why not a photography bag?

Use your imagination and think. There's always some great ideas that you can use that are often very cheap as well.

What else do you need to think about? Well the size of the container is important. If you haven't decided on what gifts you're going to put in it then you need to decide on at least the largest ones. So you know how big the container needs to be.

It wouldn't be the first time someone was unable to fit all the gifts in!

Next. What gifts do you put in it?

Next comes the gifts.

So what are you going to give him?

Remember the major advantage of making your own gift basket for him rather than just buying a commercial gift basket is to make it personal to him.

To include gifts in it that only you would think of. Don't try to make it just like one of the commercial gift baskets. That's losing your major advantage.

So spend some time thinking. Great homemade gift baskets are all about ideas. Good ideas.

So come up with some good ideas.

Remember your theme. Lets use fishing again. Assume you know nothing about fishing, but he loves it.

What do you do to find gift ideas?

Ring his fishing buddies, they'll know what he wants. They'll be full of good ideas, and you can bet they'll know exactly what he's got already and what he hasn't.

Visit your local fishing store and ask them.

Use your imagination, there's always sources of information where you can find out more about what gift ideas for him would make good gifts if you're not entirely sure.

Try and feature one or 2 main gifts of real value and a bunch of smaller "filler" gifts. The fillers are to fill up the small holes, make it more entertaining when he opens his gift basket, and for some extra creativity from you.

Funny filler gifts always go down well. Try to find some funny fishing themed ideas for gifts. Everyone likes a laugh.

And remember, make it personal. I like to think that's the big difference between the gift basket you're going to make to give him, and a commercial one, so take advantage of it.

If he's your partner for example,why not a small personal sexy idea from you? Something like a pair of sexy knickers in a small wrapped parcel with a personal note from you! Be sexy, be creative.

Or if sexy isn't appropriate for your relationship with him why not make him something special to eat, like some wonderful fudge? Use your imagination.

And remember, always add a special personal message for him. Maybe a gift card. Or a special poem that you've written for him, or found on the net.

Next, how to pack your basket.

So now probably the easiest part. Packing your gift basket.

You've selected your theme. You have your basket, or at least the container that you'll use for your gift basket. You've got your gifts, ranging from a bunch of smaller filler gifts, one or 2 humorous gifts, a special message or special surprise gift from you, and you're ready to go.

First you need some lining. Probably fabric, preferably related to the theme for the gift basket. It doesn't matter if it's a little bigger than the basket, it can hang over the sides a bit, that's fine. The lining is to make it look better and help with the packing.

And you need some packing material. Shredded paper is good. Shredded cardboard. Polystyrene packing bits that you've saved from a purchase or packed box somewhere. Bubble wrap. Anything that will work as packing by providing some protection, and looks fine.

Start packing with the larger important gifts in the center. Space your smaller gifts around them. Make sure to pack in the packing materials as you go, so that nothing moves or rattles. Pack carefully until all is done. Firmly, so nothing will get out of place. Fragiles on top.

And if you are likely to stress it a little at some stage, for instance by shipping it, it's well worthwhile to consider putting some double sided tape on the bottom of the larger gifts to tape them to the bottom. If so tape them directly to the bottom, not to the liner. You may need a hole in the liner at the bottom.

Finally, wrap. Use good quality cellophane. Preferably related to the theme if it's designer paper.

Or else you can use shrink wrap if it's a gift basket that's designed for shipping. Shipping puts a lot of strain on a gift basket and so it's got to be packed extra well to withstand it.

Shrink wrap keeps it all fixed in there better than simple cellophane.

And you're done. Good job, take a break. I hope you enjoyed it.

Now you've hopefully got a well thought out, well designed and extremely personal and homemade gift for your man. It's themed to his interests and to the gifts you've bought for him. It's got a special and personal message from you, and perhaps a special surprise as well.

You've got a better gift basket to give him than most commercial gift baskets, and it was probably cheaper.

It's not that difficult to make a gift basket that is unique, creative, personal and makes a wonderful gift for him.

But it does take a little time, effort and creativity.

For many that's not an issue, they get on with it and create a wonderful gift basket.

But for others it's not always so easy, they find it challenging coming up with ideas. So for those who may be finding it a little difficult it's always worthwhile looking for a good book.

You can learn anything out of a book, it's just a matter of reading it and applying the ideas.

There's a few books around about making gift baskets. Chock full of ideas, many of which you probably wouldn't think of yourself.

My favorite is 101 Gift Basket Ideas. Read this book and you'll be producing gift baskets that look as good as anything that you can get from the gift basket stores, and cheaper.

So if you're a little lacking in confidence about getting started making your own gift basket for the first time then begin with 101 Gift Basket Ideas.

It's only $20 and that's not much to pay to ensure that the gift basket you make for him is a wonderful basket that he'll love.

And for those who are confident getting on with it without the help of a book, what are you waiting for? Get started.

I've been asked recently where to go to find supplies for making gift baskets for men.

Most of what you need you'll find down at your local dollar store, or somewhere else around your shopping center. Again it's a case of using your imagination.

If you're looking to give him a gift basket with a fishing theme for instance, have a look at your local fishing store or catalogue.

Ask the staff what they'd suggest, they may have some wonderful ideas of a container with a fishing theme that you may not have thought of.

I love local markets. There's so many things to find to tease the imagination. Or how about anywhere you find local people displaying their arts and crafts skills and showing off and selling their work?

Basically it comes down to using your imagination. There's hundreds of ideas for gift basket containers. It all comes down to your theme.

And other supplies should all be available at your local stores, you don't need anything that isn't readily available.

If you're still a little stuck then have a look on the internet. Most of the gift basket supply companies do wholesale, there probably isn't a huge market for retail gift basket supplies over the net, there's more profit doing wholesale.

But it's certainly worth having a look if you're really stuck. But remember, you shouldn't need to bother really, just about anything can be sourced locally.

If you are looking on the net check out this site, Bluebonnet Village Craft Network. It offers a good range of gift basket suppliers. Again mostly wholesale, but there's no harm in ringing up one or 2 of the stores near you and asking.

You've decided that it's too much work/you haven't got the time/you haven't got the ideas/you'd rather just buy one.

No probs. The vast majority of people just buy one, and there's some wonderful gift baskets available for you to choose from.

YOU CAN STILL DESIGN YOUR OWN GIFT BASKET. KEEP READING.

Mind you, you've still got to make some choices and choose a theme. Before you decide on what sort of gift basket will be the best one for the man in your life you need to think a little about what he'd like in it.

It might be a golf gift basket, or a gourmet food gift basket, or a wine gift basket, or a fishing gift basket. or...... There's so many choices, so decide what gift basket he'd like the most and you'll find it narrows down your choices a little.

Ok, here's how you design your own gift basket without actually getting out there, buying a basket, buying the gifts to go in it, packing etc etc etc.

Head on over to Design It Yourself Gift Baskets

There you can design your own gift basket. You select the size and price of the gift basket you want to buy for him. Then you select the type of basket you want, (remember your theme). Then you select the products you want to add to your gift basket.

For example if it's a golf gift basket there's a stack of golf related gifts that you can include in your basket. You select which ones you want to go in and which you don't.

And you can even add a card with your own personal message of love on it. Write your own message and include it in your order.

There's a massive range of options. Here's a few photos of just a few of the gift baskets you can order through Design It Yourself Gift Baskets

Christmas is getting closer and you just don't have time to make him a great gift basket for his Christmas present.

Here's some wonderful Christmas gift baskets from Giftbaskets.com
for you to think about if you can't find the time to make a Christmas gift basket for him

The first one is a Gourmet Brew Gift Basket for a dad or man who loves brewing his own. A range of microbrew beers and good stuff to eat with his brews.


The second is a Chocolate Crush gift basket, all sorts of chocolate gift ideas supplemented with wine as well. Can't do better than that for a man who loves his chocolate and wine!

If you're looking for more information on making gift baskets there's lots more available.

Of course read and apply everything here and you'll have a fine gift basket for your man. Perfect for that Christmas or birthday gift for him.

But there's always new ideas, other ways to do things.

Here's a couple of places I've been reading recently where you can go to read a little bit more about making gift baskets:
About.com is always worthwhile reading. A good page of ideas.
Betterliving is also worth perusing, some good ideas there too.