With the holiday, gift-giving season being just around the corner, finding the perfect present for friends, family, significant others, etc. can become a daunting task. Sometimes it just feels as if every single gift option has already been taken, the ones available aren’t suitable, or that there simply isn’t enough money in the world to satisfy every wishlist. Don’t fret! Whether it’s for an upcoming gift exchange or even a birthday within the next year, creating a color-coordinated or themed gift basket will become your biggest lifesaver!
If you’re running short on time or on a tight budget, split the brainstorming, shopping, and price among a couple of friends. Additionally, while I included items beyond food, sticking to food items could easily work as well. Think of it almost as a themed, box version of a charcuterie board!
Step 1: Brainstorm themes and foods
The theme or color completely depends on the gift box’s purpose. Whether it’s for a birthday, holiday gift, movie night, or girls or guys night in, you can have your box revolve around a certain color or general essentials for the event. All in all, the box’s theme is truly up to you to customize!
Now, on to our favorite part: food! Hopefully, you have at least a vague understanding of your gift receiver’s preferences. If not, that’s totally fine because you have got other people contributing and brainstorming as well! Additionally, whether it was tortilla chips and Goldfish, or kettle corn, chocolates, and brownies, I tried to incorporate a variety of foods and combining both savories and sweets into the basket. While none of these foods themself are actually purple (extra points if you can do that), the purple touches on the packaging are enough to add to the theme. Explore an array of snacks, candies, chocolates, baked goods, etc. and customize your basket in ways that you think is best!
Step 2: Explore different shades of the color
Having a varied color palette, which in my case consisted of different shades of purple, opens more options when finding items to include and adds to the aesthetics. I took advantage of pastels, such as lavender, but also darker shades of purple as well as accent colors like white, black, and gold. Even if your basket does not revolve around a particular color, try including items with bright, compatible colors to make your basket’s visuals pop!
Step 3: Incorporate non-food items as you wish!
First, the gift box itself: wooden crates, straw baskets, and felt storage bins are just a couple effective carriers to consider. After that, it’s really up to you what else you’d like to include. If you know of products and items your gift receiver would like, then by all means go for it! There is also no harm in sticking to food! Lastly, though non-essential, decorations often serve as a nice touch to further elevate the gift’s visual appeal. My friends and I went with dark purple and lavender artificial flowers and gold leaves stems that we grabbed from Michaels. Other decorative options include, but are not limited to, tissue paper, glitter, confetti, and cellophane.
Step 4: Shop
A simple trip to your local grocery or department store should do the trick! I actually found that having a theme or color to stick to made shopping significantly easier and faster (definitely helped relieve my usual indecisiveness). My friends and I were able to pick up all our items at Target, Walmart, and Michaels, and pro-tip, if you’re making the basket with a group, shop together! Scouring through Target aisles for all things purple becomes an experience in itself. Nevertheless, depending on where you’re located and the COVID-19 guidelines enforced, opt for online purchases or in-store pickups if necessary. Even so, with it being the holiday season, stores are having all sorts of deals. So take advantage!
Step 5: Build and decorate
Compile the items and place them in ways you feel appear visually appealing! I liked having larger products in the back and smaller ones stacked up in the front. Placing the items strategically and with care can help to maximize its visual appeal, but you can also just prop them up in any way you’d like and let the sheer volume and coordination do the talking. Finish up with some final touches and decorations, perhaps a thoughtful card as well, and impress the lucky receiver with your newly created gift basket!
Overall, a DIY gift basket is a convenient, affordable, and incredibly effective idea that is especially suiting for this upcoming holiday season. If you’re looking to create a Christmas box for the holiday season, be sure to check out “Easy and Sweet Christmas Snack Mix” and “15 Trader Joe’s Holiday Items You Have To Try This Winter” for possible products to include!
All in all, it’s the holiday season: a time for cheer and gratuity. Prevent the annual stress of the season’s gift giving with this easy yet impressive gift! Whatever direction you decide to go with your basket, you won’t regret it.