Often when I need to purchase a gift I will give a home made gift basket. They are fun to shop for, fun to put together and are always appreciated by the recipient.

When my kids were young and my friends were all having their first babies, I created baby gift baskets. I started with an empty infant bath tub. I filled it with all kinds of things a first time mother might need:

baby shampoo
baby wash
towels
washcloths
blankets
nail clippers
comb/brush set
bath toys
pacifiers
baby spoon
books
mobiles
thermometer

As my kids got older and we were giving birthday gifts to kids I again opted to make my own gift baskets. For young girls we often gave either an arts and craft basket, or a makeup basket.

Wed often start with a plastic storage tub. Wed get a large set of pens, or markers or even chalk. Wed buy a huge tablet of paper, either drawing paper or construction paper. Wed add rubber stamps, hole punches, glue, lanyard string, and for older kids, wed add idea books.

Our makeup baskets were fun to put together. We often started with a pedicure tub that all the items could be stored in. Depending on the age of the child, wed buy lip gloss, eye shadow, blush, eye lash curlers and sometimes a hair straightener or hair crimper.

For boys, we loved to buy empty collector card albums and then buy many sets of beginner cards from various sports. If we knew the child loved a certain t.v. show, wed try to get cards from that t.v. show as well.

A young childs summer birthday almost always started with a large pail and shovel and then we added in toys, trucks, cars and stuffed animals.

Of course adults love baskets too. For weddings and wedding showers an empty dish drainer makes a wonderful basket to load the other gifts into. Again, Id try to get lots of items a first time home owner would need:

hand held can opener
vegetable peeler
spatula
poultry scissors
pot holders
rolling pin
meat thermometer
strainer
egg slicer
potato masher

Of course all of these suggestions are just thought starters. Once in the store, the ideas of what you can add are just endless.

Here are a few more ideas of themed baskets you can make:

wine and cheese baskets (use a large ice bucket as a base)
bathroom product baskets (use a bathroom garbage can as your base)
going off to college baskets (use a storage crate as your base)
chocolate baskets (use a melting pot as your base)
coffee and/or tea baskets (use coffee mugs as your base)
gardening basket (use a pail as your base)
tool basket (fill an empty tool chest with lots of tools)

Often times Ive asked other guests to contribute to the basket, making a very nice gift for the recipient and giving us the opportunity to include all the items we want to give.

Baskets can be large or small, from one person or from a group of people. You can use either cellophane or wrapping paper to finish off the basket. Use your imagination and create baskets you know the recipient will enjoy!