Unique Gift Baskets

Articles on Gifts | Topics: gifts, gift

by Zachary Zamora

I grew up in a family where gift giving was practiced on a regular basis. We did not have a great deal of money. My parents worked hard for everything that they had and everything that they gave to us. I think this is why anything extra that was given felt like a gift. My mother has always been very giving.

As an adult I have tried to carry on my mother’s giving spirit. I buy items when I see them on sale and store them in a closet at home. When it comes time for a gift giving occasion I have a supply of things to give. My favorite thing to do is to develop unique gift baskets for the people I am giving to. This is where the small things I pick up through the year come into play. I do not like the pre-packaged baskets because you cannot tell the quality of the items that are wrapped together; also they tend to be more filler than items.

Historical Quote

We should spend less time ranking children and more time helping them to identify their natural competencies and gifts and cultivate these. There are hundreds and hundreds of ways to succeed and many, many different abilities that will help you get there.

—Howard Gardner (20th century)

To start my unique gift baskets I find a container that suits the person I am giving the gift too. I have used a variety of things. Sometimes the container is the main gift and other times it simply holds the other items together. The unique gift baskets that I gave my sisters for Christmas were by far my favorite. My two sisters are both master gardeners. They have beautiful backyard gardens. I started my gifts by purchasing sturdy watering cans that would be the basket for the gift. Inside I placed a pair of shears for cutting flowers, a hand pruner, a hand held spade and rake for potting plants and a mister to apply pesticides. On the handle of the water can I tied a pair of garden gloves that were folded tog ether and fanned out to look like a bow. My sisters loved their unique gift baskets. Having the gardening tools given in the winter time gave them extra hope that spring was on its way.

I have also given the baskets that are filled with personal care products. Instead of buying the pre-made ones I make up my own to stay in the theme of unique gift baskets. This way I can include a person’s favorite scent, or favorite candy or other treat. Two years ago for Christmas we gave three families that we exchange gifts with a family gift basket. These unique gift baskets included a deck of cards, a card game, dice and rules for a dice game, a box of microwave popcorn, several boxes of movie theater candies, and certificates for movie rentals at the neighborhood video store and a certificate for a take and bake pizza. The container was a flat basket that had a lid so the cards and dice could be stored in it. This provided for an evening at home for the families. It is fun to use your imagination and to put together gifts that people will enjoy because they were made specifically for them.

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Please note: All personal opinions expressed in the "Unique Gift Baskets" article belong to the contributing author and are not necessarily shared by ToysGiftsPresents.com.

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