|
Introduction
Hello new friend and
welcome inside the Ultimate Gift Basket Crafting Guide.
Within these pages, you will find plenty of useful
information on making your own gift baskets as
thoughtful gifts or to earn some extra spending money in
your spare time.
There are ideas for any
gift giving occasion included, an extra gift basket idea
guide comprised of over 100 pages for even more ideas, a
supply list breakdown, general places to purchase your
gift basket supplies from, and tips for making money
with your gift basket creations.
Whether you purchased
this guide for personal or professional reasons, you
will find plenty of phenomenal ideas, tools, and tips
for creating stunning, and original, gift baskets for
anyone and for any occasion without spending tons of
money to do it.
I do hope that this
guide provides you with everything you need to begin
making and "gifting" wonderful hand-made gift basket
creations that will surely be accepted graciously from
those you care for.
May every success be
yours
Why
Gift Baskets?
Gift giving in the form
of "basketing" isn't reserved for just Easter any
longer. The gift basket business is becoming a
booming market. And for good reason too. The gift basket
industry is a-buzz offline and on when it comes to
selecting a thoughtful present that will be remembered
by your friends and family without all the extra
hassles of wrapping, or not knowing just what to give.
Let's face it, shopping
for friends or loved ones is an out right guessing game
when you get right down to it. Gift baskets change all
that. They make it possible for you to give important
people in your life a present that really means
something and cuts down on the icky-face, "I'm only
pretending to like this present" factor.
Gift basketing gives
you a chance to unleash your creative inner child and go
wild while providing a pleasant package. And the
"package" is the real winner in this scenario. Because,
instead of just receiving one gift, when you give an
entire basket full of goodies, the value of it, or at
least the perceived value, is indeed
higher.
I'm sure you have no
doubt hear the phrase "It's the thought that counts".
Well, there is no truer a statement ever uttered to
describe the process of making a home -made gift basket
due to the thought and time involved in creating one.
Plus, you can whip one up in a jiffy for those "crunch
time" gift giving situations without too much hard work
on your part.
To add on to that last
thought, gift baskets are terrific for virtually any
occasion you can dream up. And, you'll always have
something to give that is a one -of-a-kind present that
will bring smiles to your friends & loved ones faces to
be sure. No matter what type of basket you come up with
:-).
Beyond that, making
gift baskets is NOT an expensive process by any means.
It is indeed quite affordable in the grand scheme of
things. And of course, Not to mention the fact that you
could even take your gift basket making skills and turn
them into a profitable on-the-side income as well.
Do you realize that in
the year of 2006 that more than 3 billion dollars was
generated just from the gift basket industry alone? Why
shouldn't you have a chance to cash in on your
creativity offering specialized gifts for others that
may be searching for just this type of thing?
Gift Baskets are
products that can be produced and sold YEAR ROUND
without slowing down. So, this can be an "At Home" type
business that you can do in your spare time and earn
yourself some profits with despite there not being any
holidays going on or coming up. Every day is a good day
for a gift basket!
Gift
Basket Creation Is EASY!
Yes. It truly is. If
you can find a container (not always a basket), stuff to
put inside of it, a few ribbons or extra accessories,
and BAM! You've got yourself a gift basket.
Traditionally of course
gift baskets came in, what else?, baskets. But, as time
and traditions have changed, so have the basket formats.
And that helps out tremendously in the imagination
arena. Traditional gift baskets can be boring. . . .
An ordinary traditional gift basket = BORING!
But, how about. . . .
A
beach bucket filled with summertime goodies = BEACH FUN
& EXCITEMENT!
Because people, and
manufacturers, seem to be breaking away from the old,
frumpy, traditional styles of the gift basket format, it
makes creating home-made gift baskets an unbelievably
simple task that isn't really a task at all, but instead
FUN! Both for the creator and the gift recipient.
Plus, this gives the
gift basket creator an opportunity to get really
inventive with their ideas without going over budget on
the supplies needed to make a specialized gift basket
for an individual that has an interest in something
specific.
Take for instance a
person who loves to cook. You could create a gift basket
made from a large glass mixing bowl and fill it with all
the ingredients to make some sweet treats.
This way, you give the
aspiring cook all the tools, including the food
ingredients, they need to make great tasting treats
without having to cook the treats and present that to
them. Much less work for you!
And, the time it will
take you to construct a "designer" gift basket is very
minimal. The longest portion of time you will
spend will consist of shopping for your gift basket
components. Beyond that, it should take as little as 5
minutes to get your gift basket together and ready to
give to your beloved.
Sure, you COULD take
$10.00, run into your nearest drug store and purchase a
pre-packaged "hot chocolate lovers" gift box filled with
a couple of generic coffee mugs, a few packages of
instant hot chocolate packettes, and two spoons. But. .
.
You could take that
SAME $10.00, go down to an arts&crafts store such as Old
Time Pottery or Hobby Lobby and purchase two specially
selected coffee mugs for less than $1.00 a piece, a
couple of fine spoons for another dollar, and a lovely
more personal container maybe costing you about $3.00,
or less.
Then scoot on over to
the supermarket and with the left over $4.00, stroll
down the hot cocoa isle, grab some gourmet hot chocolate
instant packages, and maybe a few extra goodies like a
small bag of marshmallows, then POOF! You have a very
unique hot chocolate lovers gift basket!
The look on the gift
recipients face is worth all the additional time spent
in creating such a terrific and personalized gift
basket. Isn't it? ;-)
Selecting A "Theme" For Your Basket
If you can think it up,
you can turn it into a gift basket. Gift basket creation
is all about creativity and imagination. How far can
yours stretch to come up with fresh, inventive ideas?
Plus, the more creative
you get, the better chances you will create a gift so
unique it wouldn't be found anywhere else in the world.
In fact, you could give 10 people the exact same
supplies and ask them to come up with their own gift
basket and end up with 10 different variations on the
exact same theme. So, keep your mind open to new and
exciting ways to present your ideas in the form of gift
baskets. There is never a wrong way to do it. Just YOUR
way to do it!
There are plenty of
ways to come up with killer ideas for your next
important gift basket creation. Some of which you can
snatch up from simple greeting card ideas. Take a
stroll down your local gift card isle in the corner
market and see what categories of cards they have there.
Inside this one little isle, you can come up
with all sorts of
inventive, never-seen-before, gift basket ideas!
Adding to that, here is
a simple list of more gift basket ideas from totally
traditional to the less-than-seen unique basketing ideas
to get your creative juices flowing.
Themes To Try
Classic
Themes:
* Holidays
* Birthdays
* Anniversaries
* Baby Shower
* Graduations
* Housewarming
* Sympathy
* Get Well
* Going Away
* Congratulations
* Seasonal
Celebrations
Specific
Themes:
* Gardening &
Outdoor Activities
* Butterfly
Gardening
* Water Gardening
* "Backyard"
Farming
* Winter Sports
* Golf
* Weight Training
* Health/Dieting
* Grilling/B.B.Q.
* Tennis
*
Football(American & Traditional)
* Camping
* Forestry
* Pets
* Retirement
* Snacks
* Poker
* Moving
* Observing
Heritage
* Music
Enthusiasts
* College
* Computer
Enthusiasts
* Alcohol
Enthusiasts(Spirits)
* Movie
Enthusiasts
* Classic Food
Baskets
* Coffee
Enthusiasts
* Office/Corporate
* Vacationing
* Specialty Meats
& Cheeses
* Spa & Relaxation
* Romantic
* Thank You
* Wedding
* Cookie/Sweets
* Friendship
*Tea
* Fruits & Veggies
Even if you're really
stuck for an idea, always remember that food is
universal, so you can never go wrong with creating a
classic food gift basket. You can make it "stand out"
from other food baskets by picking a centralized food
item and building upon it.
For example, say you
decide to go with cheese. Well, there are plenty of
great cheeses out there, but you can also go with cheese
flavored snacks too. Or adding recipe cards for fondues
or dips that can be made with the cheeses you have
included inside the gift basket. Don't forget the cheese
slicer, grater, or spreader, depending upon the types of
cheeses you've included!
Supplies Necessary
Okay! Now that you have
a central theme selected for your gift basket, you need
to start getting the supplies together. Depending
on how fancy you want your basket to be, you should be
looking at a price range of $25 to $250. Remember,
what you put inside your gift baskets is entirely up to
you.
Keep in mind also that
you need to take into consideration who you are building
your particular basket for. If you are making a basket
for a 7 year old child for a gift, then you should be
well within the "less than $50 range" for their basket,
including the basket and specialty papers you plan on
using.
On the other hand, if
you are making a basket for an electronics enthusiast,
then your gift basket contents will be in the higher
range if you plan on including things like blank CD-R
discs, ZIP drives, software, etc. You get the idea here
:-).
Now, on to the basic
supplies you're going to need to create your new gift
basket. .
-
A Container
-
Packing Extras & Accents
-
Basket Goodies
Wow, is that really
ALL there is? Yep. That's it!
The container can be a
basket, or any other object that can hold the contents
of your gift. It doesn't necessarily need to be a basket
per say. If, for example, you were making a gift basket
for someone who enjoys going out to eat at fast food
joints, you could find a small plastic basket that such
establishments normally use for their own "basket"
meals, use some wax paper for lining, throw in some fast
food coupons, some ketchup, mustard, and other assorted
condiments, a small package of frozen french fries,
hamburger patties, buns, etc., and you're all set!
When we talk about
packing extras and accents, we're talking about basket
filling like tissue paper, shredded paper, etc. In some
instances, depending on what your basket theme is, you
could also use clothing such as a tee shirt or similar
for your basket lining element. Also, for accents and
such you could include a nice ribbon/bow combination
adorning the entire basket, a card attached, string
lights, glittery garland, pine cones, etc.. Again, this
strictly depends on the theme of the basket as to what
kind of accents you decide on.
Or, if you plan on
wrapping up your entire gift basket, you may need some
cellophane wrap and ribbon to close it all up with.
Don't forget extras like hot glue and tape if you plan
on decorating your basket or container. Also, scotch
tape is a great idea to help keep your basket goodies
stuck in place if you plan on traveling or sending your
gift basket via mail.
Finally, we have the
main "guts", if you will, of your gift basket. . .The
Goodies! This is all the gifts you are
including within your gift basket such as food, coupons,
books, cd's, toys, clothes, and similar. Be sure that if
you are planning to make a gift basket a few weeks or
months in advance to use non-perishable items that won't
spoil for prolonged periods of time.
Things that need to be
refrigerated or consumed rather quickly will need to be
placed inside of gift baskets that you plan on giving
within 24 hours of creation.
Remember too that
anything can be given as a gift can be included inside a
gift basket. And, you don't have to spend tons of money
on the items you place inside your gift baskets either.
You CAN be frugal when making gift baskets ;-).
To conclude, here are
some places both online and off for you to purchase your
gift basket components:
Places To Purchase Your Supplies:
Online:
http://www.giftbasketsupplies.com/
http://www.americabasket.com
http://www.papermart.com
http://www.creativegiftpackaging.com/
http://www.epicureanfoods.com/ws/main.php
http://www.qcu.com
http://www.pastashoppe.com/
http://www.giftbasketwholesalesupply.com/
http://www.jdwdist.com/
Additional info on the
Gift Basket industry:
http://www.festivities-pub.com/
Offline:
Michael's Arts & Crafts
Center
Old Time Pottery
Party City Outlet
Hobby Lobby
Local Dollar Stores
Wal*Mart
Local Discount or
Outlet Stores
Many of the resources
listed above have great deals for you when it comes to
purchasing your gift basket supply needs. All you need
to do is take a little time to shop around to figure out
which places have what you require for the lowest price.
Looking through store
flyers for common drug stores like CVS or WalGreens can
be a huge help for some of your gift basket supplies.
And also, do a little online research at your favorite
stores' online shop for gift basket supplies as well.
Putting It All Together
Now it's time to put
everything together. Presentation is quite important
when it comes to making your gift basket. You can't
simply throw everything in a bucket, slap a bow on it
and say "Here Ya Go!". It takes a little more thought
than that.
Take into consideration
the size of your container. Is it small, medium, or
larger in size? How much can you fit within it before it
begins to look "over stuffed"? While we want our
gift baskets to look "full", we don't want them to be
messy with too many things shoved in to every available
space!
Also, you will want to
put taller items towards the back of your basket and
going down in size until you reach the front in several
different rows of goodies. You can also try the "fan
out" method of displaying your gift basket goodies.
Meaning, as a handful
of playing cards has a fan type shape, so too should
your gift basket goodies. Anything you can do to make
your display more pleasing to the eye will add to the
miles of smiles you'll receive when giving your basket.
You want your gift
recipient to see everything they can inside your, er,
THEIR, gift basket so they know just how much you are
presenting them with. So, try your best to put your
goodies in a pleasing looking fashion inside your
basket.
Now, before you begin
"stuffing" your basket, if you plan on doing any outside
decorating, do this first so that if anything needs to
properly dry, it has time to do so.
Then, begin with your
gift basket "bedding", i.e. - your basket lining. Use
enough to give your gifts a "bed" to lay on, but don't
add too much bedding that makes your basket look "over
stuffed". Otherwise things will start to spill out, and
we don't want that!
Next, start placement
of your gift basket goodies on their "bed". You should
try to go from largest along the back of the basket to
smallest in the very front of your basket. This way,
much more of the basket items can be viewable. Then, if
you have very tiny things such as lollipops, mints, tiny
stuffed animals, etc., those can be taped onto the other
items using your scotch tape to give an even more
pleasing look to your basket.
Finish it off with a
nice ribbon/bow combination that can be ran over the
entire surface of the basket, taped, and a bow added for
a final touch. This can be done longways or sideways
across the basket, in the center or placed on the sides
(if running a longway ribbon/bow combo).
Also, if you are not
going to use the ribbon/bow combination and opt for the
more traditional cellophane wrapping for your basket, be
sure you have enough to completely cover your entire
basket. Lay the cellophane piece down on a flat surface,
and set your gift basket in the center. Pull up the four
corners of the cellophane wrapping to enclose your
basket inside. Then use a bit of ribbon to tie off, or
close up the cellophane. This is normally done at the
top of the basket.
Finally, don't forget
any little cards that you may want to add and tape those
on, or tie them on with ribbon after using a hole
punching tool.
Of course there are
plenty of different finishing "wrap" variations. And you
can always not use any type of wrapping for your basket.
It may just be beautiful enough on it's own without it.
Earning Extra Income
From
Gift Basket Making
For those that are
interested in earning a bit of "on the side" cash with
their creative genius in the art of gift basket making,
then this section is just for you.
Gift basket making is a
terrific extra income for anyone with spare time, those
that are retired, or those that are currently
home-makers, or stay-at-home parents. The overhead costs
are relatively low, yet, you can charge quite a bit for
custom designed gift baskets.
Plus, you don't need a
whole lot of "start up cash" for a gift basket making
endeavor either. You could start out with just a few
hundred dollars, or less, and have some attractive,
creative, original baskets to sell. Or, you could start
out with less than $100 and still have a few great
baskets to sell.
While you can
effectively sell your unique gift baskets online, the
best way to earn from them is OFFLINE. Yes, offline is
the way to go. The reason why is very simple.
There are MORE markets open for gift basket creations
offline.
What sort of offline
"markets" could you possibly sell your gift baskets at?
How about flea markets?
Or garage sales? Or neighborhood rummage sales? Or right
from your own home? Or even out on a highly traveled
stretch of road at a parking lot or side of the road?
Any of these places and
more are possible. And you DON'T need a retail shop to
sell from. Do keep in mind though that this is just a
part time income source and NOT something that is
intended for full time income. Or at least not at the
beginning at any rate ;-).
Let's not forget about
advertising. How do you advertise such a business? Well,
the greatest way is through word of mouth! Start off by
making unique gift baskets for your friends or relatives
and then dropping them off unexpectedly at their job.
Chances are, someone,
or several someones, will be interested enough to ask
your friend or family member who the basket is from or
who made it? A wonderful income catalyst word of mouth
can be!
Another way can be to
get yourself a specially made magnet or sticker for your
vehicle. Yes, this is going to cost a bit of money, but,
you can set up your own online store at
http://www.cafepress.com and
generate your own bumper stickers, pens, coffee mugs,
etc., and order them for yourself at wholesale prices.
Those are just two
ideas for advertising your gift basket making endeavor.
There are countless more. But, the word-of-mouth idea is
the best, and cheapest by far. Plus, you'll get the best
results using it too!
Final Thoughts
Well, we've come to the
end. I do hope that you have found some creative ideas
throughout this guide to help you with your gift basket
making plans. Using your own mind, you can come up with
the best ideas of all. This guide is just a starting
point for you!
Gift basket making can
be a joyous pass time for you, and those that will be
receiving your gifts. It can also prove to be a
wonderful little side money maker for you too. No matter
what you decide though, it is true that gift basket
making can enrich your life. And the lives you touch
with your splendid gifts and most importantly, the
thoughts behind them.
Again, I wish you the
best of luck with all your endeavors, whether gift
basket oriented or not. Let your creativity flow and see
what you can come up with.
Sincerely,
http://www.DigitalDollars101.com
|
Have
Our
FREE
Home Business
Newsletter.....
