Gift baskets are a really easy and convenient gift, and so I have ordered a fair number of them for various friends, clients, and even family members in my life. Recently, however, I rethought the whole thing. I looked at the gift baskets online that I had been buying. They all had this carefully constructed and yet extremely insincere handmade look. Fruit and flower baskets, meat and cheese baskets, even wine gift baskets all looked somehow cheap and artificial to my eyes. I had never thought about making gift basket before. I have never been the type of person to work with my hands. My dad was not much for craftsman himself, and so he had no skills to pass on to me. Nonetheless, making gift baskets seemed suddenly appealing to me. It seemed like a way to reclaim some authenticity in my life by giving handmade presents for the people who I really cared about.

At first, I had no gift basket ideas. I figured that if I was going to make handmade gift baskets, I should do something unique. I did not know anything about basket weaving, and it seemed silly to start from scratch. But what was the point of making gift baskets if they looked just like the ones you can order from the stores? Then finally I stopped thinking about it and just started making gift baskets. I decided to start by making a gift basket for my aunt - the one I had forgotten to send a present to last year. She has always loved old photographs, and so I went to a flea market and bought some pictures for her. I added some antique figurines, a bottle of perfume that I knew was her favorite scent, and I was ready to go. She called me up as soon as she got it - she absolutely loved it!

Soon I realized that making gift baskets was an easy and rewarding occupation if you really put some time and thought into it. I had been intimidated because I had never made things for people, but it was actually a lot easier than I thought. As long as you're willing to put the time and effort into making gift baskets, they will definitely be appreciated. The important thing is to put in personal touches - give each person something that you know appeals uniquely to them. They will know that it is from the heart.