One of my favorite ways to give an affordable, yet useful & appreciated gift is to assemble a gift basket. In particular I like to do this for baby showers because it is so easy to find great gift items at excellent prices. I made the following gift basket for a friend's shower last fall. All of the items were things I had in my "gift box" and had been purchased with gifting in mind.
The long-sleeved onesies and shoe socks were purchased on clearance at Target. The Johnson's vapor bath was purchase for under $2 on sale with a coupon and the Gymboree tights were purchased brand new at a yard sale for $1. The basket was a $.25 yard sale purchase and the paper filling was recycled from another gift.
I generally reuse gift bags when possible, but this one was a little too wrinkled to use for a gift again. Instead I cut out one of the cute elephants to use as a gift tag.
Overall I thought it turned out pretty well and it only cost about $12. I generally try to 'theme' gift baskets and this was an assortment of little girl necessities for a fall baby. Tights, vapor bath, and long-sleeved onesies are all cold weather items and I always try to give shoe socks or little shoes for a girl because I always loved receiving them.
Other theme ideas for baby baskets:
First Aid - thermometer, mylicon, infant tylenol, nail clippers, infant q-tips, . . .
Bath Time - baby wash, baby lotion, wash cloths, towel, bathrobe, q-tips, bath toy . . .
Animal - outfit or sleeper with an animal on it paired with a toy of the same animal
Girly Girl - Frilly outfit, ruffle bum tights, fancy shoes, headbands/flower bands, . . .
Diaper Time - diapers, wipes, diaper cream, baby powder, changing pads . . .
I made a diaper cake once, too. It was a fun way to give diapers and lots of goodies, too. Here is my friend, Amy, with the cake I gave her. It had hair things, a baby swimsuit, socks, baby wash, tights, and a couple of other items adorning it.
Katie
Love the gift bag -> tag idea. I love the resourcefulness of finding all those things at different times and keeping them on hand to be able to put a gift together. I usually end up paying full price the day before! You are so resourceful and inspiring!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you got some ideas from this post, Kracinda! I've been procrastinating this "resourceful gifting" series so long, it's good encouragement for me to continue!
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