Gift season is around the corner! One fun gift to put together is a gift basket. They cost a lot of money in stores, but assembling one yourself is a lot more affordable, and it’s a lot easier than you’d think. My secret is foam, wood skewers and glue dots to anchor the elements.

A popular gift basket to give is a spa basket. Now, I don’t think this is just something for ladies. Men also need skin care and pampering. Just saying.

Start with a basket. I like a deep basket, at least 6 inches, so there’s enough room to hide the foam inside.

Line the inside with some tissue paper. Then place some foam in the basket (I used floral foam), and crumple newspaper or butcher paper around the foam so it’s nice and snug.

Then cover up the foam with the tissue paper.

There’s a simple way to display the contents of the gift basket and keep them in the right position. Using packing tape, attach wooden skewers to the back of all your elements. The skewers act like “stems” for the elements. I then approach it like floral arranging, with each of the elements like a flower that I’m putting into the vase, I mean basket.

Then insert the skewer, pointy side down, into the foam in the basket. Especially if the individual elements are heavy, they want to sway around. To keep them in place, use glue dots to stick them to wherever they’re touching an adjacent element. 

Keep filling the basket with a variety of spa items, making sure to arrange the elements so that each one is visible. Include a candle and a bottle of wine too because we want total relaxation here. When you’re done, add tissue paper in empty spots to keep the items snug and add a dash of color to the basket. If you have heavy objects like a candle and a bottle of wine, keep them at opposite sides of the basket to keep the whole thing balanced. Wow, I think I’m keeping this basket for myself. I need some “me” time.