Okay, my teeth hurt just looking at this gift basket. This is a gift basket for the kid in all of us — a candy gift basket in which even the basket is made of candy. Willy Wonka would be so proud. Your dentist, not so much.

The foundation for the basket is a little three-inch wide tumbler filled with foam. I used floral foam, cutting a column of it and stuffing it in the tumbler. Instead of a tumbler, you can also use a tall, skinny box. You just need something that’s big enough to hold foam and that can then be surrounded by boxes of candy.

Line up four boxes of candy around the tumbler, holding them in place with two rubber bands. These candy boxes, like you’d find at a movie theatre, are perfect for making the “basket.”

Next, buy a variety of candy bars and packages in different shapes, and tape a wood skewer to the back with wide packing tape. The skewers will act like “stems” to be inserted into the foam.

Cut a piece of cellophane that’s about 10 inches by 10 inches, and poke the skewer through the center of the cellophane.

Insert the skewer into the foam, and the cellophane bunches at the bottom. It adds a nice decorative touch while hiding the foam.

Fill the basket with more candy, repeating the step with the cellophane for all the candy. Arrange them so the candy flares out and the basket looks more full.

Finally, wrap a ribbon around the candy basket to hide the rubber bands. Hmm, maybe we should include a tube of toothpaste in this basket, too.