Gift Basket Ideas
misc.consumers.frugal-living/arianej

This year, I'm going with the gift basket theme for several people. It lets me "collect" items at my leisure, and have some more control over presentation. Fabric and craft stores like JoAnn's will occasionally have sales--I picked up some baskets at 75% off a couple weekends ago. I've also seen some nice ones in dollar stores for maybe $3 a large basket. One could decorate the basket itself with ribbon, or even paint and stencils...a cute pattern of Christmas trees, for example. Here's some ideas I had:

Teatime basket:
bags of tea, maybe a tea diffuser, a pot of jam or honey, dry mix for scones/muffins, some mini loaves of quick bread or homemade cookies, hot chocolate mix, a nice mug or teacup, hard candy, etc.

Movie-lover's basket:
gift certificate to video store or perhaps a video if you know what your friend would like, bags of microwave popcorn, maybe some "movie" candy like jujubes, chocolate covered raisins, homemade cookies, etc. Instead of a basket, you could also put everything into a large plastic bowl and cushion with Styrofoam packing peanuts to mimic popcorn.

Chocolate lover's basket:
hot chocolate mix, brownies or brownie mix in a jar, fudge, chocolate chip cookies, homemade chocolates if you're up to toying around with molds, truffles, etc.

Cookie basket:
Not too difficult if you have cookie cutters and stuff to decorate with... Make up a large batch of sugar cookies in different shapes and pack creatively. They can be decorated with anything from sports logos to holiday messages, depending on how artistic you are. ;)

Pasta basket:
Some pasta, can use unique shapes or fancy gourmet flavored pastas, a jar of homemade or store bought sauce, maybe some herbs or parmesan cheese, an inexpensive bottle of Chianti, etc. A loaf of homemade bread if you bake. I've seen this arranged in a steel colander as a change of pace from a basket.

Chinese cuisine gift basket:
Some noodles or a small bag of rice, and some of those Asian Gourmet spice mixes aren't half bad. Toss in some chopsticks and maybe a couple bowls and a packet of jasmine tea.

misc.consumers.frugal-living/DivaMagenta

I like the idea of making a gift certificate seem more festive by making it part of a themed basket...

1. A video store rental coupon with regular or microwave popcorn, candy and a 2-liter bottle of soda.

2. A bookstore certificate with a mug, some tea or hot chocolate mix, biscotti or cookies, a pretty bookmark, and a book light.

3. A spa treatment certificate with a pair of cozy slippers, an eye mask, a candle, and some trial-size bath and body products to keep that good feeling going after the spa treatment is over!

4. A restaurant gift certificate with a fancy but inexpensive evening bag, a pair of earrings, and a small vial of perfume.

5. A record store gift certificate with a current copy of Rolling Stone or other music magazine and a t-shirt of the recipient's favorite group.