Valentine's Day Gift Baskets

I love putting together gift baskets.  Especially themed gift baskets!  This is the one I did for my sister Jordan for Christmas last year.  The theme was "Jordan".  I included a bunch of her favorite things!  

I put together some ideas for a Valentine's Day Gift Basket! Then see my list of gift basket tips below!

For Kids: 1. Basket 2. Pixy Stix - Perfect to stand up in the back of the basket 3. Kids Heart Socks 4. Magic Scratch Hearts: I can tell you from personal experience, these are fun to do! 5. 3D Fidget Stress Ball Heart Shaped: I can't tell you why, but they will love this  6. Metallic Markers: They will love markers that are different than their usual ones! 7. Tall Valentine's Themed Memo Pads (to use their markers on!)  8. A super soft, cute stuffed animal holding a heart 9. Flashing Light Up Heart Necklace 10. Valentine's Day Punching Balloon 11. Get these as filler for the basket 12. Lots of candy!

          
   

For Her:

1. Gift Basket  2. A new book  3. bubble bath  4. eye mask  5. slippers 6. pashmina 7. gold plated heart earrings 8. chocolate 9. cinnamon heart candy 10. jelly bean heart candy

Here are a few tips:

1. Find a basket at Goodwill - they always have a great supply!

2. Put something in the bottom of the basket, so your items set higher.  A small box, crumpled up paper - whatever you have that works (and can be tossed).  Then put tissue paper over the base item.

3. Arrange items by height, taller things in the back - small things up front.

4. Add a cello bag to keep everything contained and to make it look professional.  

5. When buying items - look for things that are cohesive - that go with the theme and are visually cohesive - for the kids basket, I went with fun/colorful/hearts theme and for the ladies basket I went with red/comforting/luxury.

6. Tie it up with red tulle ribbon - that's one of my secrets of gift wrapping!  It looks amazing and it's easy to work with.

If you do a gift basket for Valentine's Day - post a pic on Instagram and use #LPGiftBasket  - I'd love to see it!

Baby Gift Basket

I love putting together a baby gift basket as a baby shower gift.  I think it looks fun and I like that instead of spending money on a bag, tissue paper and card that they will throw away, you can buy a basket or container that they can use.

Here's how to put one together.

1. Pick a theme for your basket.  My favorite is yellow/rubber duck/bath time, but I've also done a pink or blue theme.  If you know the nursery theme, you could choose that too.

2.  Pick a container that goes with your theme and could be useful to the recipient.  My containers have come from Hobby Lobby, Michaels and Target - home section, dollar section, craft section, garden section - you just have to keep your eyes open for unique possibilities and sales!

3. Find items to fill the basket with, related to the theme.  For the duck theme basket, I like to get towels, washcloths, Johnson's bath products and a rubber duck (they make ducks that will tell you if the water is too hot, so the duck is cute AND useful!).  Bathrobes, slippers and bath toys would also be fun to add.  For the pink or blue theme, you can choose receiving blankets, onesies and toys in that color.  My Etsy shop, TheBurlapFlower offers some really cute, handmade blankets that would be perfect in these baskets.  One other tip - fill two small bags with a favorite candy of each of the parents-to-be.  I've found this unexpected surprise is always very appreciated.

4. Arrange the items in the container.  Fill the bottom of the container with something (packing peanuts, crumbled newspaper, etc.).  Cover the filler with a sheet of tissue paper.  Then place the tallest item in back and the shortest items in front.

5.  Finally, place the container in a clear cello shrink wrap gift bag.  (You can find these at Hobby Lobby.)  Then tie the top with curling ribbon.  Then add a simple gift tag.  Then comes the fun part - get out your blow dryer and start from the bottom and the bag will shrink up around your gift.