How To Create a Gift Basket with Impact

I was asked to help put together gift baskets for our school to donate to to our local “Night of Giving”. Baskets and trees are auctioned off to raise money help families in our community with Christmas. The budget was relatively small, but here’s my tips in how to create a gift basket with impact. You can use these same tips to decorate your home for less too!

Theme

These little gnomes are from TJ Maxx and when I saw them I knew we needed them in a basket. They are so cute that I knew some lady would want them in her home. From there I created a cozy basket with a welcoming wreath, lanterns and soft plaid blanket. On the letter board we wrote our the theme of home for the holidays and gathered other objects to make this basket full of items you’d want to put in your home.

Clever

Writing “I’ll Be GNOME for the Holidays” on the letter board was a easy way to show that thought had gone into the basket without costing any more money. The idea was to make this grouping stand out when people were walking through, in hopes that if they remembered it they would spend more money on it.

Shop Around

Obviously, with a small budget you have to think outside the box! I found these lanterns and the trays from Oriental Trading! No one believes when I tell them that the lanterns came from Oriental Trading, and the price can’t be beat. Also, Oriental Trading has totally upped their home decor line and the quality is good! The blanket came from Ross and the gnomes from TJ Maxx, so it takes a little shopping to find what you need at a price you can pay. I hunted all over and looked at a lot of blankets before finding this one for $12 at Ross that was exactly what I was looking for.

Scale

In order to make a huge impact for a few dollars, we made this wreath holder using the instructions from our Wooden Plank Display. The wood cost $10 and the wreath is from Home Depot and only cost $10. It was the best looking inexpensive wreath I found. It makes the perfect backdrop for the gnomes, blanket and lanterns.