Making a gift hamper?

I love making hampers. They are really personalized gifts and show that you have put some thought into what you are giving. Whilst you can use cardboard boxes in lieu of a wicker hamper there are so many other unusual containers that you can find that can actually be part of the gift. I love TK Maxx for finding unusual items and as long as it will hold whatever you want to put in it the world is your oyster. Use your imagination and find something that will be loved and used by the people you are buying for. It doesn't have to be brand new as long as you feel it is something they will use or appreciate. Car boots can be great places to pick up unusual items and think about what they enjoy doing as a couple. Are they looking to buy their first home, planning a holiday away somewhere, any joint interests that they do together? For £20 -£30 I think you will be able to give them a very special present.

Could you not buy some essentials yourslef and get a basket off ebay? How much are you going to spend on it? Couldnt you give them that amount in Gift Vouchers?

They haven't posted anything yet but I'm sure they will soon, =). Smartcar posted some tips if I remember rightly about making gift hampers and found them quite helpful. Either that or it was a suggestion off one of these questions. Either way, I think you would be on here for ages trying to look, so I'd recommend you contact her, she helped me! =)

I made Christmas Hampers last year, got the baskets from ASDA I think, out of the home department, (think they were meant for the bathroom) they were wicker baskets with material inside and weren't very expensive. I then made a list of all the things I wanted to put in it and shopped around to try and find the best deals. I love making hampers and feel people really appreciate the effort you put in and the personal touch that goes along with it. Good luck :)

There was a thread about hampers a couple of weeks ago - we made up some Christmas gift hampers last Christmas for our parents as we were struggling what to get them and they were very much appreciated. We bought laundry type baskets from Matalan (also saw them in Tesco and some pound shops) for £3-4 and then filled them with nice goodies from the local delicatessen, farm shops & treats that were on offer in the supermarket.

Because it was personal to their tastes, they loved them and the personal touch was pretty rewarding for us as well. We're definitely going to do it again this year but I think we'll start picking up things earlier so its not as much to buy at one time just before Christmas.

For an engagement present, why don't you get them some travel size fancy toiletries, nice bottle of wine, chocolates and personal things they like?

Hampers can be picked up on ebay, or ask on freegle/freecycle, or just decorate a cardboard box, you can jolly it up with packaging. I sold 4 hampers on ebay as had a year of winning hampers, but none this year, sadly.Good luck.

Engagement gifts I have often bought when a bit hard up have tended to be items I myself found most useful over the years.They include, A really good all round cookery book like Delia Smith's Complete cookery course, I got one as a wedding present many yrs ago and used it often as I was learning in the earlier years of home making. More recently I would get it on amazon at cheaper price than local, and free postage. Then gift wrap it with a nice personal message inside. Also I have in past given a useful size of pyrex dish and lid as an engagement present if person was not such close aquaintance but I still wanted to wish them well. A good sturdy old fashioned enamel roasting tin and lid in a small to medium size for a small joint of meat/small chicken for a couple on Sunday or at suppertime is also useful. Also one time I made up a parcel with the cookery book, a sturdy wooden clothes brush I bought in a supermarket but removed from packaging and wrapped instead in tissue and it looked so much better, and a set of shoe leather cleaning brushes with wooden backs, I again wrapped in tissue and wrote what they were on a note within the tissue to distinguish as shine brushes are different from application brushes etc.These are very useful things that most newlyweds will otherwise just have to go and get when they start a new home. I hope this provides some food for thought.

You can't go wrong with a hamper as a gift i have made many for all occasions and as you have made it yourself it is far far a much better gift, the most i have made are for christmas, new baby's nappie cake! and gifts for birthays it works out much cheaper

We are making one at the moment for my son who's first baby is due Sept 9th. We padded a delivery box with bubble wrap and covered in fabric as good as any you can buy. We bought items for the box throughout the daughter in laws pregnancy and its packed. It will make an excellent start for them.

i think you could make your own, best hamper i have ever seen was a wicker basket full of gifts the couple liked. my dad recieved in his a cookbook, a house manual, some champagne and a photoalbum with pictures of them but mostly empty. as well as a nice blanket to protect the gifts! im going to have more of a think about this as its quite interesting! :)

You've already had advice on buying the basket. Other ideas: look for some vintage fabric to line it - you may well pick up a tablecloth or perhaps cotton curtains at a charity shop which you can wash, iron and cut to fit. A sparkling wine would be good I think and maybe something like champagne chocolates taken out of their box and put into a pretty jar (try Ikea for these) tied with a ribbon. If you are handy with a needle maybe you could make some heart-shaped lavander bags(you can find heart templates online - Google) then add little luxury items like some canned pates or Italian pasta from a deli.

Once you've got your box pop to the supermarket just before closing and stock up on some of the stuff that they have reduced like bread, meat, milk, cakes etc. This will fill the hamper really cheaply.

On a more serious note, you could buy 2 or 3 luxury items and mix with less expensive but thoughtful gifts. Hampers are a great idea but you need to be careful you don't end up spending too much trying to fill it.

Ikea is also a good place to look, both for the hamper itself and for gifts to put in it. How about some candles?

There are sites that show you how to make these sort of things. On moneysavingexpert, there is a forum for this type of thing, and you can view what other people have added and adapt to what you want. Alot of them are based around towels (or nappies for babies), and they look very effective. It also shows the person you have thought about what to put into the parcel and saves you money in the process.