10 Gift Basket Ideas to Consider This Fall

Sending a customized gift basket specifically built around your knowledge of the recipient is a terrific way to send a personal and heartfelt gift. No matter if you want to lift the spirits of a friend or improve a relationship with a new client, a gift basket targeted to the tastes of the recipient is a great investment.

1) Welcome a new client to your business with an office supply gift basket. Include pretty notepaper, a wide variety of post-its and fun paper fasteners. This gift can be built in a designer box for permanent display.

2) Send a beverage treat to warm up the season. Homemade hot chocolate mix with instructions, a measuring spoon, a pretty mug and a journal with a matching pen would be a gift to encourage any busy person to stop and take time to think.

3) The variety of apples available in the fall is amazing. Deliver a basket of fresh apples with roasted nuts and a hot cider mix. Aunt Mildred’s said, “For a new bride or homeowner, considering adding a rolling pin, pie cookbook, or a new pie plate.”

4) As cold and flu season strikes, put together a small basket of single serving juices, peppermint tea bags, and instructions for easy to prepare broth or miso soup. You might also add a container of eucalyptus lotion. The sick person on your list will appreciate your thoughtfulness and hopefully be breathing easier soon!

5) If your friends or co-workers have children’s ball games to attend every night, consider sending a gift of hand-warmers, warm scarves or heavy wool socks for use during outdoor events. A gift card to a restaurant would not go amiss either as parents struggle to run from sporting event to choir and band concerts.

6) Flowers are always a nice gift, but how about changing up the presentation? For a new homeowner looking to brighten their place, how about a basket or bag of tulip bulbs or a collection of daffodil bulbs with planting instructions, a heavy duty trowel and some nice gardening gloves?

7) Don’t forget shut-ins and those with chronic illnesses. If you have an older acquaintance who struggles to get out and around when cold weather hits, how about a puzzle basket or tote bag? Put together a collection of mechanical pencils, easy to read word and number puzzles, and some quality lotion to help older hands stay supple. Your gift may be a welcome chance to enjoy something new.

8) Don’t forget the little ones! A creative gift basket, box or backpack loaded with Lego kits, puzzles and art supplies might keep little hands and brains from getting bored as the days get shorter.

9) Food! It’s easy to feel overloaded with carbohydrates and calories as days get colder and holiday feasts become more numerous. Consider investing in small baskets of exquisite chocolates or fine wine for a gift that can be saved for a special occasion. You may enjoy putting together a basket of pretty plates or fine glasses to go with your gift.

10) Get whimsical. If a female friend has been wearing her Wonder Woman bracelets for so long she fears her arms will fall off, consider sending her an escape kit. Yummy-smelling lotion, a small bottle of wine, a scented candle and a babysitting gift certificate may be an ideal and memorable gift. Know a guy who’s carrying the weight of the world as he struggles to thrive as a member of the sandwich generation, balancing work of children and helping out his parents? A packet of Oreos, some peanut butter sandwich crackers and a gift card to the movies or a golfing outing may be just the gift to lift his spirits.

Gift containers can run the gamut from a canvas tote to a creative tin to a giant mug or beer stein. No matter how you choose to present your gift, know that a custom or homemade gift basket will always be appreciated and put to the best use.