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You can pretty much throw anything into a basket and it immediately becomes a gift – well…maybe not ANYTHING, but you know what I mean!

I am a big fan of gift baskets as a hostess present, so a few weeks ago when I attended a luncheon at a friend’s house, I jumped at the opportunity to create a homemade gift basket featuring a few new recipes and of course some creative stamping!

For the basket, I did something that I’d never done before – I baked homemade bread, made butter and whipped up some homemade strawberry preserves! Yep – that’s right – this city girl channeled her inner Laura Ingalls Wilder and I’m loving the result!

Check it out…

I was completely beside myself when the bread came out of the oven and actually looked.like.bread! And it tasted delish too! Just call me Martha!

…drooling?
So, when it came time to package up everything for my gift basket, I pulled out my Papertrey Ink stamps (which, I haven’t used much of lately) and got to stamping!
Luckily, PTI has a TON of great stamps that are perfect for food packaging.  Here’s what I did…
First up – the bread! I wrapped it in Saran wrap as well as cellophane then dressed it up with the Half & Half dies and stamps along with Everyday Treats, Limitless Layers dies and a bit of raffia ribbon.
For the jar of jam, I simply stamped a piece of computer paper with Background Basics: Gingham to create the look of a bit of cloth. To finish dressing up the jar, I used Everyday Treats, Tiny Tags, Fruitful and Friendship Jar – don’t you love how all the sets come together so seamlessly?!
If you’re gonna have jam, you’ve gotta have butter right? I created a log of honey butter and packaged it in some parchment paper. For this adorable label, I die cut the Banner die and stamped it with the plaid patterned stamp from Half & Half. Then, I used the oval border stamp from Little Labels along with images from Tea for Two Additions to create the perfect label!
Last up – a tin of freshly ground coffee: the perfect accompaniment to bread, butter and jam!  This came together with PTI’s Background Basics: Gingham, Limitless Layers: Ovals and the coffee mug image from Warm Happiness.
Of course, there had to be a simple coordinating card for this gift, which I created using Garden Variety, Fruitful, Turning a New Leaf and the Picnic Plaid Impression Plate.

And just in case you’re interested, here are links to each of the recipes I used for this gift basket.

Here’s to you having a delicious Monday! Thanks for stopping by.

Keep on crafting with these other posts

20 thoughts on “A Gift Basket State of Mind

  1. I think I said this before but apparently you haven’t gotten the hint…let’s be besties! I’ll send you my address, YAY! I can’t wait to get my very own home made bread! AND jam! And honey butter!
    THIS IS TOOO AWESOME!

  2. Wow Amber (or should I say Martha?)! What a fabulous gift. Not only are the “yummies” homemade, but so is the packaging. It’s all just beautiful!

  3. Amber, you are A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! You can do it all… but better than Martha, I might add. I’m so impressed, once again! This is such a thoughtful homemade gift basket. Someone will be head-over-heels delighted to get this. Just awesome and beautiful, too!

  4. Wow, Martha,–I mean Amber–this is fabulous! The bread looks perfect! Looks like you picked scrumptious recipes and yes, I am drooling a bit. 😉 The package is too stinking cute; the Half and Half dies lend itself well to packaging. Your friend is one lucky lady for getting this goodie basket!

  5. I may have said this before, but I absolutely love your packaging posts Amber! PTI just cannot be bettered for prettying up simple gifts to turn them into something extra special – this gorgeous gift basket is no exception!

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