Gift Basket Ideas for the Foodie on Your List

Gift baskets are a fun gift to give; especially to those who are hard to buy for. They can also be very expensive unless you do them yourself. All you need to do is find a basket or some other suitable container, pick a theme and have fun filling with all kinds of goodies. Food gift baskets are especially easy since the products are consumable so you don't have to worry about getting the recipient something they already have.

Here are some creative gift basket ideas for the foodie on your list. These gift baskets are perfect for Christmas, birthdays and other special occasions.

Taste of Italy Gift Basket.
For a gift basket with an Italian theme you could include some dried pasta, a few different types of gourmet pasta sauce, bread mix, herbs and a bottle of olive oil in a decorative bottle.. For the container you could use a basket, colander or even a stock pot depending on your budget. Add accessories such as hot pads, dried herbs and a pepper mill.

Chocolate Lover's Gift Basket
For the chocolate lover on your list, use an over-sized mug instead of a basket and fill with a packet of hot chocolate and a few gourmet chocolates such as Godiva, wrap in cello and tie with a bow. This is a great gift for gift exchanges if you set a price limit, such as $10 (look for a nice holiday mug on sale). If you want to make it more extravagant you could tuck in a gift card to their favorite store.

Tea Gift Basket
Fill a small basket with assorted teas and accessorize it with anything that would pair well with tea such as gourmet cookies, crackers and jam. Depending on your budget you could include a mug or a nice scented candle. You can also find a wide assortment of teas in decorative tins around the holidays.

Coffee Lover's Gift Basket
A couple of bags of Starbucks coffee or Dunkin donuts coffee are good choices for the coffee lover on your Christmas list. Another idea is to give a bag of coffee beans with a coffee grinder. Add assorted cookies such as biscotti and a nice coffee mug.

When buying coffee or tea for gift baskets be sure to find out exactly what the gift recipient likes. For example, the tea drinker on your list may not be fond of herbal teas while the coffee drinker may not be a fan of flavored coffees.

Gift Basket Ideas for the Snacker on Your List
Snacker gift baskets can be as versatile as you choose. You can combine salty and sweet by including can of nuts, chocolates, cheese and crackers. You can personalize the gift basket with anything that the recipient would enjoy such as a CD or DVD.

Gift Basket Ideas for the Grill Master
Do you have someone on your list who loves to grill year round? Putting together a gift basket for the grilling enthusiast can be put together on just about any budget. Gift ideas include BBQ seasonings, gourmet BBQ sauce, marinade, a red plaid apron, tongs and a barbecue cookbook.

Once you have your container all you need to purchase is the shredded basket filler, a cello bag and ribbon to tie it. You can find all these objects at any craft store such as Michael's or Hobby Lobby. Choosing the right size basket or container is important since you want the basket to be overflowing with goodies, so the fewer items you have the smaller the container should be. As far as placement goes, with round baskets or containers try putting the bigger items in the center and surrounding with the smaller items. For square or rectangular baskets experiment by placing the larger items in the back.

With a little practice, even those who are "craft challenged" can put together great gift baskets. Now you can create all kinds of creative gift baskets for Christmas gifts and other celebrations!