I love the art of gift giving as an expression of love, camaraderie, and personal connection. I especially enjoy making homemade gifts, including many of the crafts detailed on this blog such as knitting/crocheting, bath bombs, soap, perfume, jewelry, and more. I love bundling all of these crafts into a unified theme for a special occasion such as a housewarming, birthday, holiday, or other celebration. I often bundle the personally made crafts into a gift basket, adorned with a colorful ribbon that matches the theme of the basket.
With each gift basket, I will make a personal card (with something special to the gift receiver like their pet, home, or something they like like a cartoon, character, or flower). I will also make a personalized gift tag with my “Made by Camille” stamp. For housewarming type gifts, I love including useful bath and pamper products for the home like homemade candles, lotion, bath bombs, and soap. For birthdays, I like making personalized jewelry using either clay or cast epoxy (often containing dried flowers or other plants). I also make other fun items like keychains, soap dishes, jewelry boxes, and bath bombs with surprises inside (such as jewelry or animal charms). I also sometimes include a mix of homemade items and store bought ones to make for a balanced and personal gift experience. For bought items, I especially enjoy getting souvenirs from my travels or just items I see randomly while shopping at local stores/boutiques that remind me of someone, and then saving those items to include for a special occasion.
To complete my gift baskets, I like to add some additional details so the gift receiver knows exactly what each item is. I use my label maker with a “banner” boarder to label each item which is contained in either a plastic bubble or bag (for organization purposes and also to avoid disaster in case anything melts en route to the receiver). I also use the card or gift tag to list each item and its description to serve as a guide to the gift basket.
I love making gift baskets, and especially enjoy my friends being happy to receive them. The greatest compliment to me as a crafter is when the gift receiver uses or displays the items I have made, such as wearing the jewelry I’ve crafted or displaying/using the soap and candles I’ve created in their home. A lot of labor goes into not only crafting each component of the gift but also into crafting the whole composed gift basket. These efforts, however, are well worth it for a truly special gifting experience.
Millennial's Delight 