A Tisket A Tasket, a Homemade Princess Basket

So I figure it is about time I get crafty up in here. Stink Butt attended a birthday party this morning for a little princess in the neighborhood.  I have a super hard time trying to figure out what to get someone for a gift. I don't wanna just buy something, because I am supposed to, I like to put thought into it.  I asked the Queen of the household what her little princess would enjoy and she said anything princess so, here we go. An Original One of  Kind Pretty Princess Basket(PPB) ooooooooo ahhhhhhhhhh. Please...calm yourself.

In my first attempt to bring you a picture tutorial, I bring you:

HOW TO MAKE A THEME GIFT BASKET

The first thing you need to do is choose your theme, my favorites are Movie Night, Baby Shower, Baseball, Spa and now the PPB.  Next collect the goods. I did all of my shopping for the PPB at the dollar store and TJMAXX - holla!

Yes, Ladies and Gentlemen ( if you're out there) You too can make a PPB for a mere 19.00, tax not included.

Here is a break down of my gift allowance:

Item	Store	Price
Princess dress up kit ( includes: frilly skirt, shoes, handbag, crown, princess wand, and necklace)	TJMAXX	$8.oo
8 pack of smelly goodness assorted bath gels and soaps	TJMAXX	$2.oo
Everything else came from the dollar store.
white heart basket	DOLLAR TREE	$1.oo
pink comb	DOLLAR TREE	$1.oo
ball of hair bands in princess colors	DOLLAR TREE	$1.oo
pack of two bath poofs white and pink	DOLLAR TREE	$1.oo
6 pack of sparkly heart hair clips	DOLLAR TREE	$1.oo
grape flavored lip balm ( yum)	DOLLAR TREE	$1.oo
3 pack of head bands again, princess colors	DOLLAR TREE	$1.oo
princess balloon on stick	DOLLAR TREE	$1.oo
TOTAL:		$19.oo

To make your basket look like you just walked out of some fancy schmancy boutique pay attention to what you are putting in it. Had I just picked up random stuff it would have looked like I just filled stuff up at the dollar store, but with a little thoughtful planning it will look really jazzy!  I always pick a color theme first; this time it was princess pinks and purples, so everything I got was in those color families.  But that doesn't mean if it is the right color get it.  A purple cheese grater would look pretty silly in a PPB. I chose to combine dress up and bath time.  So that's what the PPB got.

Now that you are home with your swag, you can begin by having a nice big space to work on.  Aside from the stuff I just bought here is my list of handy supplies you will want on hand.

block of Styrofoam for basket filler	assorted ribbons	tissue paper
shredded paper	Shrink Wrap	clothes pins
pipe cleaners	wood skewers/chopsticks	double stick tape

All of which I have on hand for crafting, of course.

step one

Line the basket with foil tissue using double stick tape when needed to keep tissue in place. (This is not a step I typically do, however because the basket I chose has big holes in it I did it this way to hide the Styrofoam and filler.)

step two

Add Styrofoam filler.  This step is only nessesary depending on the size of items you are putting in the basket. Since my items are small I needed to beef it up so that the basket looks fuller. The items alone would look like a pretty chintzy gift, however with the Styrofoam in the basket, it looks like the basket is filled to the brim with the good stuff!

step three

Product placement. It is good to put taller products in the back to add height and to cram in as much as possible, when you start you will think "gosh, I don't have enough." By the time you are almost done, you will be wondering where to put the stuff.  In this particular basket I used chopsticks to give height to the hair clips and lip balm. I just taped a stick to the back of each package and jab it in the Styrofoam (another good reason to have styrofoam in the bottom of the basket) at different heights till I like what I see.

step four

By this time I've made a big mess. I clean my work area and make sure there wasn't any loot I left out.

Here comes the hard part, laying out your shrink wrap. It likes to static cling to everything and is big and kind of flimsy. Do not let this discourage you, you can do it!

Place the finished basket on top of the shrink wrap and carefully gather the four corners and bring them up to the top. I normally do not use a balloon on a stick, but it turned out to be very helpful. I was able to clothes pin the wrap to the stick while I was smoothing and taping it down.  Once you like the job you've done use ribbon , twist tie or pipe cleaner to tie the shrink wrap at the top. Carefully smooth and  double stick tape the wrap to the basket making sure it overlaps itself or there will be holes in the finished, heated shrink wrap.

step five

Now that you have it wrapped and taped it to your liking, you can start to heat this puppy up! Using your hair dryer blow air onto the shrink wrap starting at the bottom of the basket. Be cautious not to get the dryer too close or to stay in one place to long as you will burn a hole in the wrap. You will notice that it gets wrinkly and doesn't look very good.  Not to worry that just means that you have not heated it enough, keep swiping you hair dryer back and forth over the wrinkled parts and they will iron out, so to speak , nice and neat. Be sure NOT to heat the top of your basket  above where you tied it up,or you will not have a nice pretty poof of wrap at the top.

step six

Tie a pretty bow or curling ribbon at the top.

step seven

This step is most important!  Stand back and give yourself a pat on the back for a job well done! Don't forget to think about that special someone you made your Original One Of a Kind Basket for!

So there you have it an awesome homemade gift basket  that looks like it came from the fancy schmancy boutique for under 20 bucks!  But wait that's not all..... it only took 30 minutes to make! I wish I could say the same about writing this blog! Enjoy, my friends and remember, the goal is to make a basket, not become a basket case!