Of course you can buy a beautiful basket of java online, but making a themed coffee basket is fun too. There are a few themes you can go with. Make a coffee gift basket filled with a particular roast. Let’s use french roast as an example. A basket can be filled with a few bags of french roast coffees and you can even pair it with a french press. Or perhaps coffees from the tropics is more your recipients taste. Kona coffee from Hawaii or Jamaican Blue Moutain would both make great additions to a tropical coffee gift basket. You can also create a Turkish coffee gift basket such as this Turkish Coffee Gift Basket for a truly unique coffee brewing experience. Whatever your recipients coffee preferences, coffee gift baskets are definitely a gift that will be used to start their every morning on the right foot.

Just one stroll down the pet aisle at your local grocery store and you’d have the makings of a great pet gift basket. Treats and toys galore to fill up a basket that can even be used over and over as a container for all the pet’s toys. For a cat owner a gift basket full of cat nip, treats, toy mice, a collar, brush and a book on cat care are great. For the dog owner a gift basket can consist of squeaky toys, balls, a book about teaching dogs tricks, treats, dog bones and a leash for walking the dog. Just as it’s important for us humans to eat healthy, the same goes for our pets. A gift basket full of homemade snacks and food and/or a recipe book on making homemade treats is great for the animal lover that like to feed their pet all natural foods.

If you adopted your pet from a local animal shelter a pet gift basket is a generous way to say thank you for the care they provided to your pet prior to adopting it. It’s also a means to donate a basket full of much needed items to run the shelter. Examples of items they always need are canned dog and cat food, paper towels, leashes, collars, laundry detergent as well as other household cleaners.

Often times as guests to someones party we bring a bottle of wine or a box of assorted chocolates. It’s true what Forrest Gump said “you never know what you’re gonna get.” So instead of the mystery box of chocolates, why not put together an easy basket of various types of chocolate. Fill a basket with several kinds of chocolate bars. I was just reading a segment on the best chocolate bards in a recent issue of Real Simple. They chose the best chocolate bars in ten categories. Buying those ten bars would make for some great chocolate gift baskets.

Chocolate has many culinary uses. It can be melted, shaved, chopped, or baked. You can eat it straight up or drink it. A creative chocolate gift basket can highlight the many uses of chocolate. Make a basket containing semi-sweet chocolate chips to use for baking cookies or melting to make a rich and creamy chocolate ganache to use as a frosting. Chocolate can even be used in savory dishes as a sauce for poultry or red meat. Throw in some recipes with the chocolate gift basket and you can really get your recipient’s culinary juices flowing.

Wolferman’s gifts has a great create your own option on their website. You start by choosing the amount of items you want to include and then you get to choose from a huge list of delicious breads, jams and sweet spreads. Dean & Deluca also offers mix and match gift baskets, but on their website you start by choosing the theme of your gift. You can choose as many items as you like and they tell you how many spaces in the gift basket each item takes up. You can also fill your basket with items from more than one theme category. These are just a couple examples of the mix and match options online. So now that you know you aren’t confined to a gift basket with items picked out by someone else, go online and have fun mixing and matching when picking out your next gift basket.

Dish one: vegetable broth. One of the easiest things to make that can be used in tons of recipes is vegetable broth. When I first made vegetable broth it was this huge ‘duh’ moment for me. Why did I never do this before? It’s so easy and contains tons less sodium than any store bought variety, even the less sodium versions. I like to call this the chop and dump vegetable broth. All you need is 4 ingredients: onions, carrots, celery and water. Really, that’s it! But if you really want to go crazy you can chop and dump in nearly ANY other vegetables you have on hand. Chop and dump all your veggies in a big pot and add enough water just to cover the vegetables with about an inch of water. Simmer for an hour, strain out the vegetables and you’re done.

Dish two: pink lady applesauce. Ohh, sounds pretty and fancy! Nope, just pink lady apples that are cored and chopped (leave skins on) cooked in a sauce pan with some sugar, cinnamon and water. Remove the loose skins and mash. I mean it, that’s it! This would make a great autumn gift basket. All you need is a basket filled with about 6 apples (you can use other varieties, pink lady are just my favorite), a small zip lock with the sugar and cinnamon measured out, the recipe and a mason jar for the finished product. Decorate the basket however you like to fit the occasion and you’re all set.

Are you shopping for a gift for a teenager obsessed with a certain band? Fill up your gift basket with fan club items from their favorite bands. T-shits, posters, band biographies, a gift certificate to purchase mp3’s online, and tickets to a concert will get the recipient excited all over again about their favorite band. Or perhaps you are shopping for someone who doesn’t have any one band they love, but rather enjoy a particular genre of music. Think about what elements stand out in a particular genre of music. When you think of Rock a guitar is probably one of the first things that comes to mind. Get inspiration from the elements of a guitar. Choose a basket in a similar color as a guitar and line the inside of it with red felt - similar to the type you’d find lining the inside of a guitar case. As for the contents, pick items that tune into your recipients particular interests. Perhaps they’d like to learn to play the guitar? Buy them a certificate to a guitar lesson. Fill the rest of the basket with guitar picks, a book of guitar sheet music and a tuning pipe or electric tuner.

When someone is grieving they often forget to do something simple like eat. Food gift baskets filled with fruits and snacks will show your loved one that you care about them and want to help them through this tough time. A gift basket with calming teas and comforting sweets can help ease the pain of losing a loved one. Some gift baskets online even come with books to help someone through the grieving process or offer inspiring prayers. Another option with gift baskets online is the ability to personalize the ribbon with a message or include a sympathy card.

A sympathy gift basket can also be filled with soothing bath products to help someone in mourning to relax. Or you can even make your own sympathy gift basket filled with journals, keepsakes and picture frames. This gives the recipient the opportunity to record their memories of their loved one and guide them through the grieving process. It’s also a reminder that their loved one will truly be missed and always remembered. Sending a sympathy gift basket is a traditional way to send your condolences and heartfelt sympathy; it is a gift that will be appreciated and that can hopefully bring a brief smile to your loved one’s face.