DIY Christmas Hamper.

I Love love love Christmas, but hate shopping in late December, so I like to get all my shopping done now. I already have all of the most important people sorted, apart from Mum. I am getting her 2 tickets to see her favorite artist, Elvis Costello (And also secretly wishing that she will bring me along as her guest..) so i needed something that she can open on Christmas day. I looked on the internet for chocolate hampers, (she is a major chocoholic!) but they were all pretty expensive considering that actual chocolate you got, plus, there was always something she doesn't like in there. So I decided I would go in to town today, on a mission to make my own, for under £25.

Here are the bits I got.

It all came to around £24, but the tissue paper is a bit unnecessary and I didn't use the bow. 

Pop the tinsel-y bits in the basket (yes, it's actually a bin..)

Then I popped the fake mistletoe in the back.

I then added all of the goodies, trying to make it look pretty!

Next scattered some of the tinsel-y stuff around and over the chocs.

I then  made an easy bow using ribbon.

I made a small gift-tag type book to go on the finished hamper. I basically printed out some coloured rectangle shapes on some card, punched a hole on the corner and threaded them all together. Inside I wrote down some funny quotes about chocolate, and some facts about the health benefits of chocolate.. to make her feel less guilty when she digs in!

Then I wrapped the Basket in Cellophane, added the bow and then stuck on my little gift-tag-come-booklet. Ta Daaah!

I thought it turned out really nicely, and I know Mum will love it because it's something I have made. I took advantage of buy one get one free offers, and got the all of the stuff from Tesco, Wilkos and a Florist (for the cellophane.) I am making my step-dad a cheese and wine themed one. Its a great gift idea as its really versitile. Some other ideas are:

• A 'DVD Night' theme. Some blockbuster voucers or a DVD with some wine, popcorn, sweets and chocolates? Maybe even a Snuggie!
• A 'Pamper Hamper' Full of smellies like shower gels, bubble bath, bath bombs, scented candles etc.
• Maybe a 'Coffee Lovers' gift set. With a cheap cafetiere, some nice coffee beans, some ameretti biscuits and a nice mug.

The possibilities are endless! Have you ever done a hamper before? How did it go down?