Handmade pamper hamper (Homemade Christmas Presents)

Member Name: playmate

Product:	Homemade Christmas Presents
Date:	13/10/08 (252 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very personal

Disadvantages: None

If your anything like me then Christmas is a time of year that you love, with one drawback. I can never find anything to buy for the men in my family. Vouchers are always good but they can be a bit boring, and sometimes feel like there's not much thought behind the idea. And last year was no exception.

After thinking of every possible thing in the world for my Uncle, nothing seemed appropriate. After racking my brains for about a week I came up with the best idea I have had in a while (if I do say so my self haha).

My Uncle is a really hard working male who seems to have everything possible and even two of some things. He does however enjoy to relax at the end of a hard day, with a drink of wine, some chocolate and a DVD. So I came up with the idea of the 'Pamper Hamper'. I always used to think that a hamper was just for women, but when I made this up, I was really impressed with how it turned out.

I started off buying a basket from one of my local stores, Rejects in Kirkcaldy, which cost me £6.99. I then went to Asda and had a look at all the different wines, I was really undecided on what to buy, as I am not a wine drinker and couldn't tell you the difference between a red and a white wine. So after much deliberation I ended up with the small 'taster' bottles, which gives you about 1 glass. At the time that I bought them, you were getting a deal 4 bottles for £5. So I ended up getting £10 worth.
I then went to the sweet aisle and purchased his favourite chocolate, Terry's Chocolate Orange. I wasn't sure what else to add to my basket, so I decided to buy some bubble bath and a body puff, this cost about £10 again. The last thing on the shopping list was a voucher for a DVD which I purchased from HMV for £10.

Here is how I then proceeded to arrange it (you will also need tissue paper, cellophane, cello tape, some packing a bow and a pair of scissors.)

1 - First of all I took the basket and lined it with 2 really nice shades of green and red tissue paper, just to make it more Christmassy.

2 - Then I arranged the largest items that I had first, as its easier to find a space for the smaller items later. I found that it is better to make the weight roughly the same on either side where possible so that you don't end up damaging the basket. I put the bottles of bubble bath in first.

3 - After the bubble bath went in, I then proceeded to arrange the bottles of wine. By this time the hamper was quite heavy, so I decided that it was time to get the cellophane ready.

4 - Make sure that you buy enough cellophane to cover the complete basket, I always find that its best to buy more than you need, just in-case you make a mistake, or so that you don't have to join it together as this can look tacky and spoil the whole look, that you have worked so hard to achieve. Place the measured amount of cellophane under the basket and leave the ends out ready to close over the basket.

5 - Then add the last item which should be the smallest things that you have purchased, my last items were the chocolate, the body puff and the DVD voucher. These were very easy to arrange as I found that I still had plenty of room left.

Once you are happy with the arrangement then you can add the finishing touches.

6 - you can either purchase a pull bow, which is really easy to use, there are two 'tails' of the bow that you pull and it makes what I call a 'chocolate box bow', or if you are very arty and handy then you can make your own bow from paper ribbon. Once the bow is made then lay it aside for the moment.

7 - Prepare your cello tape, as this makes it easier when you are holding the cellophane. Pull the two ends of the cellophane up and over the top of the basket, you can either cover the contents of the basket or cover the full basket right over the top of the handles (if you have purchased one with handles that is). Once you have covered it how you wish then you need to secure it with the cello tape that you prepared earlier.

8 - Add your bow from earlier.

9 - And then write out a Christmas gift tag to add your own special personal message.

****Hints and Tips****

I found that it was easier to purchase my basket first, as you might end up purchasing too much and then either wasting money, or being stuck with stuff you have no use for.

When arranging the basket try to have the items at different heights, this is easily achieved by scrunching up some of the tissue paper that you have.
You don't have to have all of the items fully visible, some can be partially covered over with other items.

You can also make this item for a birthday, anniversary etc, and you can add anything to the basket depending on the taste of the person you are making this for.

This item can also be made to any budget, the one for my uncle cost me approx £40, and it was £40 well spent he loved it and was really impressed at the time that I had spent making it and putting all of the thought into it. You can also make these for women as well, with the same items or something different, how about a make-up one?

So if you are struggling on what to buy for someone this Christmas, why not give it a go, and you will be pleasantly surprised.

Summary: Handmade special gifts at a budget that suits you.