High school and college graduations are happening. Mother’s Day is right around the corner. What gift can you give those individuals? I know of someone who is graduating this May and I didn’t want to buy the pre-made candy basket. So I determined to make a candy basket for her. Whether you want a graduation gift, a Mother’s Day gift, or you want a thinking-of-you gift, here’s instructions on how to make a candy basket for that person.
Step 1
First, determine what type of basket you’re going to give such as a candy basket, spa basket, BBQ basket, etc. Next, I would get the general idea of how you want the basket to look, make a list of the items you will need, and make a budget (optional). I made this basket with no forethought, and I know I could’ve put together something better if I had planned. I already had several things lying around the house like tissue paper, balloons, tape, and sticks, so I didn’t have to buy it.
Step 2
After getting all my items, I got my tape and my container and the boxes of candy. If possible, before you buy the box candy and the container, I would size them up to each other and see if the candy is the right size (some of mine were not). I put tape on the back of the candy boxes and then put it on the side of the container, as pictured.
Step 3
Next, I put my colored tissue paper on the bottom of the container. You can or don’t have to use tissue paper, depending on what you prefer. Then I packed my candy in to the container. I laid some of the individually wrapped candies at the bottom of the container to create a stair-like effect.
Step 4
Now that I had the bigger bags of candy in place, I filled in all around them with the individually packed chocolate. I also put my 2 and 4Â (because she’s graduating in 2024) on the outside edges of the container with the tissue paper behind it. I also attached the gold curly paper on the front with tape. At this point, you can stop here and have a completed basket.
Step 5 (Optional)
After filling the container with the extra candy, I got sticks (you can use oak sticks, shish ka bob sticks, or craft sticks), and taped some extra, individually wrapped candies on to the sticks. I then stuck the sticks at various places in the container. It might be a little hard to do since you packed the candy in. I also put three sticks in the back because I’m going to tie black and gold balloons on them right before graduation. You can also include a graduation card with the basket.
Cost and Time
The total cost of the package I made was around $30. It just depends on where you get the candy and containers, what you have on hand, and what the person likes. Two of the candies I bought equaled $10, and the container cost $5, so I could’ve cut back the cost several dollars, if I had planned ahead.
- Container- $5
- Accessories- $3
- Candy- $22
Making the basket non-stop, it probably took me one and a half to two hours; the hardest part being the design of the basket.
Remember, your graduate or special person will appreciate any gift you give him because of the thought and time you put into it. You can make a bigger basket like the one I made, or you can make a smaller basket.
