Functional or whimsical, for friends and family or business associates, a Christmas gift basket matches the festivity and fun of the holiday season. And, when you assemble your own gift baskets, you can create a more personalized present and get more freedom to add perishable items that might spoil in shipment from a mail-order company. Purchased gift baskets, however, are hard to beat for last-minute orders and for shipping to long-distance recipients.

Choose creative containers for your gift baskets and make your presentation truly memorable. Yard sales and thrift stores often overflow with wicker baskets. A plain cardboard box, covered in paper and adorned with ribbons, gives ample space to display the basket’s contents and reuses what may have ended up in the trash.