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Puppy Gift Baskets
How To Make It Yourself

By Janice A. Jones | Last Updated 02-07-2020

In this article, puppy gift baskets, how to make it yourself, we are going to demonstrate step by step just how easy it is to make your own fabulous gift basket for anyone you know who loves dogs. 

If you missed the first page in this puppy gift basket series, please read that first before proceeding to the step by step instructions

Puppy Gift Baskets
How to Make Your Own

If you love the freedom to create your own, it can be a creative fun project.  Best of all, you have complete control of the products inside the basket.  You can be extravagant or as budget minded as you like.

Materials needed for your Puppy Gift Basket How To Project

What will you need?

• Container to hold your items such as a basket
• Gift items:  One or two large, a couple medium sized items, and several small items
  
• Filler Paper
  
• Cellophane or Shrink Wrap
• Bow and Card

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Our Puppy Gift Baskets How To Example

We decided to make a spa type puppy gift basket for a new puppy owner.  We chose items for bath time as well as grooming and added a bag of treats for good behavior and a breed specific calendar for the new puppy owner. 

• Our large items:  Shampoo and Conditioner Combo
• Medium Size Items:  Bag of treats, Stuffed toy, and a soft towel
• Small Items:  Puppy Brush and Puppy Comb
• Gift for the Owner:  Breed Specific Calendar

How to Assemble

Assemble the items you will need

Use the list above to assemble everything you will need to finish your project. 

We made a store list and shopped around for good quality but not top of the line  items. 

The total cost of this project came to $17.47 including the filler, cellophane and bow. 

So you can save money by doing it yourself if you have the time.

Puppy Gift Baskets How to Assemble a Puppy Training Basket

A puppy basket can be as creative as you want it to be.  I chose a Grooming theme but here are a couple other ideas to get your creative juices flowing.

Puppy Training Basket

• Our large items:  Leash and Harness
• Medium Size Items:  Bag of treats, Stuffed toy, Collar
• Small Items:  Clicker, Dog Whistle, ID Tag
• Gift for the Owner:  Book on Puppy Training

Puppy Gift Baskets How to Assemble a Welcome Home Basket

If you know that the new puppy owner is not likely to have many supplies available for the homecoming, consider a generic gift of necessities. Fill up a small dog bed instead of a basket

Welcome-Home Content Ideas

• Our large items:  Wee-wee pads and blanket
• Medium Size Items: 2 small Dog bowls, bag of training treats
• Small Items:  Small stuffed toy, chew toy, small bottle of dog shampoo
• Gift for the Owner:  Book on Puppy Rearing

Here is one of my favorite puppy books:

Puppy Gift Baskets How To: Start with a container

1. Start with your container and add some newsprint type paper or tissue (not printed newspaper that’s ugly).  Tissue paper works well too.  If you don't have any paper, consider using copy paper from the printer.  
2. Crumple and fill in the bottom of the container. 
3. Cover the bottom of the basket so the paper fills approximately one-half of the height of the container. 
4. Crush a little if necessary to make the surface of the paper flat.

Puppy Gift Baskets How To:  Add Your Items

Add Largest Items First

Start with the largest item such as a plush toy, rolled doggie blanket or folded towel. 

For an attractive, balanced gift, the largest item should be about three times as high as the container and one-third its width. 

You will tie the covering of the basket above this gift, so choose wisely.  Baskets are usually pyramid in shape so think “triangle” when assembling the contents. 

If the item, you chose, will not sit comfortably, consider a book behind the article to give it more support.

Add Medium Sized Items Second

Next, select a couple medium size items of different colors and textures.  By textures, I mean items made from various materials. 

For example, a plastic bottle of shampoo, a steel comb, a wooden bristle brush, and a small bag of cotton balls. 

Each adds a different dimension to a puppy gift basket of grooming aids. For our example, we added a stuffed toy, a bag of training treats and a doggie towel.

Add Smallest Items Last

Finally, add a few small items to fill in empty spaces.  This is the place to add doggie treats, a little bottle of doggie cologne, even a bottle of doggie nail polish.

You can even add a small gift for the puppy's owner to enjoy.

You may decide to add a breed specific gift here such as a dog car magnet, dog shaped earrings, a key chain,or a scarf embroidered with a breed design.

In our example, we added puppy grooming tools and a calendar.

Puppy Gift Baskets How To:  Filler

To make the basket look professional, we recommend you add some type of filler or shred.  You can purchase this at your neighborhood craft store or online. 

It can be anything that adds a new dimension to the basket. 

I choose a shed that was translucent with a small amount of shimmer, giving the basket a sophisticated finished look.

Puppy Gift Baskets How To:  Wrap it Up

Now it is time to wrap up the Gift.  You may need to go back and do a little rearranging so that all the items lean and help support each other. 

Most puppy gift baskets have a front and a back.  If you want to add a little interest to an otherwise dull back side, consider a doggie book, magazine, or surprise items.  In our example, I added a small calendar, facing backwards so it shows up at the back of the basket.

Make sure all items are secure.  Any loose items, which won't stay in place can be assisted to do so with a small piece of double sided tape.  Glue dots (those sold for scrapbooking) work well also.  You can use either shrink-wrap or cellophane to wrap up your gift.

Shrink Wrap

Choose a size that will fit over all the items in the basket with a little room to spare.  Do not worry about it being too long because you can always trim any left over at the bottom.

1. Open it with both hands and slide it down on the items the same way you might put on long socks. 
2.  Get out your hair dryer to finish your product.  Not for your hair or your dog’s hair, but to shrink the wrap in place. 
3. Use the hottest setting.  
4. Starting at the top moving in a circular motion, gradually make your way down the sides.  
5. Shrink it down to the bottom and then let it cool.  
6. Once cool to the touch, check the bottom.  If there is too much wrap left, trim with scissors.

Cellophane

1. Cut a large piece that will cover the entire container. 
2. Spread the piece out on a table. 
3. Place the basket or container in the center of the cellophane.  Grab each corner and bring up and together above the container. 
4. Fasten with a wire tie or tiny rubber band.In our example, I chose to finish with Cellophane. If I were shipping, I would use shrink wrap.
5. Add a bow to finish off your product.

And there you have it, a beautiful gift basket for that special person, all done lovingly by your own hands and at a fraction of the cost it would be to buy one ready-made.

Related

Choose a Store bought Puppy Basket

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