Let’s Bake a Cake – Wedding Gift Basket

Gift giving is hard, doncha’ think?  At least that’s how I feel, especially when I don’t know the recipient very well.  No scratch that, it’s hard even if you’re best friends with the person you are giving the gift to (like the husband – aren’t men the hardest?)  Or maybe that’s just my perfectionist side coming out.  I always want to get the perfect gift – one they will love and enjoy and not something that gets opened then set aside to take up space on a shelf somewhere, or worse – taken to the store and exchanged!   😉  So, when I hit upon a gift idea I really like, I really want to share it.

A little over a week ago I found myself in the city starting in on the Back to School shopping with my daughter (is it really time to start thinking about that again?!).  When I’m out shopping, especially if it’s in the city and I don’t have my little guy along (he tends to slow things down) I like to hit as many stores as I can and get stocked up on anything I may need in the next couple of weeks.  And with another family wedding coming up, I was on the look out not only for a flower girl dress for Kate (found something that will work – yay!) but I also needed gifts for the wedding and the bridal shower.  Figuring kitchen items were a good place to start I wandered more than one store without finding any inspriation (and one of them was Target – how do you not get inspired at Target?!) until I stumbled across a great little cake stand and a bell went off – put together a cake baking gift basket!

From there it was pretty easy.  Sure, I gathered things from at least three different stores, but as I was planning to go to those stores anyway it wasn’t a big deal.

Then it was time to figure out how to put it all together.  At first I tried piling everything up, thinking I would tie it together with a big ribbon and a bow or something.

Kind of cute, but there was no way it was going to survive the car trip to the bridal shower and still look good.  And I didn’t have any of those big cello bags or tulle handy.  So I grabbed a basket instead (dollar store.  This time of year that place is practically overflowing with containers for Back to School/college.  It’s awesome).

Perfect.

I stuffed the bottom with newspaper and covered that up with some tissue paper so the items would sit higher in the basket, which makes a better display.  Sure, I could have stuffed it all in a big gift bag and called it good – and I almost did that when I found myself running out of days before the shower and no chance to drive the 25 min to the craft store. However, I think part of the appeal of a gift basket – and I’m a huge fan of gift baskets lately –  is the visual look of them with everything piled inside all cute and easy to explore.

In case you can’t tell from the pictures, inside the basket you will find:
-cake stand
-2 round cake pans
-spatulas/rubber scrapers (the one that says “I kiss even better than I cook” was a huge hit)
-cake decorating bags
-a couple of cake decorating tips and a coupler
-cake mixes and a can of frosting (I tried to find some unique ones like the strawberry cheesecake mix and the cookies and cream frosting)
-cupcake liners
Other good ideas would include:  a favorite cake recipe or cookbook, actual baking supplies like flour and baking powder, parchment paper, a cake/cupcake decorating ideas book, etc

The bridal shower was last weekend and I’m happy to report that the gift basket seemed to be well received.  Yay!

Want more gift ideas for weddings, bridal showers (or anything else really) – check out my Date Night Picnic Basket Idea.

I think we will be done with our current batch of wedding invites soon, but it always pays to have an idea or two up your sleeve so I’m curious – what is your favorite wedding/bridal shower gift to give or receive?

Linking to:  Merry Monday, Lou Lou Girls, Project Inspired, Inspire Me Monday, Your Turn to Shine, Thursday Favorite Things, BFF Open House, Pin Me Linky Party, Snickerdoodle Sunday, Sundays Down Under, Tutorials and Tips Link Party, Something to Talk About,