Gift baskets are one of the most popular gifts to give because they are generally inexpensive and can be customized to reflect the tastes and interests of the person that you're giving the gift basket to. Everyone lots to get a personalized gift, and gift baskets are the ideal way to give someone you care about items that they can use and items that they will like.

Giving personalized gift baskets also shows that you know your friend or relative very well and take an interest in their lives.  Because gift baskets are easy to assemble they are great for people who have big families or lots of friends and need many holiday gifts or special occasion gifts throughout the year. 

By stocking up on a few basics, like great baskets, tissue paper, and other essential gift basket components you can save money that can be used to individualize each basket.  Here are some tips to help you customize gift baskets without spending a lot of time or money creating many different baskets:

Choose a gift theme and then find the container - There are thousands of gift basket containers out there.  You can easily got bogged down in finding the perfect one.  Instead of focusing on the basket or container pick a theme for the basket and then choose a gift basket that fits the theme. If you're going to create a fresh citrus fruit basket as a "Get Well" gift for a neighbor a plain bushel basket is a great container, or you can even use a cardboard box decorated to look like a tissue box. Fill it with healthy navel oranges and grapefruits.  Pick a theme, and let the rest of the ideas flow.

Pick one or two custom pieces and then use fillers to fill up the basket - Splurge on one or two central pieces for the gift basket that will really stand out and fit the theme of the basket. If the theme of the gift basket is "Time for Tea" then a handmade teapot or tea press and a beautiful mug should be the focus of the basket, and you can use inexpensive tea bags to fill up the rest of the basket.

Or, choose fillers that you can put in every basket such as pieces of citrus fruit, packages of nuts, individually wrapped candies, or paper flowers. That way you are only spending a little money on the main components of the gift basket. Everything else can be purchased in bulk to save money.