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If you're stuck for something to gift to your friends, family, or colleagues this year, why not look into making up a bespoke Christmas hamper? It feels luxurious and extravagant to receive one, but they're nothing like as difficult or expensive to make as you might imagine.

Find The Perfect Basket & Filler

To begin with, you're going to need something to put everything in and something to pad it all down with. The 'traditional' choice is a wicker basket filled with straw or a paper substitute, but there are plenty of variations on this theme you can use to personalise your gift. Why not try a decorated gift box filled with tissue paper, for example, or a large airtight tin with the contents arrayed on a bed of sparkling tinsel? If you really want to get creative, try buying a plain cardboard box and using simple decoupage methods to decorate it with everything your recipient loves most.

Pick A Personalised Theme

The best hampers have a theme to the contents. For someone who loves the holidays or for a colleague you don't know so well outside of work, that theme might simply be 'Christmas'—but for close friends and relatives you can get a lot more creative than that. Why not theme their hamper around their favourite food, fill it with things in the colours of their preferred sports team or choose things that represent times you've spent together?

Decide What's Going In The Hamper

You can put anything you like inside the hamper, of course—but it's a good idea to think of things that fit into a few broad categories.

1. Something to drink: Most hampers contain a drink of some kind, but there's no need to limit yourself to the traditional bottle of fizzy wine. A chocolate-themed hamper, for example, could contain a bottle of chocolate liqueur, or for your spouse, you could pick the kind of wine you drank at your wedding meal. If you'd like to make something yourself, it's easy to infuse a bottle of spirits with their favourite fruit or candy. For anyone who doesn't drink, look into premium soft drink brands who can make non-alcoholic beverages feel truly luxurious.

2. Something they can eat right away: One of the great joys of opening a hamper is having something you can nibble on as you explore the rest of the contents. If you'd like to make your own, this is the perfect time to do a spot of baking. Otherwise, look into finding a mini box of their favourite chocolates or a premium version of a snack they adore.

3. Something to enhance their everyday cooking: Add a dash of luxury to your recipient's everyday life for a while with something fancy and delicious that they can enjoy whenever they like. A fancy jar of homemade jam is good, as is a bottle of truly top-shelf balsamic vinegar. Flavoured pastas are a good choice, as is a block of specialist cheese.

4. Something to cook on a special occasion: Most people have something they love to eat that they can't always justify spending money on. Many people adore caviar, for example, and a bespoke hamper is the perfect time to treat them. Keen cooks might appreciate a little saffron, while those who don't eat meat might enjoy real truffles to add some luxury to their dishes.

In addition to the food, of course, you can add in anything you like—small gifts, trinkets, memorabilia and even a larger present such as jewellery or concert tickets as a lovely surprise at the end!