It was my friends birthday and I struggled with the usual - what gift should I be bringing? It’s not that she’s particularly hard to find something for, in fact it’s quite the opposite. But I still couldn’t come up with I good gift idea. I browsed though Pinterest and saw an inspirational photo. It was a small box with several little gifts inside. Decorated with a happy birthday banner and photos of the friendship. I loved the idea because I could think of a lot of little gifts she would like. So I went to the store and bought a few items.

Things you could put in the basket:

Food: A particular food item your friend loves. I took M&Ms.

Their hobby could be a good indicator for a small gift to add.

Art: My friend loves art so I added a sketch book. Other ideas would be pens, a gift card of an art store, paint, a photography magazine…
Music: Since we’ve moved on from the CD era, you could add a handwritten note with 10 of your favorite songs to check out.
Cooking: A magazine with fun recipes (doesn’t have to be a subscription), baking item, special sauce or spice
Sports: Does their favorite sport require some equipment? Tennis balls, water bottle or a small traveler’s tool kit for the bike?
Gardening: Seeds and flowers are never wrong. Also a beautiful pot is lovely.
Crocheting/Knitting/Sewing: fabrics, patterns, wool
Reading and Writing: It’s aways a fun idea to add your favorite book, a notebook or a nice fountain pen
Gaming: A small card or board game, a nice set of dice, a steam gift card

Something that’s a reminder of a fun experience you shared together. I found two rackets and a ball for a game we call “beach ball” at the store. A few weeks prior to my friends birthday we had a great time playing that game together. So naturally I had to include that in the gift box.

Decorations:

Make a little birthday banner (instructions below)
Add straws in matching colors
Print out photos and glue/tape them to the straws

How to fill:

Think about the height of your box. Will the gifts disappear in the box, because it is tall? Then take some wrapping paper, crumble it up slightly and spread it along the bottom of the box. If the hight is fine, you can skip this step.
Start with the big items in the back. Then fill in the smaller items in the front.
Find places to stick in the straws. Add the photos and banner. Tie a ribbon around the box.

Banner

Fold your piece of paper. The width of the folded part is going to be the length of your banners.
Cut the paper like shown in the picture.
Draw out the individual banner pieces. Then cut them out.
Write the letters onto the pieces.
Cut a string into the desired length of your banner. Put glue on one of the insides of the banner pieces, then lay the piece of string into the fold and attach the other side of the banner.

Gift Idea for a Friend