DIY Gift Basket Ideas for Nature Lovers

Ready to create personalized gift baskets for the nature lovers in your life? Use our tips to build perfect presents for everyone on your list!

Know Your Recipient. It sounds like obvious advice, but it really is essential. Do a little digging and ask the special people on your gift list a few questions so you can really customize their presents. Knowing that someone loves gardening isn’t quite enough. Does he prefer annuals or perennials? Does she do a lot of container gardening? Are they trying to attract hummingbirds and butterflies? Finding out what they’re most interested in will help you dig around and create something sure to please.

Include a Book. Once you have a clear angle or theme for your gift basket, let a good book take it from there. Look at the gardening and nature section at any bookstore, and you’ll find dozens of options. For gardeners, you might find books on planting in containers or attracting -butterflies. For birders, you may discover books on photography or feeding the birds. Once you have the book, take a peek inside for tips and ideas. You might find ideas that you never would’ve thought to put in the basket. Or if the book happens to include projects, you may be able to buy your recipient the supplies needed to make one.

Find Your Basket. You can go with a traditional gift basket if you want (you can often find one for next to nothing at Goodwill), but challenge yourself to think outside the box. While we used a large terra-cotta pot to hold our Garden Guru package, you might want to try a garden apron, a hat or some other imaginative, decorative container. Aim to make everything in the package useful in some way. If you plan thoughtfully, you can make sure your recipient will be able to use or reuse everything in the gift.

Mix Essentials with Extras. If you’re going to put together a Hummingbird Fan package, a sugar-water feeder of some sort is a basic. But be sure to include some extras, too—a brush to clean the feeder or even a bag of sugar. We like to add seed packets to our gift packs because they’re inexpensive yet useful. Do a little research on what seeds are best for feeding birds, attracting butterflies and so on.

Make It Interactive. This is the fun part—figuring out something that will get your recipient really involved. For all the packages here, we include a recipe of some sort, whether it’s for suet, sugar water, butterfly nectar or something else. But be as inventive as you want. If you’re putting together a gift for a crafty person, find a cool DIY project to make on his or her own. For creative gardeners, find a beautiful container recipe they can plant in spring. Another idea: If you’re giving the gift to someone you’re close to, offer to help out. You could include a coupon for weeding, planting or just shopping together at the garden center. What a special way for the recipient to get even more out of the present.

Make It Personal. Anything you can do to personalize your gift will mean a lot to the recipient. Use exterior paint to add a name to a garden container or bird feeder. If your recipient really likes owls, cardinals or monarch butterflies, look for stickers or stencils to embellish the present. Are you good at embroidery or other kinds of sewing? Add a name or monogram to a pair of gardening gloves or garden towel. Even if you don’t have the skills yourself, ask a friend, or pay someone on etsy.com to help out.

Dress It Up. Here’s your final task: Make it pretty! You’ve taken the time and effort to gather wonderful items, so now add the finishing touches. For instance, packaging birdseed in -attractive bags will go a long way in presentation. If the decorations can be reused, that’s even better. Brighten up the hummingbird package with a red bow that can hang on the sugar-water feeder later; to a hummingbird, the more red, the better. Or find decorative pins, buttons or magnets to dress up the garden or butterfly pack. These little personal touches make a huge difference! Now you’re ready to get started. Here are some of our favorite DIY gift basket ideas and options to use for inspiration. We pulled in our ultra-talented craft editor, Shalana Frisby, to turn our ideas into gorgeous results, and offer you some tips along the way!

The Bird Lover:

• Safflower seed
• Sunflower seed
• Thistle seed
• Peanuts
• Suet recipe
• Suet feeder
• Log feeder
• Seed feeder
• Game
• T-shirt
• The Bird Watching Answer Book, or another of your choice

TIP: If your items are large or oddly shaped, use an extra-wide wired ribbon to hold items in place and visually tie everything together.

The Herb Grower

• Clay pots
• Wooden tray
• Herbs
• Herb seeds
• Watering can
• Soil recipe
• Grow light
• Soil
• Herb cutting shears
• Plant markers
• Herb recipes
• Book – We love The Edible Balcony

TIP: Customize these plant markers any way you like by changing their shape and color. Try a heart, star, moon or other simple shape from a cookie cutter.

The Garden Guru

• Personalized pot
• Soil
• Seeds
• Book (Try Handmade Garden Projects)
• Gardening gloves
• Tools
• Garden shoes and hat
• Coupons
• Garden catalog
• Garden planner
• Magazine subscription
• Container recipe

TIP: Make decorating easy by using premade chipboard letters, stickers, papers or even stamps. Coat your finished creation with a clear waterproof sealer to make it last.

The Hummingbird Fan

• Sugar-water feeder
• Sugar
• Cleaning brush
• Ant guard
• Flower seeds
• Sugar-water recipe
• Calendar
• Note cards
• Book (We used A Field Guide to Hummingbirds of North America)

TIP: This basket was originally light pink, but we painted it a deep red. Easily change wood and wicker baskets with acrylic paint or spray paint.

The Butterfly Enthusiast

• Feeder
• Gardening book
• Sugar-water recipe
• Seeds
• Butterfly net
• Viewing jar
• Magnets
• Guidebook, like Kaufman Field Guide to Butterflies of North America

TIP: This metal bucket will make the perfect leaf- and bug-gathering container for little hands. Throw in a magnifying glass and this DIY net, and you have an excellent gift for a kid.