Packaging for HM gifts, help!

xacesx

Hi all,

I'm putting together a hamper for my inlaws for xmas full of hm food and sweets. I've got jar for chutneys and jams, and bottles for vodka and flavoured oils, but i'm struggling to think of ways to package the other stuff.
I'm going to be making mince pies and shortbread and other baked goodies and sweets the day before xmas eve, so I need a packing solution that will keep the goodies fresh as long as possible (atleast til boxing day), thats cheap and also looks pretty i'm toying with the idea of plastic food bags and then making pretty boxes so you cant see the bags when you look in the hampers, but just wanted to know what other people used, any pictures of hampers would so be appreciated!!

ver very early seasons greetings to all!!

xacesx

p.s. Mod's: sorry if I put this in the wrong place just didn't want it getting lost in the HUGE hamper thread

Claire_Bear

People use long thin cellophane bags (search ebay) for things like shortbread and fudge and cookies, put the food in, then gather the top and tie with curling ribbon. I'd say put mince pies in a nice box as they need to be kept upright?

A bit like this

xacesx

thanks for replying! I've got plenty of cellophane which is good, just wondering how long this would keep them fresh tho? if anyone knows

thanks again

thevicster

Could you try the stayfresh bags from Lakeland? Don't know how long they keep things fresh for but you could have a look on the website?

KK22_2

You could put them in the stay fresh bags and then wrap the bags in tissue paper and cellophane so it still looks nice and pretty. A bit of faffing about though!

piglet6

We usually make chocolate truffles and find that they fit really well in video boxes (the sort that shops sell to "wrap" videos in for those people who can't manage wrapping paper! ) - we tend to buy them when they are knocked down in the January sales (I know this doesn't help you this year, but might be worth thinking about next year - we got a dozen boxes a couple of years ago from WHSmith at 25p each, which was for "hard", i.e. solid, boxes, which had the elasticated "ribbon" and a gift tag attached - had been selling for £1.99 each originally :eek:).

Not sure how fresh they keep the chocolates, but I have to admit, nobody complained that they had gone off - I think they were eaten before they had a chance to go off! :rotfl:

Just for the record, we found that 24 chocolate truffles in little petit four cases fitted beautifully (6 x 4 formation!).

Piglet

sophiesmum_2

Empty pringles tubes covered in a nice wrapping paper are great for packaging home made cookies for hampers. Just wipe the insides with kitchen paper and store for a while with the tops off and any smells from the crisps disappear leaving you with an airtight(ish) container which is really easy to cover.Sometimes I place a sheetof tissue paper in the tube, place cooies in it and then fold the tissue paper over the top cookie, before putting lid on.