Making a food hamper - tips please

spam88

Lidl normally have some great stuff to add to hampers - lots of gingerbread things (yum), mini stollens and things like that Worth a look if you're near by.

Sarahdol75

spam88 wrote: »

Lidl normally have some great stuff to add to hampers - lots of gingerbread things (yum), mini stollens and things like that Worth a look if you're near by.

Thankyou, just had a lidl and aldi book through the post, with some lovely bits in and we have both of these stores near me, so will pop in over the weekend.

Deb_S_2

Retro sweets seem to be quite big this year as well for hampers. Don't spend a fortune on them though, go somewhere like The Range where you can get bags of flying saucers etc at a reasonable price.
Also, I like to put a few cheeses in (you can often get good deals this time of year).
Nuts are also a nice addition.

krissymas

We've bought some cellophane from a florist - lovely red and shiny!

As for the contents, a mix of food stuffs, wine and nice smellies are going inside. We're baking some nice gifts last minute to pop inside

rozmister

Sarahdol75 wrote: »

Hi, I was just coming on here to ask for some ideas for a food hamper for my brother and sister in law, they have 3 young children and money is very tight for them this year. So I was thinking on making them a nice hamper with food that they are not bothering with buying cause they cant afford it, I have at the moment:-

Jacons biscuits for cheese
Jaffa Cakes
Yule Log
Tins of Custard
Box of Cadbury Fingers
Box of Milk tray
Asda Chosen for you Mince Pies
Asda Chosen for you Apple pies
Pringles cheese and chives and salt & vinegar
Sensation crips

If you have any other ides that I can put in, would be grateful.

I know it's not food but maybe you could put in some nice smelly stuff (like bath stuff for Mum and Dad and that Matey bubble bath for the kids if they still make it) as well. When I was a kid we didn't have a lot and I can remember wishing we got Matey's but having Tesco own brand bubbles!

Maybe also put in a few things that they could use AFTER Christmas like jars of nice pasta sauce, etc because after Christmas is always tight money wise, more so if you didn't have a lot to begin with.

moneybunny123

savingmonkey wrote: »

I am making a food hamper for my MIL. I am new to this so just wondered - when I put it all together I think I need to put something under the items to make them closer to the top - what do people use fo this?

I used to make a hamper every year for my ex's grandmother. She loved them! To protect the glass jars from knocking together and to raise things up, I would get a few sheets of red or green (festive coloured) sugarpaper, and run it through a shredder. The shredded paper looks lovely and provides a protective cushion around everything.

As for ideas for food/drink (apologies if these have already been mentioned:

flavoured/fruit teas, deluxe hot chocolate, deluxe coffee, shortbread, chocolates, assorted bread sticks, unusual flavoured chutneys, pickles, marmalades, jam, a christmas cake (or, if they're not a fan a steamed sticky toffee pudding, or similar).

If you go to a local farm shop, you will be sure to find lots of homegrown/homemade produce like conserves, chutneys, etc. All in lovely jars.

moneybunny123

p.s. I'd buy my cellophane from a florist. Often, they'd be feeling generous and give me a couple of meters for free. At most, it would cost me a pound. I would sit my basket on top of two strips of cellophane (laid in a cross). Then bring all four ends up above the basket. Tie some wide curling ribbon around to secure and finish with a big bow and lots of curls.

scaredy_cat

to pad out the bottom of the box/hamper use scrunched up newspaper then cover with a layer of coloured tissue or wrapping paper.

Al1x

How do you know how much cellophane to buy?

weeclick

i must be the only one who does hampers the other way round, Im qwuite a neat freak and like nice clean tops so I stick the cellophane at the bottom of the hamper so its a flat clean surface on the actual hamper, nice big thick bit of ribbon around the edges of the hamper into a bow at the front finishes it nicely Will see if I can add photos of the ones I made last year (I only cellophane hampers on Christmas eve because otherwise our cat would ruin it first lol) I usually get a big roll from the local florist or fruit shop. It has lasted me the whole year for christmas and birthday gifts!

For bulking ou hamper how about putting bags of pasta and rice at the bottom to bulk and set tinned stuff on top of that etc. I usually fill my hampers with straw from a local suppliers shop where I also buy the hamper baskets but this year Ive filled the hampers that much I dont need anything to fill it with which is a bit scary lol.