How I Assembled A Cozy Gift Basket for Under $75
I’ll let you in on a little secret: I am not a full time blogger. I actually have something of a dual identity in my daily life - Office Manager at a digital marketing and design company by day, lifestyle blogger by night. Basically, Moda Misfit is the Superman to my day job’s clark kent.
And I actually wasn’t entirely honest about my real job title just now. I am not an Office Manager - I’m an Office Experience Manager. Companies in the tech world tend to have cool, hip, progressive sounding job titles, so of course I couldn’t simply be called an Office Manager. I manage more than the office, damnit, I manage the experience of it! 😂
Part of the experience I’m charged with cultivating involves creating fun events and activities that keep everyone engaged in the company’s culture. Usually these activities culminate in a raffle prize of some kind, which I’m not going to lie, is pretty effing fun.
I mean, much of time spent at my job involves selecting and giving presents to people. Does that basically make me a professional year-round Santa elf? I personally choose to believe so, although my request to change my official job title to “Year-Round Santa Elf” was denied. I guess the company I work for isn’t that hip after all.
Anyway, our most recent raffle prize was awarded the other day: a fall-themed gift basket for which I personally curated the autumnal items.
I spent an hour of my work day hand selecting cute and cozy things for the gift basket, and it was… maybe one of the most satisfying things I’ve ever done for my job? Like, maybe I was born to do this? Leave it to me to find my life’s purpose in the clearance candles aisle at Target. Anyway, I feel a strong need to share this self-actualizing experience with the Moda Misfit readers, because frankly this kind of shit is what blogs were made for.
In all seriousness, I wanted to share this with you all because I think I may have put together the perfect gift basket with a strict $75 budget.
I think assembling your own gift basket of cozy essentials (versus buying a pre-made gift basket) is a perfect way to create a personalized gift for a friend, colleague, or family member.
And what I learned from my experience in creating this gift basket for work is that in addition to having the potential to be a super thoughtful, personalized gift, it can also be relatively inexpensive and doesn’t take too much time to put together. It’s actually a pretty simple gift - it’s just a matter of figuring out what you want your gift basket to contain.
So if you’re assembling a fall/winter themed gift basket for someone, I’ve created the checklist below you can use to keep things simple yet also guarantee a quality, people-pleasing gift. Then scroll through to see the products I included in mine!
And here’s how I did it under $75!
Some of these items aren’t the exact ones I found in person. Certain things I just couldn’t find online, unfortunately! But nonetheless, what’s great about the checklist I’ve created is you really can’t go wrong. It’s basically a list of universally adored things, so you can spend as much or as little money as you want. I’m keeping everything in the same price point that I spent for my work’s gift basket, so this too will all add up to under $75.00. 😊
Ok let’s dive into the fall goodies, shall we?
This post may contain affiliate links. I may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post, at no extra cost to my lovely readers. I only link the things I love!
1. Scented Candles
2. Soft, Cozy Blanket
3. Chai Tea
4. Cute Mug
5. Fuzzy Socks
6. Potpourri
7. Something Sweet
So simple, right? There really isn’t much to this, and I’ll admit it’s definitely not the most glamorous selection of fall items. By that I mean there are no designer scented candles, no high end chocolate, no artisanally crafted tea. And I’ll be honest - those are the things I tend to be attracted to. But here’s the thing about the items on my fall gift basket checklist: each one is guaranteed to make someone happy regardless of how expensive it is.
And I think a big reason why is because a gift basket comprised of these things appeals to almost every sense: taste, smell, touch, and sight. The only one missing is sound, but I have a quick fix for that if you really want to cover your 5 senses bases: make a personalized playlist for your gift recipient! Or you could also recommend this fall playlist I put together in the post Moda Mixtape: Songs for Autumn, which would go great with the fall vibes of this gift basket. 😉
So next time you’re scrambling to get a gift for someone, just refer to the checklist I created and head to a place like Target! Remember, it only took me an hour to put this gift basket together. So as you’re stumbling through the holiday season doing your best to make sure all the people you care about get a quality gift, keep in mind that it really can be this simple.