I admit not following one of the suggestions I share with you in How to Start a Home-Based Gift Basket Business.

I’ve just recorded audio CDs for each chapter in case you need reminders about specific topics (choosing inventory, corporate sales, business plans, etc.), and this is how I realized what I haven’t done.

Some of my gift basket designs stay intact after showing them at adult school classes and trade show seminars. But to keep them looking good, it’s important to place a lightweight cover atop them so that dust does not settle onto the cellophane or shrink wrap.

I just noticed that I didn’t cover the baskets. So what do I see on the wrapping? You guessed it – dust. Shame on me.

Thankfully, I do have a lambswool duster to remove the grime, another suggestion I provide in the book. Now that the designs are looking good, you can bet that the covering is back in place on the completed baskets.

I’m far from perfect and never want to give you the impression that I do everything right.

In classes, products magically jump off the display table onto the floor, and some of those things shatter into pieces. I’m also good at making big holes in shrink wrap so that I have to start the wrapping process over again.

These examples prove that getting better at what you do takes practice and patience. Be sure to give yourself healthy doses of both as you continue to grow and profit with gift baskets.

What has happened to you while in this industry that makes you look back and ask yourself, “How did that happen?”

Shirley George Frazier

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Remember: Enter the gift basket business contest. Get details here.

Only one budding designer enrolled at one of my recent gift basket workshops. Did I cancel? Heavens, no!

I don’t penalize an excited new gift basket maker because others decided not to join in on the fun.

The two-hour session turned into a mini consultation. She and I made gift baskets from the bottom up, and I instructed her on each step. When finished, I put my design aside and coached her on shrink wrapping.

She handled the heat gun well, and her work was beautiful. She’s never made a gift basket but shrunk the wrap perfectly to a crystal clear finish.

Then I coached her on making a bow, but before adding it, I asked her if she wanted to add cellophane to the outside of her completed gift basket design.

More ideas about ribbon and bows are on this page.

Some of us shrink wrap our gift baskets first and then add printed cellophane outside of it as a second wrapping. The shrink wrap acts as insulation against shifting and breakage during transport, and the cellophane provides a soft, personalized appearance.

The new designer loved her work and declined the cellophane option. She then added the bow. I answered more of her questions before ending the workshop and watched her leave with the basket in hand and a big smile on her face.

Here’s where you’ll find more information on shrink wrapping and cellophane.

Is adding both cellophane and shrink wrap part of your gift basket making style, or is only one type of closure material added around your designs?

Shirley George Frazier

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Tea cups and saucers pair well with gift baskets or as single gifts. Like teapots, cups and saucers are a popular addition to gift baskets themes, including:

A teapot is shown in a get well basket on the Gift Basket Tutorials site, but you may not understand how to add tea cups and saucers within designs. Here are three quick tips.

Tea cups and saucers are often wrapped as a single gift, so the pair can be a best seller for you inside or out of a gift basket.

Shirley George Frazier

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Did you immediately invest in a shrink wrap machine when you started making gift baskets, or was cellophane your first choice?

Years ago, the price for a shrink wrap machine and accessories topped the budget. It was incredibly expensive, which is why shrink wrap was a product used solely by large firms.

Thankfully, the cost for these machines is now within most budgets, but before you invest in one, consider this:

You’ll find, as you vary your gift basket design style, that there are times when cellophane is the best option and when shrink wrap is mandatory.

There’s more information about both products and basket bags starting here.

Shirley George Frazier

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