The Ultimate Guide to Crafting a Sweet Hamper

In This Article

1. What is a sweet hamper?
2. What to include in a sweet hamper
3. Essential supplies for building a sweet hamper
4. Step-by-step: crafting your sweet hamper
5. Sweet hamper ideas for every occasion
6. Presentation tips
7. Wrapped and ready to go

As far as thoughtful gifts go, it doesn't get much better than a personalised sweet hamper. Whatever the occasion, a beautifully presented basket of sweet treats is a chance to celebrate the passions of the recipient – as well as being a fun project for you to put together. In this guide, we’ll show you how to build the perfect hamper from scratch that’s both stunning and delicious. Let’s go!

What is a sweet hamper?

At a basic level, sweet hampers are baskets full of tasty treats lovingly put together for someone special. The beauty of it lies in its versatility. Got a birthday coming up for someone who loves gardening? No problem. Let a country theme and the colour green be your guide. What about a wedding? Easy! Just follow the colour scheme and design of the wedding, and you’re onto a winner. Let your theme be your guide and you’ll create something that's guaranteed to bring joy and smiles on opening.

What to include in a sweet hamper

So, you've got a theme, now what about the treats that go into the basket? Our top tip is variety! Get creative and pack a basket that you’d want to open.

Pick and mix sweets

Everyone loves a pick and mix, and Rowntree’s® has a great selection to choose from. Make up colourful party bags or store them in cute jars with creative labels, such as ‘Treat jar’. Make sure you’ve got a good selection of textures by including chewy, gummy and rainbow sweets, throwing in some classic sweets like Fruit Gums or Fruit Pastilles for retro flair.

Gourmet goodies

You’ve got your chewy sweets, but what about the chocolate? Let gourmet be your guide and pick a few different types. Think crunchy wafer like KitKat®, a special chocolate and toffee selection such as Quality Street®, a sharing bag of Smarties®, or some special edition Aero® varieties such as orange or peppermint bubbles. Diversity is key!

Thoughtful extras

Chances are, you know the recipient of the sweet hamper quite well. Use that knowledge to your advantage and pack in a few thoughtful extras. Coffee lovers always relish receiving a fresh supply – whether that’s a selection of Nescafé Dulce Gusto pods for their kitchen or a range of fun coffee sachets, such as Vanilla Cookie Dough Latte or an Aero Peppermint Mocha. Spa treatments, theatre tickets or gift cards for their favourite stores are superb additions if your budget allows. (Yes, setting a budget is a good idea, as little presents quietly add up!)

Personal Touches

The goal of any sweet hamper is to make the recipient feel special. So go that extra mile and make your hamper one to remember with a few personal touches. A beautiful card with a thoughtful note is always well received, but you can go a step further. Print out their favourite poem or, better yet, write it by hand. Include their birthstone or a unique picture of their family with a note on the back.

Essential supplies for building a sweet hamper

The container for your treats and delights is arguably one of the most important factors. It’s the first thing they see, so make it special! The classic go-to hamper is the wicker basket. It feels crafty and artisanal, and it’s never yet gone out of style. Other great ideas are a wooden box, a reusable gift bag, a printed cardboard box, or a stainless-steel ice bucket. These can all be covered in clear cellophane to showcase the goodies – choose a compostable type for maximum sustainability.

You’ll need a supporting cast of decorative items to add flair and style to your hamper. Think ribbons, wrapping paper, tissue paper, textured fabrics, or straw. Always keep your theme in mind. A country-themed sweet hamper is more likely to feature hessian fabric than neon blue cellophane paper. For a contemporary design, you can use dividers to organise the goods neatly. For a rustic feel, arrange them artfully on your chosen base, trying not to overlay glass jars on top of each other. Play around – this is the fun bit!

Step-by-step: crafting your sweet hamper

Now that we’ve covered the basics, let’s build a sweet hamper step-by-step.

1: Plan your theme

Let’s stick with our country theme as an example and throw a birthday into the mix. Our fictional sweet hamper is for a woman celebrating her 30th birthday with a weekend stay at a country estate.

2: Choose your container

Since the birthday is in the countryside, we’ll choose a classic wicker basket and include a cosy picnic blanket in the base.

 

3: Select your sweets

For sweets, let’s pack an assortment of colourful, chewy and gummy sweets like Randoms®, Fruit Pastilles® and Jelly Tots® in various-sized mason jars for a country feel. Each jar is decorated with strips of hessian material and sage green ribbons, which is part of her birthday party colour scheme.

 

4: Arrange neatly

The heavier sweet jars will be housed together in a small vintage wooden box to avoid breaking the chocolates. The box will be surrounded by sharing bags of various Aero® Melts flavours, a selection of KitKat® flavours, a classic tub of Quality Street® and, because she’s a coffee lover, a box of Nescafé® Quality Street® Green Triangle Mocha sachets.

 

5: Add a personal touch

Our birthday girl has several older siblings. We got each sibling to choose their favourite heartfelt or cheeky quote about getting older and made a small keepsake booklet for the basket. We also added a full spa day treatment, which was paid for by the siblings. Let’s finish it off with some gold tissue paper for extra style points, then close and secure the basket.

6: The result

And just like that, we’ve created a beautiful bespoke sweet hamper! We stuck to our country birthday theme in our treats and decorations. We added some personal touches, a keepsake and a spa experience. Now it’s time for you to get creative and start planning yours.

 

Sweet hamper ideas for every occasion

So many occasions to celebrate, so many sweet hamper possibilities!

For baby showers

Baby showers are all about celebrating a new arrival. Accessorise with the classic blue or pink colour scheme or keep things neutral with earthy tones. You can’t go wrong with a selection of fun chewy and gummy sweets but don’t forget to include some delicious chocolates for the mum-to-be!

For weddings

Weddings are all about tradition and sticking to the theme of the day. Aim to colour-coordinate the presentation to the wedding colour scheme – if you know it – and go for classic sweets such as Rowntree’s Fruit Pastilles or Jelly Tots. If you don’t know the colour scheme, pastel-coloured accessories and decorations always work well and bring a touch of class to any occasion.

For parties

Parties are all about sharing, so use the opportunity to make a mega sweet hamper. Think big bags of brightly coloured pick and mix sweets filled with chewy and gummy varieties such as Rowntree’s Fruit Gums, Jelly Tots and Randoms Juicers that can be passed around or decanted into bowls for everyone to sample.

Presentation tips

Presentation is everything, so don’t stumble at the final hurdle! If you’ve gone with an open container, wrap it in clear cellophane to secure and showcase the items. If you’ve chosen a basket, most of the decor will happen inside. Remember to create layers and consider adding a few seasonal touches like flowers, pinecones, or an ornament. Since some of the packaging will be disposed of, go for sustainable or recyclable options where possible. Compostable cellophane is easy to order online and looks exactly like plastic wrap.

Wrapped and ready to go

If you follow our tips and tricks, your sweet hamper is sure to brighten someone’s day and give them something sweet to remember. Don’t forget to share your sweet hampers with us on our Instagram page – we’d love to see your creative ideas! And if you’re looking for more inspiration, ideas and recipes, sign up to our newsletter.