Step by step guide to making your own free from luxury food hampers

There is a lot to be said for taking a DIY approach to gifting.

• By re using a basket, box or tin you are doing your bit for the environment. I re used a little wicker basket. Buy less, waste less.
• Sourcing local goodies helps sustain smaller, independent businesses. Why not spend your money in your local economy rather than handing it to a huge enterprise with no community connections?
• You can personalise gifts so much better yourself. From a cheese loving Aunty to a gluten free best friend- you can tailor the contents to the very last detail.
• Get creative with the choice of packaging and wrapping you use – making it that much more personal. How much nicer to open a box of goodies that a loved one has hand picked and put together just for you?

So let’s get started on putting your home made hamper together.

1. Choose your “hamper”. Recycling is by far the greener option. A pre loved basket, an old vintage biscuit tin or even a cardboard box covered in pretty paper will all work well.
2. Line your hamper with pretty tissue paper.
3. Select your filler of choice which will serve to protect the hamper items in transit. I prefer a light, straw coloured “shred” which you can buy online- try crafting stores such as Hobbycraft UK.
4. Rest your foodie items on the shred and “snuggle” them in- so they are not rolling about on top of the shred.
5. Tie some pretty ribbon on the hamper basket handle along with a hand written luggage tag.
6. You can then place the entire hamper in a recycled cardboard box – filling the gaps between the hamper and the outer box with scrunched up paper to help protect the contents.

FAQ about making your own Christmas hampers

Q: How long will cheese last if I post it?

A: Cheese, if a hard variety and if it is protected with a wrapper will last for weeks. Always check shelf lives prior to purchasing any food stuffs. An “Ambient product” means that food can be kept at room temperature. I’d personally avoid anything that needs to be kept in the fridge.

Q: How do I find out about allergy information?

A: This is a particular bugbear of mine. At Honeybuns we take a lot of care to share and update allergy information for all the cakes we sell online. Some producers are better then others at this. Call them if you are unsure and ask them specific questions. Better still email them so you have confirmation back in writing.

Q: Why is post and packing so expensive?

A: It can seem expensive depending on the quantities you are ordering. For instance although we charge £6.50 P&P on our shop we do not make any profit on this. We choose to add the P&P whereas other companies will offer free P&P when the actual cost is incorporated into the retail price of the products they are selling. I do not think there is a right or a wrong way. We prefer to charge separately so the customer can more easily gauge what the product costs and what the P&P is.

As ever – if you order more items in one go you benefit from economies of scale and the P&P becomes better value. It’s also worth remembering what a hassle and an expense is to actually travel out to shop (though I do think there’s a time and a place for all kinds of shopping).

Customer service and delight is something we take really seriously, so it is really frustrating to know that sometimes cakes are not arriving on time. This is due to circumstances beyond our control – namely the postal strikes and the overstretched courier services. We endeavour to communicate as clearly as possible with everyone and if you need to know more about your order, you can either email us or give us a call. We’re always delighted to hear from you and will take onboard any feedback and comments you may have.

Wishing you all a very happy lead up to Christmas and if you need any gift advice, please get in touch