What's in Your Gift Basket of Tricks?

After watching a bowmaking demonstration at a gift basket convention many years ago, I excitedly rushed back to my studio to try the new techniques I had learned.

Or so I thought.

Little did I realize, until I was teaching the technique in a class years later, that I was doing a variation of what I had originally learned.

Has that happened to you? You put a new twist on a design or bowmaking technique that yields a slightly different and perhaps even better version of the original.

At a recent inventors audition at a development center, first place went to creators of a peanut butter and jelly gun. These inventors were motivated to find a better way or an improved gadget for something they already did.

Now you're probably thinking, what does this have to do with gift baskets?

Lots.

Over the years, many new inventions have entered the gift basket industry: shrinkwrap bags, themed gift boxes with matching accessories, glue dots, printed cellophane and mesh netting. At the same time, designers have created clever ways to make designing, selling and even storing supplies easier.

One technique I like when using shrinkwrap bags, for example, is to place the empty basket in the shrink bag first, then build the design. That way I don't have to risk toppling the contents when I lift the full basket to place it in the bag. I demonstrate this technique on my newly re-released DVD, Basic Gift Basket Design.

What about you? What's in your gift basket of tricks? You may have created a gadget, a substance, a technique or even a marketable product. Share how you've made the business of gift baskets easier.