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    Home » gift ideas » Inexpensive Dollar Tree Gift Baskets | Ideas For Everyone On Your List!

    Inexpensive Dollar Tree Gift Baskets | Ideas For Everyone On Your List!

    This post may contain affiliate links

    You can get a lot of  inexpensive Mother's Day and Graduation Day gift ideas right here! The gifts are fabulous and not like cheap gift bags at all. I always want my gifts to be thoughtful and personalized to the recipient. I Believe it or not there are some people who don't like junky, rusty, metal, vintage, thrifty stuff like you and I do. So today I wanted to share how I put together inexpensive gift baskets and fun candy dishes with stuff from the Dollar Tree.

    Dollar Tree Gift Basket DIY Gifts For Everyone

    Dollar Tree Gift Basket DIY Gifts For Everyone

    I put together three gift baskets with different themes. One of the gift baskets is for a  Nursing Home resident, one gift basket is for the creative crafter, and one gift basket is a treat for anyone who loves a Pedicure.

    Inexpensive Dollar Tree Gift Baskets | Ideas For Everyone On Your List!

    I don’t know about you guys but there is just something about a gift basket. I love it when I receive a gift basket. It's fun discovering the goodies inside. When you look at these ideas be thinking of the next gift giving opportunity you will have and how to customize a basket for the recipient.

    basket filled with goodies for your friends

    Dollar Tree Gift Basket For Mother's Day

    Keep in mind that these baskets are just to give you ideas. You can customize a gift basket for your child's teacher, your neighbor, the postman (or woman),  your grandkids, etc. The Dollar Tree is full of pretty things along with practical items that  can easily make a gift basket unique.

    1. Select The Gift Container or Gift Bag

    The first thing you need to put the basket together is…..a basket….of any type. Or you can put your items in a bag. You can find a lot of cool bags even big gift bags. Take into consideration what you might put into the basket and select the appropriate size. Or another idea might be to gather all the items you want to put into the basket then pick the basket.

    There are all kinds of things you can use as a “basket”. Some ideas; plant pots, metal pails, dish drainers, a basket (!), large plastic bowls, tote bags, kid’s sand pails, gift bags, Chinese take out containers, etc. Get creative.

    Dollar Tree Items to make gift basket for Mom in Nursing Home

    This is a basket for a nursing home resident. I chose a large pink plastic basket with a handle. You can store a lot of things in small containers such as bath stuff, snacks, and photos so the basket will come in handy.

    2. Select Items For The Basket

    I gathered a couple of  snacks, lotions, hand creams, nail polish, room deodorizer, chap stick, an infinity scarf, a wall hanging (Thank You For Being You), a handheld mirror with pocket mirror, and a Lei for fun! The total cost of this gift basket was $13 plus tax.

    Mother's Day Gift Basket

    3. Prepare Basket Before Adding Gifts

    I put everything in the basket and arranged and rearranged. I wasn’t happy. Since the basket was deep everything set on the bottom of the basket. I found some packing paper in the shop and put it in the bottom of the basket. You could also use shredded paper.

    infinity scarf from Dollar Tree for gift basket

    4. Add A Basket Liner

    Not sure what to call it but you need something to pull the gift basket together like a liner. Use cloth napkins, scarves, cloth shop towels, washcloths, etc. to cover the bottom of the basket and the sides. This adds softness and something to kind of snuggle the gift items in.

    I put the Infinity scarf on top of the paper. Isn’t that a pretty design?? I’m always amazed at the things I find at the Dollar Tree. (This is not a sponsored post)

    Dollar Tree Gift Baskets For Less Than $10

    5. Add The Gift Basket Items

    Start with the largest items and lean them against one side of the basket or stack them from the bottom. Add smaller items in between until you are happy with the look. The photo above shows how the basket looked after I got it together. Very Uptown for less than $15 and such nice items, fun and useful.

    Pedicure Gift Basket items from Dollar Tree

    Next Dollar Tree gift basket is for the Pedicure fan. I treat myself to a pedicure occasionally. How about you guys? In this case I used a Lei to soften the look of the gift basket. You should always include things with texture in the basket.Hug Worthy Dollar Tree Gift Baskets Favorite Things

    I selected a turquoisy green catchall container for this gift basket. I gathered flip flops, 2  bottles of nail polish, nail brushes, mini ped egg, manicure set, a fun scented candle, and a bright Lei. Who wouldn’t love this basket. It helps to go with a specific color scheme when selecting your items. Nine items including the basket means $9 plus tax. See how inexpensive these baskets are. This one is perfect for a friend, teenager, etc. Perfect birthday gift basket.

     

    Dollar Tree Gift Baskets

    The third gift basket is for the crafter. I found a cute box container with top to use as the basket. The flower design with all the colors was calling my name. The Craft Gift Box contains Mod Podge, Apple Barrel Acrylic Paint, a faux cactus, liquid adhesive, three containers of loose glitter ( oh boy!), green ribbon, and googly eyes. Eight items for $8 plus tax. A nice gift doesn’t have to be expensive. Would you give a big hug to the giver of these gifts?

    Now for another great gift idea made from Dollar Tree stuff.

    I made cute little candy trays and they were a hit with the nursing home residents, staff, and a bunch of my friends too! Great gift idea for any time of the year. You can make these simple Dollar Tree Candy Tray Gifts for less than $2 each. These gifts were made at Christmas time but keep in mind this idea can be tweaked for anytime of year. You can select various types of dishes or small decorative containers and various candies for your special project.

    I have a couple of funny stories about how many trips to the Dollar Tree it takes to find Llamas and how many pieces of candy are in the peanut butter cup bag. Read on….

    Dollar Tree Candy Tray Gifts

    Dollar Tree Candy Tray Gifts

    Shop Dollar Tree For Cute Trays

    ring holders from the Dollar Tree

    We’ve come to know a lot of the residents at the nursing home and I really wanted to get them a little something for the holidays. We made goodie filled coffee cups (see here)  for all of the staff a couple of years ago and they were a big hit. At least it let them know we appreciate them.

    Llama and Unicorn ring holders from Dollar Tree

    I went to the Dollar Tree last week just to see what they had. I didn’t have a gift plan at all so when I spotted these ring holders that was it. The white plates with the gold tone Llamas, Unicorns, Whale Tails, and Dinosaurs were just too pretty. I could just see them filled with candy. Everyone loves chocolate, right? You could also use hard candies, sugar free candies, or personalize the candy selection to the sweet tooth of your recipient!

    Buy Candy And Treat Bags At Dollar Tree

    I bought gift bags to hold the candy filled dishes. There were 15 bags in each set for $1. I had an issue with the bags I chose but more on that later.

    chocolate candy for gift bags

    I’m a big fan of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and Hershey’s Kisses and I got those at WalMart.

    gold tone Unicorn and Llama ring holders from Dollar Tree make great Christmas or birthday gifts

    When I have a plan I will go to any lengths to make sure it happens. The Dollar Tree where I spotted the ring holders only had 10 gold tone ring holders. They had 12 all white ring holders. The all white wasn’t nearly as pretty as the combination white and gold tone ring holders.

    Well, Clarksville has 5 Dollar Trees and I hit all of them in 3 days trying to find more of the pretty gold tone ring holders. I ended up with a total of 30 ring holders including 5 white ones. I know that sounds like a lot of trouble to go to for such small gifts but I didn’t mind.

    Make Inexpensive Dollar Tree Gift Bags For Nursing Home Residents

    Add Chocolate Treats To Dollar Tree Trays

    Now that I had everything the next thing to do was fill the ring holders with candy. If you guys want to know how many peanut butter cups are in the bag and how many kisses are in the bag…..I can tell you……..there are 35 peanut butter cups give or take 1 or 2 and 66 kisses give or take 1 or 2. You’re welcome. I decided I needed more candy so I raided our leftover Halloween candy pulling out all the red wrapped Kit Kats. I poured all of the candy into a cardboard box then I put 6-8 pieces of various kinds of candy in each dish.

    Put The Trays In Decorative Bags

    When it came time to put the candy filled dishes in the bag I ran into a small problem. When looking at the bags in the store I decided they would be big enough for the dishes. And they were……if I cut  one of the seams half way down. I forgot about the skinny neck towards the top of the bag and the dishes wouldn’t fi past the neck. Always something.

     

    How to make inexpensive gifts for nursing home residents and staff

    Dollar Tree Candy Tray Gifts

    I was able to stuff the dishes in the bags, swirl them closed,  and twist the little thingies around the bag and nothing fell out! It's best to get an assembly line going when putting the bags together. I made 30 candy filled ring holders putting a certain number of each kind of candy in each dish then stuffed the ring holders in the bag and tied it up.

    Do you have a Dollar Tree in your town and do you shop there? Sofi and I love Dollar Tree and I give her a limit of $3-$4 when we shop Dollar Tree together. She would break me if I didn’t give her a limit.

    Another Great Gift Idea Are These Copper Mugs Filled With Candy: This Last Minute DIY Gift Idea Is For You Procrastinators

    As always, thanks for being here. You guys make my job worth doing. Have a great day, Kathy

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Laurie Mears

      December 01, 2021 at 8:51 pm

      Making a dollar tree basket to pamper a senior citizen. Fluffy socks, candle, scrubbie, body wash, pedicure set and candy. Hope they like my Christmas gift exchange.

      Reply
      • Kathy Owen

        December 01, 2021 at 8:54 pm

        I'm sure they will love it. I would! Thanks for sharing.

    2. mary scott

      May 03, 2021 at 9:21 am

      Great ideas. My friend who's an elementary teacher taught me how to tell how many candies are in a bag. On the back of it, in the nutritional info, it should say per serving, then how many make up a serving, plus # of servings in the bag. I love Dollar Tree best for office supplies and greeting cards. I love Dollar General for seasonal decorations plus gifts which may be more than a dollar. Thanks

      Reply
      • Kathy Owen

        May 03, 2021 at 9:44 am

        Thanks for the tip Mary!

    3. Barbara Gardner

      May 03, 2021 at 8:37 am

      Great ideas! I have done baskets but love every idea & your choice of colors & gifts.
      You are awesome!! Keep the ideas coming.

      Reply
    4. Sara

      May 03, 2021 at 5:49 am

      Kathy,
      These are great small gifts ! My husband thinks I live in Dollar Tree ,at times, and I have them all mapped out where ever we are but appreciates the end results with our extensive family. This past year I found the cutest metal Santa buckets and rounding up 12 of them took several trips at different stores and everything inside was Winter themed . Snow Caps, wintergreen gum, Santa hat kisses, Reese's Christmas trees, fun flavored candy canes, and Coke Chapsticks, and chocolate Santas. It also provided a cute bucket for the Mom's of the kids and grandkids to use this coming year.
      When my girls were younger I wanted to cut back on filling baskets of sweets so started adding little pretties like those ruffled socks and hair bows , I usually got those big plastic eggs to round out a basket -that's where the goodies were.
      DT also carries a fun collection of small boxed puzzles, Crossword books, Seek-a-word etc. those would work for the nursing home also, along with Grippy slippers.
      I think it goes without saying I hit DT for tons of crafty items. I already have plans for Father's Day and all the great small items for car care ( I use those too) .
      I use the cutting mats from housewares under small projects or cut templates or stencils although they have a very fun collection of stencils.
      Thanks for your fun ideas.
      Sara

      Reply
      • Kathy Owen

        May 03, 2021 at 8:58 am

        Thanks for the comment and the new ideas Sara! From one Dollar Tree lover to another.

    5. Marie-The Interior Frugalista

      May 07, 2018 at 8:40 pm

      Kathy, these are awesome! You know how much I’d love to be making the Mother’s Day basket this year ? Pinned to my gift ideas board

      Reply
      • Kathy Owen

        May 07, 2018 at 9:08 pm

        ah Marie, I know. Prayers for you.

    6. Barbara

      May 07, 2018 at 2:24 pm

      Kathy,
      You're the best. I know your Mom appreciated these wonderful gifts, and you bought things people need to replace after a few months, and the snacks and scarves, etc. are just fun as well as useful. Thanks for showing us we can have a lot of fun and give a nice gift for under $10.00

      Reply
    7. Nancy

      May 07, 2018 at 9:54 am

      I love Dollar Tree. Thanks for these tips. I can never think of these little things to make a gift basket or stockings at Christmas.

      Reply

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    Hi, I'm Kathy!

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