Wildly Healthy Holiday Baskets

Christmas is just a short 36 days away, which means crunch time for all of the holiday planning.

​Mr. Charming and I are sitting down this weekend to create our December Advent Calendar that we make every year. This year includes a mix of volunteer work, movie nights by the fire, church and celebration events. And yes, my halls are already decked. This is my favorite time of year. 

As I've grown up, my Christmas wish list and my gift lists to others have changed drastically. Not a huge lover of gift cards or gifts that are impersonal, I like to try to create something special. Whether a nature lover, techie, beauty fanatic or foodie, I like to give gifts that speak to what they love and who they are. And holiday baskets are the BEST way to give multiple gifts that speak to the same theme. 

Holiday Basket Tip #1: Don't Overfill. I like to space things out so that you can see what's inside. Once my food items were placed I added a couple of homey touches. 

I am an affiliate for Wild Foods Co. | I adore their market & products, all opinions & photos are my own. 

One of my favorite types of people to shop for are the foodies in my life. (No shocker there, right?) 

Instead of buying the pre-made food baskets that are laden with sugar and processed ingredients, I like to make them using high quality products. From organic fruit (which always looks beautiful in baskets) to fine wines and homemade baking mixes to my favorite recipes, it's fun and easy to be creative. 

This year, I'm putting little "market" baskets together using products from one of my favorite shops! Based in Austin, Texas, Wild Foods will ship products internationally, (except for their coffee, which is U.S. only) and offer a wide variety of specialty teas, chocolate, coffee and protein items. 

Holiday Basket Tip #2: Themes are good. Since I shopped at a specialty market, I used a vintage market basket as the basket instead of a holiday box or traditional wicker or wood basket. 

For this years basket I chose a pack of Wild Coffee and paired it with mugs I knew would match my friends kitchen. I added in a pack of Wild Sweet Nibs, which are high quality pieces of chocolate that can be used in trail mixes, on ice cream or as a garnish on baked goods, as well as a pack of Wild Chocolate which can be used for cocoa, in smoothies or in baking. 

I finished it off by adding some information on Wild Foods, so that she would know where to go if she wanted to order more and I tied a Christmas ornament that would match her home to the basket as a finishing touch. 

Holiday Basket Tip #3: If you include pre-made goods, or goods for a particular market, its good to add a recipe card or a store info card so your gift receiver can make or buy more if they enjoy it! 

Have you made holiday baskets or are you planning to this year? I would love to know the ones you are creating, especially for the foodies in your life!