One of my coworkers recently resigned, and we thought of giving her a little something to remember us by. Since we knew how sentimental she was, we decided to go for a curated gift box.
Curated gift boxes are perfect gift ideas! They are so pretty, personalized, unique, and thoughtful. The only thing I didn’t like was it was so EXPENSIVE! A box with 4 items in it already ranges from 1500 to 2000 pesos. Plus, the shipping fee was also unbelievable. But I guess the cost was worth its appearance. And maybe the shop’s shipping method was also of a high standard.
But I am the kind of person who thinks she can do everything and is a little big in the effort. So I thought, Why not make our own curated gift box? We don’t have to pay for the shipping and wait for it to arrive. Plus we can choose more personalized items!
If you are like me who wants to gift someone something special and make the most of your budget, here’s a guide on how you can create your own curated gift box. I also included videos of tutorials of aesthetic decorations that’ll make your gift box look even prettier!
Curated Gift Box Budget
Your budget will depend on the items you want to buy. But it could start as low as 500 pesos.
The gift we made was worth ₱1650.00. Here are the items we bought for this amount:
- 6 pcs vanilla-scented candle
- 2 pcs cucumber-scented candle
- 1 pastel mug
- 1 box of peppermint tea
- 2 books (from Booksale)
- 1 planner
- 2 pens
- 2 facial mask
- earphones
- box
- adornment materials (tape, construction paper, glue, crepe paper, and ribbon)
Now, let’s compare what we personally bought from the pre-curated boxes we wanted to buy. The pre-curated box was worth ₱2,700.00 (shipping included) with these items only:
- gold pen
- personalized notebook
- scented candle
- pashmina
- wooden box
- card
Just imagine how many items you can add to your gift box for a ₱2,700.00 budget!
Step 1: Picking the Items for Your Curated Gift Box
Creating your curated gift box from scratch is not really that difficult. As long as you are patient and genuinely love artistic crafts, you’ll even enjoy this project.
If you are looking for gift ideas, I highly suggest you pick something that defines the person who will receive the gift. Be thoughtful; think of the stuff they need at the moment.
For instance, our coworker loves to travel, read books, enjoys tea, music, and is a little overthinker. She’s also a writer, and her favorite color is mint green. That’s why we themed our curated box as a “Mint Green Self-Care Box.” We wanted her to take care of herself and always do the thing that she loved.
If you are gifting a friend who is currently having a hard time, a “Pamper Box” maybe something she’d appreciate. You can buy skincare products, sweets, or cosmetics.
Feel free to mix and match. You can even include naughty items if you think your friend or loved one is up to it.
Step 2: Prepare your box and fill it with crinkle paper.
Crinkle paper may look like garbage to you, but they do make your gift box look so aesthetic. The crinkle paper also serves as a cushion for the fragile items you may have added to the gift box.
Here’s an embedded video by Juneth Gomez to help you create your own crinkle paper.
Step 3: Arrange the Items
There is no right or wrong way to arrange your items. Just make sure it looks neat and pleasant.
Step 4: Create Adornments
Most of the curated gift boxes I saw on the internet had dried flowers in them. It’s usually knotted with the ribbon and sometimes placed inside the box with the rest of the items. But I didn’t know where to buy it. So I thought I’d improvise by making flowers out of crepe paper and thin wire.
If you want to buy a dried flower for your aesthetic adornment, you can. However, if you like to create one as I did, below is the video I followed. It’s from Pillow6218 of Pinterest. But if you want other ideas, check this AMY DIY CRAFT YouTube channel!
Step 5: Tie the Ribbon
This step is self-explanatory. But to make sure that you tie the ribbon the prettiest way possible, here is an embedded video from Loved and Found, LLC of Pinterest, use it as a guide.
Step 6: Touch Up Your Curated Gift Box
Once you have tied the ribbon, you can attach the dried flowers you bought or personally made. It’ll make the box look extra attractive! Don’t forget to add a card with a personalized and heartfelt message in it.
People do love to receive presents, but it’s your words that melt the heart. So put as much thought into your message like you did when making the curated gift box.
