How to Curate Easter Baskets from Target in 15 Minutes or Less

It's no secret that we're an artisan gift box business which means that we don't usually offer gift contents in our gift boxes that can easily be found in big box and grocery stores. We instead opt for gift contents that are lesser known, small batch, made my small businesses, and all-around more memorable. However, as a busy CEO, when it comes to pulling together my own Easter baskets for family and friends in my life, I head to the old tried and true Target to make these baskets happen. I put my gift curation skills to the test and see how quickly I can pull together something that is thoughtful, beautiful, and festive (and also without breaking the bank.)  I have too much fun with this every year not to pass along my tips, especially for all my fellow Easter basket procrastinators out there. 

Very important point! You do NOT have to limit these types of gift baskets to just Easter.  They can be spring-inspired baskets for all sorts of gifting occasions like Mother's Day, teacher appreciation, hostess thank you's, employee appreciation, realtor settlement gifts, and more. For this specific Target haul, we focused on creating a basket for those special women in your life, a design that would work for so many different occasions, not just Easter. 

Ready to curate? Here's are the types of items you're shopping for with our detailed tips to follow....

Tip One: Go Neutral for the Basket 

While it's fun to look at all the brightly colored Easter baskets on display (even the unicorn and bunny ones they have out these days), it's more practical to use a neutral colored basket from the home section that can be repurposed for storage and home decor year round! The alternative is buying a brightly colored basket that will get sent down to the storage room with all of the other Easter baskets with the risk of never being used again. We're all about vessels that can be reused and this is a great opportunity to do so! 

Tip Two: Make a Plan for Color Palette

With little kid Easter baskets, the colors are usually all over the place. For a slightly more refined look, it's good to try and have the colors limited to about 2 main colors (with pops of a few more) so it looks cohesive. For this curation, we ended up with shades of green and yellow with pops of pink and yellow and feel these all worked well together. For an elevated look, consider selecting all neutrals and then adding some pops of just yellow and green for a more lush, natural look. By keeping your basket neutral, as I mentioned above, it really does help to allow the items inside to really pop and steal the show rather than the basket being a distraction. No shade being thrown to the multicolor woven baskets out there. I have fond memories of those as a kid. But it's always good to mix things up and give something that's going to be most useful to whomever you're gifting.

Tip Three: Don't Skip the Bargain Bins at the Store Entrance

These low-cost bins are gems! They're usually chock full of all seasonal items and home decor pieces which are perfect for curating a spring-inspired baskets for Easter, hostess gifts, and even thank you gifts. One year I lucked out and even got the actual baskets themselves in the low-cost area and they were neutral and nice enough to use as storage bins down the road. Oh and bonus...only $5 each. Who wants to the use the cheap-y, multicolor basket weave style baskets for $4 each, when $5 gets you something higher quality, neutral, and universal enough for your recipients to use as beautiful storage baskets year-round. If they're out of these in the bargain section before you arrive to shop, then head to the home section of Target. There are plenty of small-to-medium neutral choices there, even in the $10 that make beautiful spring baskets! Going this route for the basket itself truly elevates the basket to something a little more grown-up and a little less "just for kids". 

Tip Four: Traditional vs Novelty Treats

Easter baskets don't have to be the Easter baskets of your childhood. It's fine to include a few life-long favorites such as Cadbury eggs or a pretty version of a chocolate bunny (or dare I even say Peeps if you're a fan)! You can introduce some beautiful pops of color with dried fruit or healthier brands of gummy bears. This year, I used Partake lemon cookies and they added the most beautiful (and delicious) addition to the curation!

Tip Five: Go Beyond Food

In addition to candy and sweet treats, try and balance the gift out with items that will be useful to your recipients in this spring season! Ideas include self care items such as colorful face masques and floral or botanical tea towels to freshen up the kitchen as the season changes. For the towels, you might be tempted to buy the ones with cute little Easter sayings but steer clear of these and instead opt for ones in designs that aren't limited to one specific holiday. A yellow and white gingham or simple floral motif can be used all throughout spring and even into summer rather than just in the days and weeks leading up to Easter, for example. Other ideas not shown in this specific curation are lovely notecard sets, journals with a brightly colored or pastel covers, or mini calendars with daily  inspirational quotes. 

Tip Six: Add a Spring Activity 

Instead of just things to eat and put around the home, consider adding an item that's an activity. I especially love the idea of a desk grow kit that your recipients can use and enjoy love after Easter is over! Not to mention the symbolism of a plant growing and thriving from nothing is perfectly aligned with the message of the season. Other activity-based ideas are adult coloring books and a nice set of colored pencils or markers (can't we ALL use some stress-relief after the last two years we've had!?), a mini pancake making set (with a bunny-shaped mold), and of course you can't go wrong with an egg decorating kit. 

Tip Six: Plant Life

By the time you've gathered all the above items, there won't be a ton of room left in your basket. But adding a pop of plant life the basket is a must! We love succulents for this because they're small and adorable and not as easy to kill as some other plants we know. Also, an added bonus, the faux ones can actually look relatively real. Definitely add one in there to liven things up!

Tip Seven: Fill Those Plastic Eggs

When I was a kid, my Mom would fill up the cheapy plastic eggs, some with candy and others with quarters (or even the occasional one dollar bill). I love this idea of varying what's inside the eggs for the element of surprise. When curating an more "grown up" gift basket, sure, you can add candy to the plastic eggs (I love mini Cadbury eggs for this!) but in the other half, considering handwriting your own affirmations on little pieces of blank paper and add them to the eggs for your recipients to discover. In this curation featured here, we did "you're a ray of sunshine" and "some bunny loves you", but the sky is the limit here. This element of the unexpected, along with a gorgeous basket you lovingly pull together, will put such a huge smile on their face for certain!

I hope these ideas have offered some hope that it's not too late to pull off some incredible last-minute Easter baskets together as gifts for friends and family, host and hostess gifts, client and teacher thank you gifts, or even something to design and hold for Mother's Day! And if you're not the DIY type, you can shop our Ready-to-Ship Gift Box Collection here.