DIY French toast breakfast gift basket

Tomorrow, I'll be making personalized gift baskets with shoppers at Hart's Local Grocers, a neighborhood fresh and local grocery store in Rochester. It is the perfect time of year for this sort of event because I know I don't stand alone when I say that it feels like there are still so many people left to shop for! Whether it's for the holiday itself, or a host or hostess gift for holiday travel, this is when we start getting down to the wire for gifting.

Over are the days (for me, at least) of boring, off-the-shelf gift baskets. I'm loving the idea of the more thoughtful and unique type of gift basket. So, in planning for this event, I wanted to come up with some different gift basket themes that could be tailored to fit a specific person, specific circumstances, or a specific occasion. All feature items from Hart's, but could also be supplemented with little special touches like glass containers or other kitchen elements (dish towel, wooden spoon), cute wrapping or labels, or a family recipe.

This particular basket is based off this favorite recipe of mine (my grandma's custardy French toast), with my addition of raspberry butter. It requires relatively few ingredients, and yet seems like the sweetest gesture this time of year when breakfast at home (in bed?!) sounds more appealing than braving the cold outside.

The whole thing cost me about $50, including the wire basket, dish towel, and wooden spoon, all of which I found at Marshalls. All the grocery items are from Hart's.

Here's what you need at the grocery store

Loaf of good bread
Eggs
Heavy cream
Butter
Raspberries
Maple syrup
Vanilla extract

Other materials you need

Basket
Filler, such as crinkle paper or tissue paper
Tissue paper for wrapping raspberries or anything else you want to cover (could also use to wrap bread, but I used the bag it came in, and folded the sides down to expose the pretty loaf)
Brown paper wine bag for eggs
Twine
Clothes pins
Labels
Stamps and ink for lettering, or just a pen (calligraphy would be really nice too!)
Faux greenery