How to Make Your Own Hamper: Boxes, Filling and Packing

To make your own hamper, choose a container that fits what is going in, put the heaviest things in first, fill every gap with tissue or shredded paper so nothing moves, then close the lid or carry the lot in a bag. The container is the part you buy, and it decides how big the hamper can be. The ones in this guide are small: wooden and bamboo gift boxes from 10 x 8 x 5cm up to 25 x 20 x 10cm, wooden crates and kraft paper bags, from £2.99 + VAT. So this is a guide to mini hampers, treat boxes and several small boxes carried in one bag, not large baskets.

How to make your own hamper

A homemade hamper is a container, some filling and a few things chosen for one person. Five steps:

1. Pick the contents first. A simple mix works: something sweet, something savoury, a drink and a keepsake. Lay it all out on the table before you buy anything.
2. Measure the biggest item. The container has to clear it in every direction, with room for filling.
3. Choose the container. One box for a single treat, a bigger box or crate for a mini hamper, or a bag to carry several boxes together. The sizes are in the table below.
4. Pack it. Heaviest in first, gaps filled, nothing loose. The packing section below goes step by step.
5. Close and label it. Lid on, tag on, done.

The same steps work for a Diwali hamper or a raffle prize.

Choosing the box, crate or basket

Start from the size of what is going in, then match it to a container. Here is every container in this guide, with the size exactly as the page or variant gives it and the cheapest pack in stock.

What each one brings, from its own page:

• Bamboo gift boxes. Bamboo with a natural bamboo texture, a wrap-over lid and an elastic button clasp. Both bamboo box pages list them for hampers and gift collections. For a homemade hamper box, the L size is the largest box here.
• Small wooden boxes with a window. Wood, with a clear window lid, so the treat inside is on show without opening it.
• Wooden crates. The nearest thing here to a hamper basket: solid wood build, classic crate design, and the page lists gift hampers among its uses. The variants give two measurements and no depth.
• Kraft paper bags. Kraft paper with reinforced twisted handles and a strong base. Not a hamper on its own, but the way to carry several boxes as one gift.

The box and crate pages each list "reusable quality", so the container can be part of the keepsake. More boxes, crates and bags are in our containers range.

How to pack a hamper

The aim is a hamper where nothing moves when it is picked up. In order:

1. Line the base with tissue or shredded paper, so the bottom layer sits level.
2. Heaviest and tallest items first, at the bottom or the back.
3. Smaller items in front or on top, labels facing out so the gift reads at a glance.
4. Box the small loose things. A treat that would rattle around goes in its own small box first. A 10x8x5cm bamboo box is smaller in every direction than the 25 x 20 x 10cm L box, so treat boxes can go inside a hamper box.
5. Fill every gap with more tissue or shredded paper, then tilt it gently. If anything shifts, add more.
6. Close it. The bamboo boxes shut with the wrap-over lid and elastic button clasp.

For several boxes as one gift, stack them in a kraft bag. On the stated sizes, the M bamboo box (15 x 14 x 7cm) is smaller than the bag's 26 x 20cm base, and three stacked come to 21cm against a bag 27cm tall.

If you are packing hampers as a business, for clients or to sell, our post on sustainable food and gift packaging for brands covers that side.

Christmas hampers on a budget

A small Christmas hamper costs what goes in it plus the container. The contents are your call; here is what the containers cost, from the live pack prices, with the working shown. Prices are ex VAT, as the product pages give them.

• Buy the pack, not the single. One L bamboo box is £3.99 + VAT. Five are £18.99 + VAT, and £18.99 divided by 5 is £3.80 + VAT a box. Ten are £34.99 + VAT, which is £3.50 + VAT a box.
• Go a size down. One M bamboo box (15 x 14 x 7cm) is £2.99 + VAT. Five are £12.99 + VAT, which is £2.60 + VAT a box.
• Treat boxes in a bag. The 10x8x5cm bamboo boxes are £4.49 + VAT for 5, so 4.49 divided by 5 is about 90p each. A kraft bag from the pack of 25 at £6.99 + VAT is about 28p. Three treat boxes and one bag come to about £2.97 + VAT of containers (3 x 89.8p, plus 28p).

Those per-box figures are your share of a pack. You still buy the whole pack, so the outlay is the pack price.

Small Christmas hamper ideas that fit these sizes: one treat box at each place on the Christmas table, a crate for a neighbour, or a bag of boxes for a family to share.

Homemade hamper FAQs

How do you make your own hamper?

Pick the contents, choose a container that clears the biggest item, line it, put the heaviest things in first, fill the gaps so nothing moves, then close it or carry it in a bag.

What box can I use for a homemade hamper?

Any box with room for the contents and the filling. The ones in this guide run from the 10x8x5cm Luxury Bamboo Gift Boxes for a single treat to the L size of the Luxury Bamboo Gift Boxes 3 Sizes at 25 x 20 x 10cm, plus wooden crates in Small (9 x 13cm) and Large (15 x 20cm).

How do you pack a hamper so nothing moves?

Line the base, put the heaviest items in first, box any small loose items, then fill every gap with tissue or shredded paper until nothing shifts when you tilt it.

How much does it cost to make your own hamper?

That depends on what you put in it. The container starts at £2.99 + VAT for one M bamboo box, or £3.99 + VAT for one L box, and costs less per box in packs of five or more.