Easter hostess gift basket with handmade soap

Easter is a wonderful time of year, when the gift-giving spirit is in the air. If you make soaps, and thought you'd given them away in just about every way, shape, form ... well, maybe there is one simple way you haven't tried yet.

All you need is an Easter-ish basket (any with a handle will suffice), some spring-colored ribbon, raffia, Easter grass, tissue paper (or anything fun, for lining the basket), and, of course, your soaps.

As in the picture, I used sage green raffia to make a nest in the basket, tied lavender ribbon around the handle, and arranged my soaps, wrapped in happy Easter-colored handmade paper, in the basket.

You could make this as ornate as you want, maybe by tying some dried lavender onto the handle of the basket, and you could even try making soaps in the shape of Easter eggs.

The nice thing about this soap Easter basket is that you can gift every person who comes to Easter dinner. Just make sure there is one bar of soap for each guest, and let them pick the one that strikes their fancy.