Basket case: interested in saving time and aggravation this holiday season? Start your shopping here

Vegetarian Times, Nov-Dec, 2005 by Jordana Brown

Can you feel it? That chill that cuts you to the bone? It can only mean one thing: The holiday season is coming, and you haven't even begun to shop for gifts. Fortunately, there's an easy way to come in from the cold. "Gift baskets make good presents because you can make them really specific, really thoughtful reflections of a person's personality or passions," says Marnie Lerner, co-founder of Star Treatment, a Los Angeles-based gift company. While her client list is celeb-studded, Lerner says gift baskets work for everyone, "including people you don't know that well, because you can make them very general."

To whip up your own, start with the basics: "age, gender, relationship," Lerner says. "If it's a personal gift for a really close friend, you could send something like a bathrobe. But not if it's a client." Posh soaps would be better. Then think themes, Lerner says. "Are you buying for someone who's really active and would like outdoor gear, or is it someone who's more into nesting?" Likewise, if your friend lives to golf or is a NASCAR nut, run with that idea. And if all else fails, Lerner has a surefire fallback: "We've been doing tons and tons of candle baskets," she says. "Even guys love getting them, so it's really foolproof."

One of the best parts about gift baskets is that you don't have to leave the house to assemble them. You could have the pros at Star Treatment create them (startreatment.com), but doing it yourself is easy and fun. We put these three baskets together in the middle of the night all cozied up in our PJs. Now that's really beating the chill.

Ever a kid at heart, freelance writer Jordana Brown would like to let her nearest and dearest know that she wouldn't say no to any of the items in the Kids' Corner basket.