The Best Christmas Gift Baskets Are Actually Boxes | domino

By Kenya Foy, Liz Buxton, Samantha Weiss-Hills

Updated on Oct 30, 2024 10:18 AM EDT

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For those who haven’t plugged “best Christmas gift baskets” into their browser’s search bar lately, allow us to give you a rundown on the pickings: They’re slim. Save for cured meat, pasteurized cheese, and milk-chocolate-pretzel–heavy assortments, finding present-worthy bundles outside of the edible realm is no easy feat. So here’s the gist: The best gift baskets are actually boxes. As in no, they don’t come in a wicker vessel or arrive doused in cellophane but rather dressed up in a proper package or easy to wrap yourself. Among our top picks, you’ll find surprising gifts like martini-making ingredients, full-blown gardening kits, luxury skin-care regimens, and Mexican artisan sets.

Read on to shop our selection.

Send the sweets lover in your life a three-in-one gift with Rancho Meladuco’s Winter Gift Bundle. In addition to hand-packed jumbo dates, they’ll get a box of Compartes white hot chocolate mix and PB Love cinnamon almond nut butter. It’s all packed in a cute giftable box, already wrapped in satin ribbon.

Who doesn’t love a popcorn tin? This version, from Iowa-grown darling Cheerie Lane, lets you mix and match flavors (classics like butter and lightly salted, cool kids like breadstick and dill pickle) you know they’ll love in a tin they’ll definitely keep.

Ceramist Jono Pandolfi supplies dishware to all kinds of restaurants, and it’s just as beautiful on at-home tables. The 2024 holiday capsule collection includes this limited-run Aperitivo Set, which will delight the host you know.

In the year of the martini, Filthy’s smartly curated kit will offer your giftee everything they need to shake up their own batch at home: three pouches of olive brine, 12 olives stuffed with Wisconsin blue cheese, 12 olives stuffed with pimento pepper, and four stainless steel cocktail picks.

For the organizer in your life: Papier’s Plan and Pause set includes a Pause bookmark, an adorable stamp set, several colorful fine liners, and sweet sticky notes to keep everything neat and noted.

Like great olive oil, there will always be a space in any giftee’s pantry for really good granola. This gift assortment from Sweet Deliverance features three inspired blends made with nutrient-dense seeds, spices, and nuts, along with two bonus surprises from Diaspora Co. (a tin of chai tea) and Smoking Tiger (incense discs). The flavor highlights include Strawberry & Salty Peanut, Sour Cherry & Pistachio Rose, and Turmeric & Super Seed.

Inclusive of a traditional, handcrafted copal incense burner; a set of two mezcal cups; and a striking, 100% beeswax floral candle, this Oaxacan gift box from Obakki is as special as they come.

Since a tray of martinis isn’t the most secure gift idea, we’re opting for a more thoughtfully packaged box of premixed bottles that serve four. This set from the minds behind some of our favorite NYC haunts includes one signature martini, one espresso martini, two Nick and Nora glasses, and a stirrer.

A Doña Rosa tortilla press accompanies two bags of heirloom masa harina, a cotton tortilla-warmer pouch, Made In x Masienda’s carbon-steel comal, and the MASA cookbook in this highly rated tortilla starter kit. Reviewers say “the leverage of the press takes all the work out of making the tortillas” and it’s “the best tortilla press I’ve ever used.” The masa harina gets equally high praise; it’s been dubbed “delicious” and “top-notch.”

Crown Affair packaged up its best-selling leave-in conditioner, dry shampoo, and silk scrunchie into the ideal gift for your on-the-go friend or family member.

If you need a host gift or something crowd-pleasing, Mason Balzac’s candle and soap bathroom set in the Le Soleil scent is no-fail. The polka dot packaging is cute as a button, and the bonus soap dish ties everything together.

Filled with an assortment of shower steamers with scents from palo santo to blood orange, Esker’s set is wrapped in a botanical printed box. There’s a pretty Carrara marble holder included as well.

This is the real deal trio: We love Monastery, the San Francisco–based skin-care company, and the highly rated Superglow Moisture Kit is for anyone, regardless of skin type, who needs a little extra juice. The cleansing oil and facial balm smell divine, and the retionol is gentle enough for even sensitive skin.

Not all Christmas gift baskets and boxes need to be edible. Take this quad of sumptuously scented candles from Boy Smells as proof. The smoky holiday-inspired votives are prime present material, featuring scents infused with festive notes of cinnamon leaf, cardamom, incense, cyprus, rose water, and smoked resin, to name a few.

For your favorite gardener: a best-selling gift box filled with everything they’ll need to cultivate a herb or microgreen garden—plus a few extra bells and whistles. Bonus treats include Bella Cucina’s artichoke lemon pesto sauce (one of Oprah Winfrey’s favorites), butterfly-shaped Sugarfina gummies, organic hand soap, and a tomato-scented candle with a box that your giftee can plant and grow into a tomato plant.

For anyone who isn’t already sold on the magically delectable combo of champagne and chocolate, Bite Society’s luxe gift box is here to welcome you into the fold. Choose from R. Dumont Brut, Thierry Triolet Rosé Brut, or the alcohol-free Pierre Zéro to complement two fine chocolate bars.

This colorful collection of Compartés luxury chocolates will dazzle the most selective sweet tooth in your inner circle. The enviable lineup features a 20-piece gift box of chocolate truffles, two chocolate bars, and a smaller box stuffed with chocolate-covered confections.

Now here’s a gift box fit for a host. The contents include a jar of bio-intensive native wildflower honey, smoked chipotle salsa macha, and a bottle of heritage extra virgin olive oil.

This set of 12 Technicolor chopsticks from the MoMA Design Store and two transparent Mosser glass dishes will have the chef in your life hosting omakases at home.

Las Jaras is the cool-kid wine brainchild from Eric Wareheim and Joel Burt (they just debuted a collaboration fridge with Rocco)—and its wine subscription makes for an excellent gift. Choose from 4, 6, or 12 bottles, and the mix includes club exclusives and preordering on new releases.

Sneak a set of full-size products from Olaplex under the tree. This one includes the No. 6 Bond Smoother and No. 7 Bonding Oil that are all about no frizz, only shine.

Already packed in a striking bag designed by Brooklyn-based Public/Official, this set includes a 500ml bottle of Crème de Corps lotion and a whopping liter refill bag. They’ll be set all year.

This collection of culinary staples from Brightland will give them a taste of better vinaigrettes and crispy sears. Among the offerings are Arise, a cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil infused with basil; Lucid, a lemon-infused version of the former; Rosette, a garlic-infused rendition; and Ardor, a spicy blend featuring red chili peppers, jalapeño peppers, chipotle peppers, and paprika. Each of the petite bottles is adorned with limited-edition artist-designed labels.

We want to meet the coffee enthusiast who resists the urge to keep this Chamberlain Coffee bundle to themselves. This giftable limited-edition flavor—animal cracker!—comes with a very cute circus-themed tin for storing their beans. If you want to add a bag of latte mix, go for this set.

This a unique gift-box assortment for anyone who enjoys cooking, Vietnamese food, or punchy packaging. Omsom—the word translates to “noisy”—is a family-founded brand bringing authentic Asian cuisine to the home kitchen with its collection of gluten-free and vegan sauces. The Try ‘Em All Set includes 15 starter sauce packets spanning Thai, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, and Vietnamese flavors. All your giftee needs to do upon receiving is tear one open and add it to their protein, veggie, or grain of choice.

This trio of body wash, body oil, and body serum is the skin-care routine they’ll definitely stick to. With more than 2,000 positive reviews, the set is appropriate for all skin types and will be an inevitable hit.

The single Christmas gift basket on our list is a snacker’s delight from the one, the only Nuts.com. The robust assortment includes a variety of best-selling nut blends, candies, chocolates, popcorn, and crisps, all nestled in a true basket.