Has someone been sweet to you? Return the favor by giving them a cookie gift basket. Cookies are a universal favorite, beloved by all ages. The variety of cookies available is endless and you'll have a lot of fun arranging and decorating this tasty treat. You don't have to be close to someone to give them a cookie gift basket, so it makes a great present to show your gratitude to your children's teachers, your hair stylist, the mailman, or the newspaper carrier.

But it's easy to personalize a cookie basket for a friend or relative by getting just the right cookies and wrapping them up with a personal touch. Both approaches are certain to bring a smile to the recipient's face. You want the cookies to be as fresh as possible. If you're handy in the kitchen, you can bake them yourself. Otherwise, visit a local bakery or gourmet cookie shop.

Of course, there's a huge selection of flavors and varieties to choose from to fill your cookie gift basket, and this will be the hard part. If you're giving it to a casual acquaintance, your best bet is to choose an assortment. For the cookie lover who you know well, it will be easier to pick out their favorites. Select a striking basket or cookie tin and assemble your treats in a pleasing pattern. Wrap your gift basket in some decorative cellophane or a gift basket bag, and tie it up with a huge bow.

Then add a small card with a special note of appreciation. These personal touches will make your gift more meaningful. When packaging your cookie basket, you should consider having a theme. A birthday basket calls for vibrant colors and maybe some birthday candles scattered among the cookies. For Christmas, you'll want to use reds and greens, with velvet or satin bows.

If you're giving a basket of Halloween pumpkins or Valentine's hearts, your wrapping should reflect the season. Similarly, you can choose a certain flavor of cookie depending on the occasion. Christmas brings to mind spices like cinnamon and ginger.

For Thanksgiving and Halloween, pumpkin is the way to go. If your recipient has special dietary needs and can't eat products with gluten or wheat, or possibly sugar, you'll need to find an alternative. There are places you can purchase specially formulated cookies for these restrictions. It might be easiest to get a recipe for a cookie treat that will be perfectly acceptable to the recipient, and bake some up. You can also use certain types of sugar substitute in baking.

You can have a lot of fun making up a cookie gift basket, with all the cookie varieties and decorating options. And the recipient is sure to have a lot of fun eating it up.

Do you want to make your own gift baskets? Kim Allarie publishes Kim's Basket Blog, a great source of gift basket ideas for all those meaningful events throughout the year.