DIY Ice Cream Sundae Kit Gift Basket + Free Tags

Make a fun DIY Ice Cream Sundae Kit gift basket for Christmas with painted bowls and spoons, homemade toppings (or not) and holiday-themed printable tags.

Find more easy gifts on the handmade gifts page!

Some links in this article are affiliate links and if you click on them and purchase I will receive a small commission at no cost to you.

I’ve been waiting anxiously to share this DIY ice cream sundae kit gift basket idea with you!

These baskets were our Christmas gifts last year – they were fun to make and everybody loved them.

This kit makes a perfect “family gift” – one gift you can give an entire family that most will enjoy, because, hello – ice cream!

You may recognize the colorful painted bowls and matching dipped spoons from this tutorial I had already published since they are a fun gift all on their own or as a part of another type of basket.

But once my daughter created the fabulous, holiday-themed tags to go along with the kits we gave, I knew I’d want to share them with you for the holidays and offer the tags as a free printable.

So, if you don’t have a gift idea yet from the 31 days of handmade gifts series, this may be ‘the one.‘ 

DIY Ice Cream Sundae Kit Gift Basket

Step 1: Find and Paint Bowls & Spoons

The first thing you need to do is source and make your bowls and spoons. You can, of course, just buy colorful bowls (like this cute set) and plain spoons – it’s still a great gift idea and you can just customize the basket as much as your time and budget allow.

I found small white bowls (between 4.25 and 4.5 inches across) at stores like Walmart, Fred Meyers, Pier One, and Target for between $1 and $1.50 each. If you aren’t able to shop around, here are some small white bowl options on Amazon.

Long ice tea spoons were harder to find – most of them came from Big Lots (here’s a set of 8 on Amazon that would work, too).

Step 2: Make (or Buy) Toppings & Package

You can use the easy, printable recipes below to make three ice cream toppings: Chocolate Sauce, Mocha Chips, and Peanut Butter Chips.

These are a little better for you and were actually fun to make and unique to give, but if you don’t want to, it’s totally okay to buy toppings (though I’d always make at least the chocolate sauce unless you can find a quality sauce that’s not full of junk).

The recipe for the chocolate sauce provided is actually a hot fudge sauce, but you can also use our classic Homemade Chocolate Syrup if you didn’t want to use milk, so I decided to go with a more generic label that would work for both.

Using the syrup recipe instead of the fudge sauce is also what you’d want to do if the basket couldn’t be refrigerated when gifting.

And the homemade chips? It’s a matter of mixing and letting dry, so they don’t take a lot of time, but of course you can buy different types of toppings. That’s why the labels only say ‘toppings’ – we simply wrote on the backs the varieties to let the recipients know what the jars contained.

Use easy-to-find mason jars for packaging your toppings: 8 oz. size jars for the chocolate sauce and 4 oz. jars for the chips.

Step 3: Gather Baskets, Containers & Wrapping Supplies

Visit thrift stores for baskets or other containers that would look nice holding the contents of the kit. I also used gift bags, which were easier to cover and carry – just make sure they are sturdy (the kind with cardboard bottoms).

For filler (that you’ll need for both baskets and bags, since it helps cushion the jars), shred newsprint or scrap paper you have or use Dollar Store basket filler. Pick up some ribbon at the Dollar Store, too, if you need.

Step 4: Print the Free Tags & Put Kit Together

Print the tags by clicking the image below, then right-clicking and saving to your desktop and then tie them to the jars with simple jute twine:

More food gifts

• Rosemary Focaccia in a Jar
• Red Beans and Rice in a Jar
• Gluten Free Buckwheat Oat Pancake Mix
• Easy Homemade Peppermint Mochas (+ Gift Basket Idea & Lower Sugar Option)

This article is part of the 8 Weeks of Christmas Ideas series where you’ll find resources for cooking, gift ideas, time savers, recipes, traditions & more all November and December through the 24th.

Disclosure: affiliate links in this article will earn commission based on sales, but it doesn’t change your price. Click here to read my full disclaimer and advertising disclosure.