His + Hers Coffee Gift Basket

So, with the height of the holiday season upon us, I have to take a second and give a shout-out to gift baskets. If you like getting presents, then you should adore gift baskets. I mean, it's just a basket stuffed full of presents. Jackpot! When thinking of gifts for my parents this year, a coffee gift basket seemed like the perfect way to honor their shared love of the daily grind. Every day (and I mean every day) since I can remember, my parents have started or ended their day with a cup of coffee together. As they sip away at the dark, rich goodness, they discuss all the latest events (i.e. the awesome or awesomely stupid things us kids have done that week) and make each other laugh until they can't breathe. They are truly best bud coffee mates for life, so I wanted to personalize their mugs to honor their special ritual. Here's an easy way to create your own for the coffee lovers in your life: Supplies: Plain mugs, letter stamps, arrow stamp, black ink stamp pad, black porcelain marker.

1. Stamp your phrase as you want it to appear on a piece of paper. Cut around your phrase and cut off the top line of text (you'll use the letters on the paper as a guide of where to stamp onto the mug). Use tape to attach the phrase to the mug, but leave room to stamp the top line. Stamp your letter onto the ink pad and stamp it once on a scrap piece of paper to remove some of the excess ink. Place your letter stamp on the appropriate spot on your mug and roll the letter onto the mug surface. Remove the paper from the mug and cut off the next line of text. Repeat the stamping process for the letters in that line and continue the process until all your letters are stamped lightly onto your mug. 2. Take your porcelain marker and follow the outline of your letters to fill in all your text. Follow the marker instructions to set the ink by either baking the mug or allowing the mug to air-dry. Hooray, you're done!Now all that's left to do is fill the basket with lots of other coffee related goodies. I got some cute hot chocolates to add a little drink diversity to the gift and I'm secretly hoping that they will let me steal one from the basket after they open it. Is that terrible of me? Oh well, they can laugh about it the next morning over coffee…xo. Laura

Credits // Author and Photography: Laura Gummerman