Christmas Treats for the Giving

 Oh my goodness, the last two weeks are a blur!  I have been so busy, first with Thanksgiving and now with Christmas preparations   But I do have to say, I am feeling quite prepared for Christmas.  I'm a planner, so feeling ahead of the game is a glorious thing for me.  I have gotten almost all my presents, only two little ones to go.  The house is decorated.  Our Christmas cards arrived yesterday, all I've got to do is stuff them.  Now I have a couple weeks to do one of my favorite things- making homemade treats for friends and family.

I love making homemade gifts for people.  And I always make sure my treats taste good so that folks enjoy getting them.  Cookie boxes make a great gift.  I got some food boxes from the craft store, lined them with wax paper, and divided cookies up using festive cupcake liners.  I topped it off with a holiday cookie cutter, I got a bag of them for a dollar- very affordable.

Here's the box closed up.  Just stuck a little bow on top and stamped it with a stamp I picked up for a dollar.  This stamp has come in so handy over the years, a dollar well spent.

Some of my friends are not married and/or don't have a passel of children like I do.  For them I found these cute wedding favor boxes on clearance.  I filled them up with an individual portion of cookies.

The box looked so cute with a a bow on top.  With a little holiday accent wedding stuff works great at Christmas.

Here's another, super affordable, way to package Christmas cookies.  Using old food containers.  This one was a can of cornstarch at one time.  I just pulled off the label and taped a strip of wrapping paper around it.  A bonus to this is the airtight lid that keeps the cookies very fresh.

If you don't have time to make dozens of cookies yourself why not just send the ingredients.  Cookies in a jar are a great gift because sometimes when folks get too many Christmas cookies they don't get eaten or savored.  This way they can have the cookies whenever they want them.  Plus, they get a jar as part of the gift.  [Click here to get directions on how to make cookies in a jar]

Last year I was not ahead of my game and didn't have time to make all my loved ones cookies.  So I did some homemade hot chocolate gift packs.  They were so much fun to make and easy to do with my kids.  Also, super affordable.  I made hot chocolate packs for families.

And also packs for individuals.  I picked up the cute soup style mug and spoon at the dollar store.  We did this one for my girls' teacher.  I wrapped it in cellophane tied with a cute bow and tag.  [click here for directions and recipe for hot chocolate gift packs]

Here are recipes for all the Christmas cookies I've posted... keep in touch I'll be posting more over the next couple weeks.

Peanut Butter Chocolate
Thumbprint Cookies

Cream Cheese Cookies

Chocolate Mint Cookies

Velvet Cookies

Red Velvet Cookies

Roll Out Cookies

And here are some fun Christmas tags to label all your homemade goodies with.

Homemade Christmas Gifts: Hot Cocoa

This is the first year I've done this one.  It was so fun to organize the boxes with a little hot chocolate theme.  Plus the homemade hot cocoa mix is awesome.  You can make this gift for a family...

...or for just one person.  It's also very affordable & super cute.  I added a few candy canes to put in the hot chocolate for that peppermint flavor.

I also made flavored stirring spoons.  I decided to make my spoons mint, because I love mint chocolate & because I liked the green color.  First I wrote on the spoons what their purpose was, in case there was any confusion.

 I used these mint chips for the flavor.  I melted them using the double boiler method & then used a spatula to put chocolate in the plastic spoon.  Then I set them aside to cool.  Once cooled I wrapped them in plastic & that was it.  The last thing I added to my hot cocoa kit was a little bag of marshmallows.  Super simple, super cute, super yummy, & super affordable.  Yep, I like it.  Here's how to make the hot cocoa.
Ingredients
2 cups nonfat dry milk powder
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
1/2 cup powdered nondairy creamer
1/8 teaspoon salt
Directions
Put all the ingredients into a large mixing bowl & whisk until evenly blended.  Pour into bags or jars & decorate with ribbon & a tag with instructions.  Makes about 4 cups of mix.

And here are some tags you can use to label your awesome homemade gift, or you can make your own tags.

Homemade Christmas Gifts: Cookies Boxes

One of the best gifts at Christmas is Christmas cookies.  Tow rules to make cookies an appropriate gift.  The cookies need to taste good.  Never sacrifice taste for looks I say!  And you need to make the packaging look cute.  Here are some cheap ideas to accomplish the latter.

Buy these cute food boxes from any craft store.  You can buy whatever size fits the amount of cookies you are giving.  Line the box with wax paper & leave extra on the ends to fold over the top of your cookies.  Organize cookies in cupcake liners to help hold them into groupings.  I got a bag of Christmas cookie cutters at the dollar store & put one cookie cutter in each box as a special treat.

Add a little bow & tag to the top, I used a stamp here & it makes live that much easier.  That's it!  Super cheap, yet very cute & scrumptious looking.

For this cookie container I used an old cornstarch can.  I took the label off & then taped a piece of pretty wrapping paper around the center.  This is a good couple or single person size cookie gift.

I used the original lid for the can & just stuck a bow on top.  Easy peasey.

This cookie box is a single serving size.  Once again I got the box at a craft store on clearance.  It's suppose to be for wedding favors, but it works perfectly for this... & it's so pretty.

Close it up & stick a bow on top & they'll never know what hit em'.

Good luck with your Christmas cookie packaging.  If you have more ideas & methods please share them with us.

Homemade Christmas Gifts: Cookies in a Jar

This year for Christmas I had to get creative & do gifts on a major budget.  So I started searching for fun homemade gifts to give our family & friends.  I'll share a few of them with you over the next few days.  But let's start with this one- homemade cookies in a jar.  These always look so pretty & are super easy & cheap to pull together.  Bonus: the cookies that this jar makes taste awesome.  Bonus, bonus: the recipient gets a free jar.  Many of us have extra mason jars, but if not look at a thrift store or garage sales for them.  Jars are easy to come by.  Use left over ribbon & this makes for an very affordable gift.  All I had to buy were a few ingredients.  Here's how to make this fabulous present...
Ingredients
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup red & green M&M's (change the color to make this for other special occasions or birthdays)
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup Cocoa Krispies (regular kind work too, I just like the contrast of the chocolate ones)
1/2 cup white chocolate chips

Directions
In a one quart widemouthed mason jar add the ingredients in the order listed.  Pack them down after each addition using your knuckles or a spatula.  Screw on the lid & tie a pretty ribbon around it with a tag.  On the tag include the following instructions: "Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cream 1/2 cup butter, one teaspoon vanilla, and one egg together in bowl until fluffy.  Add contents of the jar & stir until well blended.  Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake for 8-10 minutes."

You can make your own tags, or here are some I made that you can use.  These tags are intended to fold in half (which is why some of the pictures are upside down).  You can use the inside to write a little Christmas wish & your name.  I suggest printing them on card or cover stock.


*The first time I posted this the tags had a mistake.  My chief editor caught it ;)  It said to mix the dough in a "lard bowl".  Please don't mix anything in bowls made of lard, I don't want any heart disease on my watch.  I've corrected the tags so you can go ahead & print the updated version that says "large bowl".  Thank you for your cooperation, 10-4.