It not only is beginning to look a lot like Christmas; it is beginning to smell like Christmas. Hot chocolate brewing, apples and cinnamon, pumpkin spices, hot cider, all mingling with pine scents! Hmmmm...excuse me for a occasion while I pour some hot chocolate and plop in some marshmallows....
I love to get creative in the kitchen, and I love to share my creations with everyone. No extra chance required. I especially love to share my favorites, but I also like to try new recipes with friends-particularly at Christmas.
Do you enjoy baking or making goodies for the holidays? Do you make them to give as gifts to friends and family? Do you buy pre-decorated containers for them? Or do you get creative with the containers as well as the goodies?
Either way, such gifts are a joy to get ready and give and a pleasure to receive.
It is not critical to make whatever extra or fancy, just something that tastes good. Even if it's just five-minute fudge made in the microwave, it's still 'homemade' and says to the recipient, 'I made this specially for you.'
Perhaps you have a recipe that every person declares genuinely delicious. My friends love my peanut butter roll. One neighbor in single keeps request me when I'm going to make some more. Actually, he asks every time he sees me outside. Since the first gift under my tree is from him, making peanut butter roll for a Christmas gift now goes to the top of my to-do list!
Does making something in the kitchen seem like too much of a chore? Then make a party out of it with like-minded friends and generate goodies and even decorate them amid lots of laughter and sharing of memories of Christmases past.
Have kids or grandkids? Have a candy- or cookie-making party with them. Also have them generate their own gift tags and decorate the containers.
If you're not particularly good at mixing up cookie dough, just buy it already prepared. Rolls of Pillsbury sugar cookie dough are easy for the kids to get creative with. If you're in need of some guidance on working with kids in the kitchen, web sites like Kraft Foods and Nestle and grandparents.com have straightforward and easy ideas, as well as tips on safety and planning.
Container Ideas
- Plastic storehouse bags with holiday prints on them are an easy and reasonable option.
- A itsybitsy more decorative, but higher priced, are aluminum pans with cardboard lids with holiday designs on them.
- Holiday tins are available in varied sizes. (This is the best choice if you need to mail your gift. Check with your post office for tips on packing and shipping.)
- Holiday mugs or bowls range from dollar store prices to designer.
- Shaped glass jars, such as Christmas trees, can be found at Wal-Mart or online at Amazon.com or The package Store.
- Woven baskets in a variety of designs and sizes are also available in a range of prices.
- Get inspired and find your own unique containers: sand pails for the beach, fabric tote bags, clay pots, planters, tool boxes....
Decorative Touches
- Stick-on or tie-on gift tags are inexpensive, but if you want to personalize more, whether you're very artsy or not, make a small card with a straightforward hand-drawn produce or use rubber stamps or stick-on designs found in scrapbooking supplies sections of market like Wal-Mart.
- For containers like mugs and baskets, place them in the town of clear or colored plastic wrap or cellophane, then pull the ends up and tie them together with colorful string, yarn, or ribbon.
- Finish them all with a beautiful bow, ready-made or created by you.
Make a party out of it and enjoy the creative process as well as the giving.
Wasn't that a lot more fun than spending hours going from store to store and searching for the 'right' gift for each individual on your list?
Make Your Christmas Gifts and Have a Party Doing It