It seems a bit early to be asking this but depending on what I decide to do it may not be! What are you doing for your homemade gifts for friends and family?
It isn't early at all. We are going to make pillow cases and I am going to tat the lace for the edges. We always make candles. I bought some really pretty festive tins on sale last year after Christmas and I am going fill them up with wax for candles. We also make ornaments and cards. Last year money was tight so we bought unfinished wooden jewelry boxes at Michael's and burned designs on them. On some we burned the persons name onto the top. They came out really nice.
I've made Crayon Rolls for my children, and a few friends children. I'm making PJ pants for my children, pillow case dresses for a few friends children. Find it Pillows for all little ones (mine and two others). and I'll do drink mixes and cookie/brownie/cake mixes in a jar for adults, we'll also probably make some bath salts, and maybe some soap.
We're making earrings for my daughters' friends. Not sure what our biggie family gift to everyone is going to be. There's several recipes that we're toying with.
I'll be keeping an eye on this thread. My side of the family is looking for a way to change up our Christmas celebration, including how we handle presents. I'd love to have homemade gifts, but not everyone is crafty. Can't wait to see what you creatively talented people are doing!
I just began my adventure into canning yesterday by making 36 pints of pickles (I bought 30 lbs of pickling cucumbers from Bountiful Baskets not realizing HOW MUCH it would be). Apple butter is up next and them maybe pumpkin butter. Adult family and friends already know they are getting my jarred items for Christmas and are excited. Now, I just hope everything tastes good. So far, everything looks good.
i'm not 'crafty' at all ~ pretty much the only thing i could give someone for christmas that was homemade would be a batch of christmas cookies...and even there, i'd be hesitant..because my baking skills aren't exactly that great. :lol:
There are lots of easy things you can make even if you aren't an experienced baker. Everyone loves the Ritz crackers with peanut butter dipped in melted white chocolate. I never have any left when I take them to church. Buy rolls of chocolate chip cookie dough and a muffin tin that makes mini muffins. Spray the pan with Pam and fill each hole about half full of cookie dough. Bake at the temp. listed on the package until they look done which is a nice medium brown and as soon as you take them out of the oven push a Mini sized Reeces cup into the cookie. Push it down so it is pretty even with the top of the cookie. Let them cool a few minutes then use a knife to go around the edges and lift them out onto a wire rack to cool. These are easy and very good.
A crayon roll is a cloth roll up that has an individual pocket for each crayon then they roll up and tie closed with ribbon. They are super simple to make and for us it's perfect because boxes are always getting ruined. The crayons stay nice longer too because they aren't just tossed in a pencil box.
My kids have asked to learn to make candles so that may be something we will try. It's always easier to make for women than for men! I'm at a loss for what to do for the guys. I'll be watching this thread for some ideas! I love the crayon roll idea. Is it canvas or what?
ritz crackers with pb ~ that i've eaten a lot.... i'm trying to imagine them with white chocolate and can't...maybe i'll have to try it out myself.
Can you share your pumpkin butter recipe? I've also made peach butter. I'm kind of skipping over Christmas, lol! My dss is expecting his first in April, so the other day I spent the evening cutting material for a baby quilt. That's going to take precident, lol!
I will probably do hot drink mixes and jar something, though havent decided what yet. Last year I made toffee but since we are cutting out corn syrup that is out the door for this year. I am just at a loss this year for anything creative.
I always make a HUGE batch of hot chocolate mix then jar it with pretty Christmas material under the ring. Those are my "emergency" gifts and my teacher gifts. Other than that, between lack of sleep (due to a baby who wakes way too frequently) and grad school, I'm skipping homemade gifts this year. My sanity can't handle it. lol
I don't actually have a recipe, yet. I figured I would look one up online. I just heard someone mention it and I have 2 pie pumpkins waiting for use in something. Peach butter is a new one to me.
Ah!!! I'll look at www.pickyourown.org They have all kinds of stuff; I think that's where I found my peach butter recipe!
I make calendars with pictures of the kids every year for the relatives. I can usually find cute calendars that you add pictures to at Michael's, Big Lots, or The 99 cent store (when I lived in CA). This year I spent $1.00 on each and will be ordering the pictures with the 50% off coupon code on Walgreens.com. Everyone else will be getting tins of homemade goodies this year. We found cute tins last year at the after Christmas sales.
I have recipe for toffee that doesn't use corn syrup. http://www.cookingforengineers.com/recipe/159/English-Toffee it is yummy.
