Monday, November 14, 2011

My Favorite Handmade Holiday Tradition




This post is part of the EtsyGreetings Team Holiday Blog Hop. 





My absolute favorite part of the holidays is giving. I really love is thinking up small, but thoughtful gifts to share with the neighbors. Since I'm on a budget, they are almost always handmade with all the creativity I can squeeze in during the busy season!

I've shared a few of my gifts here... they're all simple, relatively inexpensive and you can make enough to blanket your whole neighborhood with a generous blanket of goodwill!

Christmas Riddler



Remember these? We called them fortune tellers when we were kids, I've also heard them referred to as cootie catchers. I dusted off this old playground favorite and designed a fun holiday-themed gift for the neighborhood kids, chock full of the cheesiest riddles I could find.

The free download and all the directions are here on my blog post last year. The kids all loved them!


Spicy Glazed Pecans


These spicy glazed pecans were a HUGE hit! People couldn't get enough of them (they're really addictive!) -- I ended up making many, many pounds of them and sharing with neighbors, coworkers, friends. They're also a terrific addition to holiday parties.

My blog post includes the recipe and a free download for the cute label for your holiday gift-giving convenience!



Hot Chocolate Mix with Homemade Marshmallows




Homemade marshmallows are easier than you would think. Pair them with hot chocolate mix and you've got a thoughtful holiday gift for the neighbors. The kids helped make everything and then we packaged them together along with a candy cane for stirring. Everything looked adorable all packaged up and ready for distributing.

My blog post includes links to the recipes and photos of my happy elves working away!


Personalized Tacks

Just one more:



These tacks, personalized with my coworker's images, made for some inexpensive workplace gifts. Packaged in repurposed Altoids tins, they were curiously cute.



Did you enjoy this story of my favorite homemade holiday tradition? If so, please continue with our Blog Hop to read about more wonderful holiday traditions! You'll learn about Kate, from Birdcage Cards, and how she LOVES the tradition of wrapping gifts! It's a great post, so read on! It's really inspiring what she does with the humblest of materials....


15 comments:

katy said...

Love the riddle idea! I've been mulling an idea of my own about making those little things. They're so fun!

Cheers from FarFlungCards

Susan ~ Killam Creative said...

Oh my gosh Molly, I can spend hours on your fabulous blog with all the fun tutorials. Wow!

Cheers,
Susan

Linda said...

So many great holiday idea, thanks for sharing them and the tutorials too. :)

farawaydesigns said...

Such a trip down memory lane, Molly!

Terri said...

Thanks for sharing all these great ideas. My dd loves cootie catchers. She will love this one!

Maria J Black said...

A bunch of wonderful ideas! Thank you for sharing, can't wait to try some.

artbycarolann said...

Thank you for all your gift ideas. Such cute ideas!

Adorebynat said...

Molly, you're full of great ideas. Love every single one of them, especially the colleague tacks, what a fun idea!

Handmade in Israel said...

Love the Riddler! My kids have such fun with them, though their 'riddles' are usually very rude, lol!

AnastasiaC said...

awesome links - thanks Molly!!!

Fiona Designs said...

Awesome! Those personalized tacks are so great!

Birdcage Cards said...

Oh my goodness, I totally forgot all about those fortune tellers! Too awesome. I'll definitely have to give those a try this year with my neice and nephew.

And hot chocolate kits - looove that idea. I mean who doesn't love hot chocolate and marshmallows?!

-Kate ♥

Stelie Designs said...

i am in love with the spicy peacan's & homeade hot chocolate gift ideas! i think i'll have my husband make them for me to package. such a brilliant idea!

ij said...

Oh fun, I love the ideas.

southernscraps said...

I love handmade gifts and giving them too. Thanks for all the great ideas and tutorials!