Homemade Christmas Ideas

[SleepyHead]

Buy a package of plastic spoons, perferably in festive
colors. Dip them in chocolate (melted chocolate chips work
well) and shake off the excess. Place them on wax paper
and sprinkle with crushed peppermint candy. After they dry,
wrap them in cellophane and tie with a ribbon. Put a few
spoons in a coffee mug along with some individual hot cocoa
or coffee packets and you have a great gift for those chilly
nights!

[SleepyHead]

Homemade Hot Cocoa Mix

Whether you are looking for an inexpensive gift to give everyone this year, or just have a few extra people on your list, this is a great gift idea!

</font><ul type="square"> <font size="2" face="Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif">10 1/2 cups nonfat dry milk powder</font> <font size="2" face="Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif">6 ounces non-dairy creamer</font> <font size="2" face="Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif">1-pound Nestlé's Quick Chocolate Milk Mix</font> <font size="2" face="Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif">1/3 cup Sugar</font>[/list]<font size="2" face="Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif">In a large mixing bowl combine all the ingredients listed above and blend well. Pour cocoa mix into glass canning jars and top with a pretty square piece of fabric. For each jar, cut a 24-inch piece of red satin ribbon. Secure the fabric onto the top of the lid by tying the ribbon into a bow around the rim of the jar.
For the label include these instructions:

Combine ¼ cup Home Made Cocoa Mix and ¾ cup boiling water into cup, stir to blend, and enjoy!

This makes such a great gift, be sure to keep some for your family too!

[SleepyHead]

Cookie Mix in a Jar

You need a pretty jar first - a decorative canning jar, or a plain one with some of your own decorations glued or painted on. Don't cover the jar up completely - you'll want your layered mix to add to the picture images/icons/smile.gif

Get some swatches of pretty cloth - you're going to want to cut out squares large enough to cover the bottom edges of the lid.

Get some ribbon - about 24 inches long for each jar you plan on making up.

Now, decide on what kind of cookie mix you want to give. Gather all of your dry ingredients together, and carefully layer them in your jar. (For instance, if you're giving chocolate chip cookie mixes, put the flour in the bottom, perhaps the chocolate chips next, then maybe the granulated or white sugar, with the brown sugar on top of that, sprinkled with the salt.)

Put the lid on top, cover it with your cloth swatch, secure the cloth with your ribbon, and be sure to include the directions for making the cookies. Don't forget to tell the recipient what else to add to his or cookies, like butter or vanilla flavouring or eggs.

[SleepyHead]

Stained-Glass Christmas Ornaments

1. First, cut some cardboard or stiff paper (like manila folders) into ornament shapes - stars, bells, holly leaves, Christmas trees, candy canes, etc. Make 'em any size you want, but I prefer around 5 inches in diameter - small enough to hang on a tree but large enough to give you some creative room.

2. To make the "sections" of your stained glass ornament, take some glue and draw intersecting lines on your "ornament". You want a nice, thick line, so don't use glue sticks. Hot gun glue or school glue works the best. Let it sit overnight to harden your lines, then do the other side. Again, let it sit overnight to harden.

3. Once the glue has set, cover both sides of your ornament with aluminum foil, shiny side up. Carefully around those lines, now - you want your sections to show up nice and pretty. For a mottled look, ball up your foil and carefully straighten it back out (not too straight - just loosen up those tight folds) before putting it on your ornament.

4. Using different coloured markers, color each section. You can paint the sections or glue in some cutouts from old Christmas cards, but using marker on that shiny foil gives it that "stained-glass" look.

5. Punch a small hole in the top of your ornament, and put in a 12 inch strand of colored yarn or ribbon. Tie it off at the top of the ornament, and then tie the ends together for a hanging loop. Ta da!

[SleepyHead]

Personalized Coffee Mugs

This a nifty idea, but you need to be sure you use washable stuff - you know, things that aren't going to disappear once the recipient washes his cup.

You can get plain coffee mugs fairly cheap at around a buck or two apiece - sometimes, you can even find 'em in sets of two or four for a better price.

You'll need some acrylic paints and/or colored craft glue. Your gift won't be microwave/dishwasher safe, but it'll be a pleaser!

Use the paints or glue to personalize your gift mug.

Get some open-end baggies or some colored plastic wrap cut in 18 inch squares, and put one in each mug, with the open ends of the bag or plastic wrap sticking out of the top.

Put in some hard candies or individually wrapped candies (like tootsie rolls or caramels); you can even put in some hot cocoa packets, or a few homemade cookies, perhaps a sample-sized pack of gourmet coffee like you get in the mail.

Make a small gift tag from a scrap of stiff paper, put a hole in the edge or corner, and thread a 8 inch piece of yarn or ribbon through it.

Now, gather your baggie ends or plastic wrap edges together, and tie your tagged ribbon around it. Too pretty to wrap!

[SleepyHead]

Personalized Trinket Holders

This neat idea has been around since dinosaurs roamed America, but it's worth repeating.

Hunt around for some old mayo jars or jelly jars or even peanut butter jars. Save up some empty vegetable or soup cans, or even coffee cans with their lids.

Wash 'em all up and let 'em dry thoroughly.

Ask someone who sews if they have some odd buttons or ribbon or rickrack you can have - you may be able to purchase some in a sewing shop, but a craft store will most likely offer not only decorative ribbons and rickrack, but will probably also have a mixed button barrell where you can get handsful of the most delightful buttons out there for fairly cheap.

Get some craft glue, perhaps some colored glue, glitter, or other decorative gewgaws together.

When your jars and cans (or plain coffee cups if you don't think your recipient will try to use 'em to drink out of) are dry, commence to decorating them any ole way you want to. Personalize 'em if you know who you want to give them to.

Otherwise, just decorate a bunch of 'em and let 'em set, wrap 'em up, and you've got pressies on the fly!