Christmas Treats

Throughout December I went a little crazy making sweets. It was good that I was able to share most of them and only eat a few of each by myself! Here's a few of the treats I made, along with links to some of the recipes.

1. Ginger Cookies

2. Peppermint Marshmallows

3. Chocolate Star Cookies

(Sorry, not sure where this recipe came from--I've had it forever!)

4. Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing (More help HERE)

5. Short-cut Caramels

I also made these:

English Toffee and

Hot Cocoa Mix

All of them turned out surprisingly yummy even with my lack of baking skills!

Gift Wrapping Ideas #4: Pop-top Cans

Last idea for Christmas (or anytime!) wrapping:

Pop-Top Cans! Using soup/fruit/etc. cans with pop-tops and opening up the bottoms, leaving the pop-tops intact. After washing them and filling them with treats of my own (homemade caramels and hot cocoa mix), I decorated them with scrapbook paper, tags that I designed in Photoshop and ribbon. I kept mine pretty simple. I've seen these in a few places over the years but Blue Cricket Design has a good tutorial HERE.

Gift Wrapping Ideas #3: Gift Tags

I love cute gift tags! You know, I don't feel too bad writing with a Sharpie directly on the package when it's for my 3 year old, but generally I like my gifts to look a little nicer when they're for anyone else. So this year I whipped a few up in Photoshop and printed them on watercolor paper so they had some texture. Here are the four that I came up with:

Really simple, but don't you think they look a little better than the alternatives of Sharpie-labeling or stick-on tags?

If anyone wants a copy of the file that I made so you can print these out yourself, just let me know!

Here are a few other ideas that I love:

Another super simple idea that's just my style via Pepper Design Blog. You can find the details HERE.

I LOVE these! You can actually print these cute tags out and use them yourself. Just go to Creature Comforts HERE!

Probably my favorite of the group and a little less simple are these cute fabric tags from Inchmark Journal. You can find instructions for these awesome tags HERE.

Gift Wrapping Ideas #2: Papier-mâché Boxes

I had a few boxes left over from my Advent Calendar so I used them for some small gifts.

First, I painted the boxes with the same red (Apple Barrel "Burgundy") that I used on my calendar. Then I measured the sides and the top and cut some cute Christmas scrapbook paper just smaller than my measurements and adhered it to the sides and top with Mod Podge. Gotta love that stuff!

It looked a little boring so I used a brown ink pad and inked the edges of the paper, as well as the exposed edges of the box.

I put a coat of Mod Podge over the entire thing, inside and out.

Then I found some scraps of matching ribbon and tied some gift tags that I had made onto the ribbon with a little thread. I ended up inking the tag as well because it looked a little stark next to the box. This was a super easy project (like most of mine) that made those small gifts a little more special. I want to make a bunch more, but since I have no more gifts to wrap, I guess I'll have to stop (at least for now)!

Gift Wrapping Ideas #1: Origami Boxes

I am a little bit particular about wrapping gifts. I love wrapping, but it definitely brings out the perfectionist streak. I am always looking for fun and creative ways to make my gifts a little prettier. This year I had quite a few little presents to wrap, so I decided to make origami boxes for them. I think I have made about 10 boxes so far, but here are two of my faves.

There are lots of tutorials out there on how to fold these, but you can find a good video tutorial HERE. There's another pretty good photo tutorial HERE. I learned to fold them a little differently, but they end up the same in the end. I used patterned paper for the top of the box and cardstock for the bottom to make it a little sturdier.

Super easy! (Plus it's a great way to put a dent in my stash of scrapbook paper--then I can tell my husband that I NEED more! :)

My little girl helped me pick out the paper for this smaller one for my 12 year old sister. She told me that there had to be pink and that we had to use "sparkly" ribbon.

This week I'll post a few more easy ideas for making your gifts a little more personal with creative wrapping.