Leslie’s 2009 Gift Guide!
Home-made
- There are plenty of in-a-jar gifts that you can find online. For this type of thing, I’ve done something different. Last year, I made my own hot cocoa mix based off of an Alton Brown recipe. However, instead of layering it in a jar, I made individual servings. I made the mix in bulk, then spooned out 1 serving size onto some saran wrap, wrapped up the mix and tied a ribbon around it. I then gave several of these little cocoa bags to my friends. This makes it easy for someone to bring the mix to work and to easily prepare without worrying about measuring. It worked out great and the entire process took me under a week to do. Also, not having to buy jars or other packaging really kept the costs down.
- Similar to the jar gifts, you can prepare your own spice mixes and put them into a shaker container to give as gifts. This way you can even personalize the mix to the person. If you know someone prefers spicy and someone doesn’t, you can just adjust the recipe or add a little more spice to one. This is also a pretty unique gift that the person will use over time. Although, I don’t recommend it to someone who doesn’t like to cook.
- Bath salts are very easy to make just by mixing epsom salt, an essential oil and some food coloring. Simply fill a jar or small bag with the salts and you have an instant gift.
