Easy homemade gift idea

Remember way back in October when I said I was making most of my Christmas gifts this year and you all laughed. Well, with all of my  Christmas shopping complete I am happy to report that I did make at least half of my gifts, if not more.  If my kids would have been happy with a bleached shirt instead of insisting on a Nintendo DS and Buzz Lightyear I could have made more, darn kids for ruining it.   The gifts that I was unable to make were all on sale and I used a coupon for most of them. So  I am happy to report that I came in over $100 under my Christmas budget which was pretty modest to begin with, like below $500 for everyone on our list. 2 kids, 2 parents, 4 grandparents/parents/ step-parents, siblings, aunts, nephews, cousins, friends, teachers....you get the picture. 

Over the next dew days I'll share some of my gifts with you.  Since some of the recipients read the blog I won't be mentioning who they are for most of the time. First up, a simple and small gift.  A nice gift for a mail carrier or someone you want to show your appreciation.  Since my kids go to a school that has a lot of extra teachers that help in addition to their classroom teachers I may be handing out some of these to those teachers:

How cute is that vintage milk jug??? Cute and useful, two of my favorite things and everything my kids are not! Just kidding, they are useful sometimes and always cute : ) These cuties serve as a conversion chart when you are cooking, so you can figure out that 6 Teaspoons = 2 TBSP when you can't find your measuring spoon because your 4 year old has it hid under her bed until she can use it in the sandbox. Did, I come up with these?? Heck no, I am not that thoughtful or that good at math but thanks for thinking I'm capable.  The queen of cooking Martha Stewart created these puppies.  I bet she lays awake at night thinking up really useful stuff, I just try to think about where the latest lost item could be in our house.  After you download these cuties, cut 'em out, laminate them and attach a magnet to the back, or head to kinkos and they'll do it for you. If you live in the sticks like me and there is a foot of snow on the ground you'll have plenty o' time to do it yourself.  You could give these with cookies, or some other baked good.  If you aren't a baker, like me, I have another idea too:

Hot Cocoa Cones!  These are soooo easy to make and paired with a coffee mug or the milk jug would make a great gift.  You can buy the cone shaped cello bags at any craft store, I got mine at Hobby Lobby, 25 for $1.99.  You will use 2 per cone so prepare for that!  My girls and I double bagged them, added cocoa powder, chocolate chips, crushed candy canes and marshmallows.  Then we tied the inner bag, wrapped a bow around the outer one and ta daaa! Cute gift!

You should be able to make both of these for less than a buck, so if you have to give several (we are handing out 15!!) you won't break the bank!


Tomorrow I'll be covering what the Grandma's are getting from the girls.  Both of them read the blog on occasion but since they pretty much demand that we give this gift (this is year 4) I think the element of surprise is out!