Skip to main content

Sweet Gifts

I ran into a problem shortly before Christmas. I made batches of fudge and Martha Washington Creams (a yummy candy) to give as gifts to the teachers I work with. Well, neither the fudge nor the creams set up right. They were yummy, but not "gift worthy". Luckily my family is eager to devour anything chocolate, even if they have to do it with a spoon. I discovered the problem the night before I wanted to give the gifts so I had to come up with an emergency plan.

I quickly made a cute, stamped cocoa mug (out of paper) and put a package of hot chocolate mix in it. It was more of a card - less of a gift. I was disappointed because I had purchased some cute baskets from The Christmas Tree Shop in New England when I was helping out with my newest grandson. My daughter was eager to get out of the house, and what's a mother to do, but go along?!

Fast forward to the second week in January. I'm staring at the cute baskets in the craft room/office. I want to give them to the girls, but what to do? I scrounged around my supplies and found some snowflake fabric and my snowflake paper punch. This is what I came up with.
I started out by making a tag. I cut white and black paper into tag shapes, the white being a little smaller than the black. I punched a snowflake into the top of the white and a small hole in the top of the black.


I stamped "just for you" on the white tag and glued it to the black tag. I added some silver string through the snowflake so I can tie it to the basket.





Silver and gold candies complete the gift. I guess you could say it is "semi-homemade".






Now, what can I do with the little snowflakes that were punched out of the white paper. Confetti anyone?









Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

I'd love to know what you're thinking. Please feel free to leave ideas and comments.

Popular posts from this blog

How To Make Your Own Exercise Bike For Next To Nothing

Remember back in April when I had a kidney transplant?  Well, the kidney is doing great (thanks, Cathy , for taking such good care of it when you owned it).  There was one little glitch, however.  During surgery, the retractors they used caused some nerve damage in my right leg.  When I woke up from surgery, I couldn't move or feel my leg.  The docs felt like the feeling would come back but the paralysis had them stumped.  A visit to a neurologist ruled out a stroke and a CT scan showed some fluid which was pressing on L4 and L5 (medical talk which means I couldn't feel or move part of my leg).  The prognosis is good and I'm recovering pretty quickly.  In fact, I've left my cane behind and I'm walking freestyle without falling.  My next goal is to be able to drive. I've been itching to get back to exercising (physical therapy doesn't count) because my medication causes me to gain weight and I need to burn some calories.  Running? - n...
45 comments
Read more

Plans For A DIY Exercise Bike Stand

  Thank you to so many of you who emailed me about plans for the DIY Exercise Bike Stand .  I apologize that it has taken me so long to get the measurements to you, but they are finally here!   The wood was purchased at Home Depot and the bike pegs were purchased at Walmart in the bike section.    The bike we used for this project is a 24" 12 speed bike (I'm a shorty).  I used the hardest gear while riding, but this set-up does not allow you to really get much resistance (for building muscle).  It was great for getting my legs moving after some nerve damage.  I also wanted to burn calories and get my heart rate up and this did the trick.    If you have any questions, just shoot me an email.
40 comments
Read more

Rock-what-you-got Muffin Recipe

Back before Christmas I was given a huge amount of persimmons.  In the area I live in, Fuyu persimmon trees produce fruit in the Fall and a small tree can produce a lot of fruit.  The persimmon fruit looks like an orange tomato, but inside, it is firm like a plum.  It is rather sweet, having a honey like flavor. We like to eat them fresh, but after awhile, our huge supply was more than we could handle.  With what was left, I peeled them and pureed the flesh in the food processor.  I froze the puree in 2 cup batches in freezer bags. One of my favorite ways to use this persimmon puree is to make muffins.  I have a basic muffin recipe that I use and it is very adaptable, allowing for any kind of puree to be used. I've used all kinds of pureed fruits and veggies to make these muffins.  I've used sweet potatoes, pumpkin , apples, pears, bananas, zucchini,squash,blackberries,blueberries, and figs.  I've even used a combination of fruits and v...
7 comments
Read more