Fun and easy Christmas gift ideas

Our church is having our annual Women’s Ministries Christmas Celebration on Saturday. As in the past, there will be a speaker, lunch, and some great fellowship. However, this year they are adding two breakout sessions. One session will focus on hospitality and the other will focus on giving. I was asked to lead the “giving” session and to have a small, quick, and easy project for everyone to make using items that most of us already have around the house. Since we won’t have much time, I decided to show everyone how to make a bag-a-lope (a mini gift bag made out of an envelope.) You can find a great tutorial here.

I will also have a bunch of other gift and packaging samples out for everyone to see including some of the following projects. I thought posting these might help give you some ideas for gift giving this year. (Sorry if many of you have seen some of these projects in the past.)

The first project is a Hershey’s Nugget tin. I made these for my neighbors last year and they loved them. First buy a bag of Hershey’s Nuggets (Costco has them in bulk.) Of course, you need to make sure you don’t eat them all while you are making your gifts. LOL! Decorate some standard sized Avery address labels with stamps, markers, computer type or images, etc. I used Papertrey’s Holiday Treats stamp set. After you decorate your labels, peel them off and wrap them around the candy nuggets. They will fit perfectly. Then put them in a bag, box or tin as shown in my photo. (These tins can be purchased from Specialty Bottle. (Option: instead of using Avery labels, use patterned paper to wrap nuggets.)

Below are links to Nugget Tins I have made in the past. (Can you tell I love making these things?) They also make great baby shower favors!!
Valentine’s Nugget Tins
Easter Nugget Tins
Christmas Nugget Tins
The next project is the ole’ snowman soup idea. I filled a jar (bought in a pack of 12 at Walmart for a great price!) with hot chocolate powder, some marshmellows, and some small peppermint candies. Then I wrapped the jar with some Close to my Heart Evensong patterned paper. I used the labels that Nichole Heady created last year and changed the color to match my theme. I stamped some snowflakes from Close to my Heart’s Snowflake Kisses stamp set in Garden Green ink. I added some ribbon and a candy cane to finish it off. (One lucky gal in my class will win this on Saturday!)

The next project is a decorated pop-top can and matching card. These are fun and easy to make. Start with any pop-top can. (I found that Bush’s Baked Beans cans are great because they don’t have any writing on the top of the can.) Open the can from the bottom using a safety can opener. (Pampered chef makes a great one.) Then empty the contents, or eat them, and wash and dry the inside of the can. Refill the can with whatever you like. I used Hershey’s Kisses. Apply a little Liquid Glass (or other strong adhesive) all the way around the outer rim of the cut out bottom. Then decorate as desired. My sample uses Close to my Heart’s Everlasting Creative Basics Paper and Magical Seasons stamp set. This next one is another oldie but goodie. I used some cardboard coasters as my base. (Many restaurants will let you take new ones some for free if you ask. Chili’s, Islands, and Claim Jumper have been my best bet lately.) Cover your coasters with patterned paper. (Mine uses CTMH’s Abundance paper pack and Autumn Splendor stamp set.) Punch two holes on one side of each coaster making sure that the holes line up to each other when coasters are next to each other. Thread ribbon through holes to connect coasters together. Decorate as desired. (Option: Use hinges instead of the ribbon to attach coasters as shown in photo. I used some Close to my Heart hinges and brads.)
Stay tuned for more gift and packaging ideas. I will post more tomorrow…