Homemade Gifts for the Season

Homemade gifts are fun to make and people really appreciate the time and effort you put into it. Nothing says "I care about you" more than a gift that took thoughtfulness, time, and attention to make. Here are a few ideas to get you rolling:

Made from scratch cookie kits

Assemble the dry ingredients to your favorite cookie recipe, along with a mason jar, a note card, and some festive ribbons. Layer all the dry ingredients in the mason jar, screw on the lid and print or hand-write the recipe on the notecard and then tie it to the jar with the ribbon. Very pretty with the separate layers of ingredients in the jar.

 

Granola in a jar

Make your own crunchy granola. Your recipients will be happy! Try our recipe…

 

 

 

Soup!

Who wouldn't love a quart jar of delicious, made-with-love soup!? Buy some pretty dish towels to wrap the jars in. Here are a few of our favorite soup recipes:

Chicken Soup with Rice and Kale
Butternut Squash Soup with Goat Cheese Croutons
Winter Vegetable Soup with Dumplings
 

Flavored Vinegar

Making flavored or herbed vinegar is easy.  Find a decorative bottle with a lid or purchase a new cork. Sterilize the bottle by running it through a dishwasher cycle or boiling it in a large stock pot.

Choose fresh herbs that are free from dirt and brown spots or mold. You can use apple cider, red wine, white, or rice wine vinegar.

For flavorings try bay leaves, peppercorns, garlic, fresh ginger, chili peppers, rosemary, dill, tarragon, sage, thyme, lemon or orange peel, or peppercorns. Place fresh, clean herbs in the sterilized bottle and pour heated (not boiling) vinegar to fill. Cork or lid the bottle. Tie a pretty ribbon around it to make it festive.

Fresh Baked Cookies

Cookies are always a welcome gift. But instead of the traditional (boring) decorated sugar cookies, try something a little different. Here are a few healthy yet delicious cookie recipes:

Nutty Thumbprint Cookies
World's Healthiest Chocolate Chip Cookies
Crispy Quinoa Fruit Nut Bars
Almond Crescents
Danish Cardamom Cookies
Pfeffernusse Cookies

 

Make a sea salt body scrub with ingredients in your kitchen

Honey Sea Salt Scrub

1/3 cup honey
1/2 cup olive oil
1 cup sea salt
Optional: 3 drops essential oil
 

Whisk together honey and olive oil in a bowl. Mix in salt. Add essential oil and mix well. Spoon the mixture into a wide mouth canning jar or decorative glass container. Tie a pretty ribbon around the jar.

Other ideas:

• Give the gift of time or skill. Offer to clean an older relative’s house, or give a friend a massage, or wash their car or their dog!
• Assemble a themed gift basket i.e. a coffee mug with gourmet coffee, sugar swizzle sticks, instant espresso for coffee lovers, or camping gadgets and freeze dried food for friends who love to camp.  You can get cheap, attractive baskets from Goodwill and stores like Michael’s have good selection of baskets and decorative boxes and bags.
• Check out our DIY gift ideas on Pinterest