To Gift With Love...

Every Christmas it's always the same story...

I want to be mindful of my gift giving...and creative, if possible.
I want my gifts to be reflections of me - and of my love for the "gift-ee."
I really want my boys involved in this entire process of learning "it's more blessed to give than receive."
I don't want to do anything that is difficult and time consuming.
And I want simplicity.  Oh, how I strive for and crave simplicity.

And then there's that nagging little issue of always being broke...what a pain.

So, "creative," and "mindful," and "simple" --- well, those ideas work together nicely, I guess.
A fun little challenge to make things cost effective, methinks...

And really - even if I was rolling in the dough - I always prefer and find so much more fun something that someone has thoughtfully made for me rather than something that money can buy.

Unless it's liposuction after this baby is born...

The older my family gets, and the larger my family grows - it makes for each and every Christmas potentially becoming more stressful, more expensive, and more harried.  So, for the past few years, my brothers and I - along with many of our friends, really - have opted for either homemade or  mere "token gifts."

Just something that says, "I love you, and you are important to me."

This year, for all of the women in my family and for many of my girls, I made little cork board hearts out of wine bottle corks.  I have been collecting them from work for months, and my friend's father-in-law owns a winery a town or two over - so when she heard of what I was hoping to make, she gifted me with a trash bag full of corks.  Score to the max and Merry Christmas to ME!

Dad and I went to the hardware store and bought a huge slab of plywood, he gave me a crash course in using a jigsaw, and away to town I went in creating these little babies.  Super easy.  Super sweet. And really, the only cost was the piece of slabwood, which was around $11.00, and a whole whack of glue.

The boys and I also made several little batches of homemade laundry soap to go along with some of our gifts.  A simple, basic recipe that we used was:  2 cups shredded bar soap, 1 cup borax, 1 cup washing/baking soda, and 15-30 drops of essential oils.  Each load of laundry takes only 1 Tablespoon, so it is very cost effective, it smells delish, and as far as gifting a batch goes...a little goes a long way.

And then there are always the foody gifts that we love to share with our neighbors and whoever likes to drop in for a visit....and for mid-morning tea times...and late night cravings....and well, you get the picture..

One little treat that is quickly becoming our every year tradition are these simple little pretzel kiss snacks.  SO easy for little hands to help with, and surprisingly tasty and addicting!  Just buy the waffle pretzels, Hershey's hugs and kisses, and a bag of Christmas M&M's.  Place the kisses on the pretzels and melt slightly in the oven at 170 degrees for 4-6 minutes.  (The white kisses melt more quickly).  When you take them out, pop a little M&M on top, pushing down the point of the kiss, and chill in the fridge for about 10 minutes.

 I think they are also absolutely adorable sitting out on the counter.
And yummy.
Ahem.

Another delicious version is to do the same thing - just with Rollos and pecans.
Wee little turtles.
Fun.
And yummy.

And finally, per our every single year tradition, we always make homemade peppermint patties as part of my little widower neighbors' Christmas gifts -- and for a little side gift for my Mama, as well.
Them's her fave.

 Take one 8 oz. package of softened cream cheese and cream together with 2 teaspoons of pure peppermint extract.  Gradually add nine (!!!) cups of confectioner's sugar.  Mix into little balls and flatten on wax paper.  So easy for the Littles to help out with...and sample.  Chill them for about 10 minutes.  Then take 3/4 cup of semi-sweet chocolate bits, 3/4 cup of milk chocolate bits, along with 3 tablespoons of butter (or Crisco if you really want to be naughty) and melt on the stove top or microwave.

Roll the patties in the chocolate.  This step is super messy, and I have learned over the years to just have the boys drop the patties into the chocolate while I do the spreading and covering.  Somehow, they still manage to slaughter their entire clothing ensemble from top to bottom - even getting some in their hair - yet the mess is not nearly as epic as when I used to let them get their hands right in the thick of things and cover their patties at will...

If one has no critters roaming around in their backyard, one could chill them on their back porch for about an hour.  T'would also be helpful to not drop the patties off of the wax paper into the snow, said the lady who has no idea what she's talking about....

Upon said chilling time, and before packaging up for gifties, one should always sample their wares to make sure they are decent for distribution...

Amen.  Merry Christmas.  And joy to the world.
Easy sneezy, super cheap, and simple, creative little gifty gifts to share with those you love.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a raging sugar high.....

Signing off for a few days....Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones! 
May you linger long, savor well, and see the sacred.
May we love wildly, see the gifts, and KNOW the Gift Giver...

"And the Word became flesh...and moved into the neighborhood." ~ The Message