Homemade Holiday

You and your kids can have fun making your own gift wrap with some Postal wrap, paint and misc. items found around the house.

Here is what you need:

• Kraft colored Postal wrap (I got mine at the dollar store)
• Craft paint
• Potato & Knife (to make stamps)
• Pencil w/ new eraser (to make polka dots)
• Any other items around the house that would make a fun print

Since stuff like this always happens to me when I use a knife, I enlisted the help from my oldest to cut an image into the potato to make the potato stamp.

I told him I wanted the exact same image on the potato that he carved into his pumpkin at Halloween  (it’s a self portrait).

Ok, so the self portrait wasn’t going to work, so we went for something simple like a tree.

Once you have your image, just dip the potato stamp in paint and apply to the Postal wrap.

For a different look, I dipped the end of a pencil eraser into the paint to make some polka dots.

Your options are endless! Just look around your house and see what would make a good design. You could use the end of an empty tissue roll for larger thin circles. Check out this post over at Frugal Living NW (it’s a guest post from Simply Frugal Mom) for what different designs fruits and vegetables make.

I finished them up by adding some holiday ribbon that I picked up at Michael’s (at 70% off!)

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My sister Jen is back with another yummy gift you can make for friends and family.   These are so good!   She makes this Toffee Butter Crunch every year and they are some of my favorite.

Toffee Butter Crunch

• 1 cup Butter
• 1 cup Sugar
• 3 Tbsp Water
• 1 Tbsp Light Corn syrup
• 1 cup semi-sweet Chocolate Chips
• 1/2 cup slivered Almonds

Line a 15×10 cookie sheet with foil, extending foil over the edges of pan; set pan aside.

• In sauce pan melt butter;  add sugar, water and corn syrup.
• Cook over med-high heat until mixture boils.
• Clip a candy thermometer to side of pan.
• Reduce heat to medium and continue boiling at moderate, steady rate, stirring frequently, until thermometer registers 290 soft-crack stage (about 15 minutes).
• Remove pan from heat pour candy into prepared foil lined cookie sheet, spreading quickly.

• Sprinkle chocolate chips over the top and let stand until chips are visibly melting, spread with spatula covering chocolate over top of toffee.
• Sprinkle nuts over top.
• Chill for about 20 minutes.
• When the toffee is firm, break in to pieces.

If you want to give them away to several people, you can put them in candy boxes and tie with ribbon and you are set!  I bought a bunch of decorated boxes from Target after Christmas for 75-90% off, so make sure to watch for those after Christmas this year.  I recommend picking up boxes at Cost Plus Word Market, they have great prices on boxes.   You can also get some at Michaels with a 40% off coupon.

Make sure you check out the other items in the Homemade Holiday series by clicking the image above.

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I am pleased to have my sister Jen guest posting, she makes the BEST holiday goodies and she will be sharing a couple recipes this month.   Today she is sharing a recipe for her Peanut Butter Balls (they involve peanut butter and chocolate, so you really can’t go wrong!)

The Holidays are a great time to share some of my favorite holiday treats, I make this a holiday tradition.  I make a variety of candy and baked good and bundle a assortment together to give as holiday gifts.

Peanut butter Balls

Here is what you will need:

• 2 1/2 Cups Powder Sugar
• 2 Cups of Creamy Peanut butter
• 1/4 Cup of Butter
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/4 Cups of Candy Chocolate or Chocolate Chips
• sprinkles (optional)

Mix together peanut butter, and butter, add vanilla then gradually add powdered sugar. Roll into 1 inch round balls and place on cookie sheet line with foil, then place in freezer to harden.

Melting the chocolate chips: You can melt them in the microwave, make sure you are stirring every 20 seconds, so they don’t burn.   You can also use melting chocolate.

Cover the peanut butter balls with chocolate: I use a curved spatula or serving spoon to scoop up the chocolate and then roll the ball in the chocolate. when it is completely covered, place on wax paper.

Decorating the balls(if desired): Immediately decorate with sprinkles, or chopped nuts.  Let them cool until they are hard.  If necessary, you can put them in the refrigerator to speed up the process.  I put wax paper on a my cooling rack or cookie sheets so they can be moved around easily.

If you want to give them away to several people, you can put them in candy boxes from Micheals (use a 40% off coupon to get them even cheaper).  Tie with ribbon and you are set!   I bought a bunch of decorated boxes from Target after Christmas for 75-90% off, so make sure to watch for those after Christmas this year.

Make sure you check out the other items in the Homemade Holiday series by clicking the image above.

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I am excited about today’s Homemade Holiday post, we have put together a fun kit that would be great to give to boys (or even girls) for Christmas.   My husband and boys made these several years ago and they had lots of fun with them.

The best part, these are super cheap to make!  The PVC supplies should cost around $2.50 for each shooter, when you add the cost of the marshmallows you have a fun gift that only costs about $3.50. They are simple to make too!

Marshmallow Shooter Supplies

• 1/2″ diameter PVC Pipe (at least 38″ long for one shooter)
• (2) 1/2″ PVC caps (not the threaded type)
• (2) 1/2 ” PVC elbow (not the threaded type)
• (2) 1/2″ PVC tee (not the threaded type)
• Saw(to cut PVC pipe)

You will need to cut the PVC pipe into the following sizes:
(1) 13″ length
(5) 5″ length

Packaging Supplies:

• Shirt Box (I picked mine up at Kohl’s when I bought a shirt)
• DIY Marshmallow Shooter Printable label (for the top of the box)
• DIY Marshmallow Instructions (just print out and include in the box)
• Package of Mini Marshmallows

Assembling your gift:
Take all of the pieces of the PVC and include them in the box with the bag of mini marshmallows and printable instructions, so the recipient will be able to construct their own shooter.

Make sure you adhere the printable label to the top of the shirt box, so they know exactly what it is they are getting (they might not know otherwise). Wrap it up and you are set!

Printables::

Click on the images below to print the label for the top of the gift box and the instructions for inside the box.

Once you have your marshmallow shooter assembled you will do the following:

Load

Aim

Blow

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This is such a super simple gift, your kids can easily make this for their teachers, grandparents or whoever.   I first saw this idea over at Paper Wings, and I knew it would be a quick and simple gift to make.

Here are the supplies you will need:

• Plastic 5 x 7 Frame (I got mine at the dollar store)
• Post-It Notes (I still have a few left that I picked up for FREE at Target)
• Scrapbook Paper
• Ribbon (or other embellishments)
• Glue Dots

Here are the simple instructions:

Cut your paper to fit the frame and slide it in. I chose to go with 2 different prints, so the portion about the ribbon will be a different print.

I added a strip of ribbon on top of the frame where the 2 different papers met. I used glue dots to adhere it to the back of the frame.

Next, you will want to add some type of an embellishment to dress it up a bit. I chose to go with a bow, but you could use a flower or a label with their name. Do whatever you want. I again used glue dots to attach the bow.

Your last step will be to adhere the Post-It notes to the front of the frame with more Glue Dots and you are done!!

It cost me a total of $1.00 to make this gift! I already had the paper and ribbon on hand, and the Post-It notes were ones I picked up for FREE. If you had to go out and purchase all of the items, I am guessing it would cost you around $2.50.

Make sure you check out the other items in the Homemade Holiday series by clicking the image above.

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Today’s homemade gift couldn’t be any easier, today I am sharing some bobby pins that I dressed up with some cute buttons.  

I saw this idea over at a homemaker’s journal and I knew it would be perfect to work on with my daughter.    I had to package them up cute too, because I like when the package looks as nice as the gift.  That’s how I roll!

These would make great stocking stuffers or gifts for the girls on your list. If we hadn’t already made the glass tile necklaces for my daughters friends, we could have made these. These were super cheap! The bobby pins were $ .97 at Walmart and I just used buttons I already had around the house.

Here are the instructions:

Supplies:

• E-6000 glue
• Bobby Pins
• Misc. buttons

You simply glue the buttons onto the top of the bobby pins. Super simple!

You will need to keep an eye on them for the first few minutes, because sometimes they like to fall on their side.

If the bobby pin falls on its side, just hold it in place for a few seconds and you should be good to go. It takes a little while for them to get a nice hold.

While the glue is drying on your bobby pins, you can work on the packaging, here are the supplies you will need:

• Plastic bags 3 13/16 x 5 3/16 (I used the same ones from my glass magnets)
• Cardstock
• Scissors or paper cutter

You will want to cut the cardstock to fit inside the plastic bag.  Next you will want to use a paper cutter or scissors to cut a slit for the bobby pins to slide onto.   I drew a line for demonstration purposes, to show you exactly where you would need to cut the slit.

Next, just slide the pins onto the card.

Slide the cardstock with the bobby pins into the plastic bag and tape it closed on the back.

I made a topper out of cardstock by cutting it to fit the top of the bag and then folding it in half.   You can decorate the front however you want.

Now you have your completed gift!  These can easily be made for under $1.00, and they are so simple and quick.

Make sure you check out the other items in the Homemade Holiday series by clicking the image above.   I know I have featured a lot of girl gifts, but I have a super fun DIY gift that will be great for boys that should be up sometime next week.

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