Nothing makes a present more personal than taking the time to choose something suited for the recipient. What could be more sentimental than a reward from the kitchen? Your home gift doesn’t necessarily have to be a huge or time-consuming purchase. Small touches can make a big difference. These tips are suitable not merely for the holidays, but for year-long gift-giving on any special occasion. Gather up a treasured family recipes and write them in a journal. Print them on pretty card stock and place them in a recipe box.
- Buy candy canes or any interesting, flavored sweet sticks. Dip these in melted semi-sweet dark chocolate and let harden. Wrap in clear, colorful wrapping and tie with a creative bow. These make for great little coffee or teas stirrers. Take it a little further and pair with a festive mug.
- Purchase several little herb plants and nestle them together inside a pretty basket. Add recipe card for using each plant.
- A bottle of wine with an IOU for a home-cooked meal makes for a terrific gift to the person constantly on the move.
- For a nice host or hostess gift, purchase a small styrofoam cone. Use toothpicks to attach fresh cranberries and utilize whole clove studs and leftover tree clippings or clean herbs as an ornamental base. Get creative and interweave them all together!
- Purchase a salt mill or spice grinder and bundle with gourmet peppercorns.
- Line a sizable, heavy oven mitt with colored, clear wrapping, fill with gourmet jellybeans, nuts, or other treats and top with a vibrant ribbon.
- For households with children, load a beautiful cookie jar with cookie redecorating accessories such as little bottles of fluorescent food coloring, candy sprinkles, and creative cookie cutters. Don’t forget to include your favorite cookie recipe!
- Purchase a bundt cake with the hole within the center. Make a small bouquet of silk plants in an inexpensive small bud vase and put in the center. Place with colored cellophane and a bow.