Have you ever been woke up in the middle of the night with a random thought that left you scratching your head as to why it couldn’t wait til morning? Well, that is where I found myself the other night around 2:30am. (I know 2:30am is technically morning but unless the sun is gleaming through my shutters I don’t count it!)
This most important thought, that couldn’t wait ‘til morning, was A GIVEAWAY! A “holiday giveaway” to start your season on the right cookie sheet!
So, I have come up with this idea to inspire you to share your holiday neighbor gifts with me and others who might need a fresh idea. Do you bake or cook things for your neighbors? If so what kind of things do you make and how do you package them up!
From all of your submissions I, or my editor (to make it fair), will randomly choose a submission and you will win my favorite holiday stress reliever!
A decadent cup of Godiva Hot Chocolatein a nice quiet place is my personal mini-trip to Tahiti. With its to-die-for creamy, deep chocolate flavor, I then add a small portion of a cinnamon stick and away I go. Ahhhhhhhhh….. Even my kids know where mom is when the “cup” is in my hands!
Please take a moment and let me know what your favorite gift to give your neighbors will be this year. And be sure to spread the word to your friends and neighbors because the more readers who are reading your comments and my posts, the better the giveaways will be. That can only be a good thing!
I will announce the winner on December 19th. (could be a gift to myself if none of you comment!)
Good Luck!
10 Comments
John
We got a great one yesterday!! It was a single roll of toilet paper wrapped in a cellophane gift bag with a note that read: “Money is scarce and times are hard, so I’m giving you this instead of a card. Something to use, something to share, so bottoms up, just because we care!” I thought this was so clever…probably my favorite neighbor gift yet!!
Julie Lewis
Last year I gave a bunch of PEPPERMINT MAGIC! It is the best stuff ever. You take a bunch of candy canes and put them in your blender and blend until it is a powder. Now you take a spoonful of peppermint magic and mix it in some whipping cream and top your favorite mug of GODIVA 🙂 hot cocoa with this pepperminty cream. It is delish!
SO this is how I packaged it up. I put the Peppermint Magic in a baggie, with a cute label and then tied it to a cool whip tub with a candy cane. It was cute. You could also tie the PM to a can of cocoa.
Sarah Bertagnole
I love Christmas and the opportunity to connect with your neighbors in a personal way and get to know them better and let them know that you appreciate them being your neighbors. I love to bake and cook so over the years I have given my neighbors homemade bread or rolls with some homemade jam. Cinnamon rolls, traditional plates with homemade cookies and candy. I always make sure that it is fresh and that I am not giving people stale plates of cookies!!!! I would rather have my cookies be fresh and yummy and not so decorative and fancy. I also have made big balls of caramel corn and that was a hit. One year I did the cookies in a jar and soups in a jar. That was a little overwhelming. So those are a few of my ideas. Have a great day!!!
Jessica
I’m doing fresh orange sweet rolls for every apartment in my student ward! Should be an adventure! 🙂
Shelma
This is one of my biggest stresses. I can’t stand coming up with neighbor gifts every year! I procrastinate and then it’s a huge crunch to get everything made and delivered. And I don’t mean to sound like a grinch, but the only thing worse than coming up with the neighbor gift is delivering neighbor gifts! Last year, Ryan was finally big enough to be my ‘runner.’ I got to stay in the car while he ran to every door.
We leave for vacation in 6 days and I haven’t thought of any neighbor gifts. Surprise. Maybe tomorrow 🙂
Lindsey Hoffmann
I’m going to give a Chili spice mix this year along with a chili recipe. Definitely buying the spices in bulk. Also, if I find the strength and time!, homemade syrup. Karen Hoffmann’s famous cinnamon cream syrup. I’m going all homemade!
Mary the Great
We do a fun and stress-relieving thing in our ward – the ward is divided into a few groups (by address) and then every year we meet at the group leaders’ house and have snacks and socialize. Everyone brings a snack and a donation of any size (anonymous) and the total goes to a needy family in our ward or area. That’s it! No one is “allowed” to do neighbor gifts other than that! I love it!!
Laura (Graesch) Bacon
Last year I gave out small centerpieces- A wide, short juice glass with raffia and holly tied around it. Fresh cranberries to fill the glass. A votive candle to set on top of the cranberries. And, a small can of sparkling water to pour over the cranberries. They turned out really pretty! This year, I’m hoping to put together baskets that would include an entire dinner for the family. It will be something they can put in the freezer if they can’t bake it right away… maybe marinated chicken breasts and wild rice, or lasagna or enchiladas… I haven’t decided yet! Everyone loves the smell of dinner in the oven!!
Dixie, I love your blog!! You are incredibly gifted and seem to really enjoy what you do!! Thanks for sharing your talents!!
Julie Lewis
Okay here is my neighbor gift!
I take a brown paper bag, lunch sack type and in it I put one orange, some cloves, and a couple of cinnamon sticks! Then I attach a cute tag that says : Cut the orange in slices, break the cinnamon sticks, and put everything in a pot with a little water and simmer on stove! Have a SCENTsational Christmas!!! This potpourri makes your house smell wonderful! I like this gift too, because it is economical 🙂 You have a great blog…very impressed with all your skills.
Wendy
I love seeing all the wonderful creations you have made so far. I on the other hand am not so creative in the baking department. I like to cheat. Each year my girlfriends and I get together for our cookie exchange. We are have about the same skill levels in the baking department but each has their own specialties so we get a great assortment of goodies for Christmas. My trick, I take one recipe and make them each appear different. Almond crescents w/powdered sugar, almond snowballs with powdered sugar, almond cookies dipped in chocolate, almond cookies with a fudge drizzle, almond cookies with Carmel fudge drizzle and chopped nuts!
I am looking forward to hearing what everyone else does!