5 Homemade Holiday Gift Ideas
It seems like homemade gifts are all the rage right now. I admit, I'm jumping on board with this fun DIY trend this holiday season. I'm not very crafty, but I like making food, so my homemade gifts are all food-related. So far I've made muffin mix, soup mix, dip mix, spice blends, and sweets. I picked up jars and containers from the dollar store and the thrift store. I even made my own labels using
picmonkey and
Avery Sticker Project Paper. Now I'm ready to share what I've done with all of you.
Spice Blends
I made two different spice blends: Taco seasoning and Jamaican Jerk Seasoning. I bought the spices in bulk, mixed them together using the recipes below, and found cute magnetic spice containers from the dollar store.
Recipe Links:
Taco Seasoning
Jamaican Jerk Seasoning Label:
Download Printable Labels for Taco Seasoning and Jamaican Jerk Seasoning Wondering what recipes to try with these seasoning mixes? Try
Caribbean Chicken and Pineapple Salsa using Jerk seasoning.
Try
Grilled Taco-BBQ Chicken using Taco seasoning.
Curried Lentil Soup Mix
I tested out this recipe first, and my family approved. When cooked, it looks like green sludge, but it tastes really good. I was really surprised that my boys liked it so much, because I thought they'd be turned off by the way it looked, but once they took a bite of it they were hooked.
Recipe Link: Curried Lentil Soup Mix
Just a note: the recipe calls for 1 quart jars, but I found that was much too large of a jar. I used one that holds about 3 cups and even that was a little big.
I'd also like to try this recipe:
Layered Lentil Soup in a Jar Recipe It has smoked sun-dried tomato and bacon bits. Yummy!
Labels: This includes a label with the title and another with the directions for making the soup:
Download Printable Labels for Curried Lentil Soup Mix
Caramel Chocolate Pretzel Bark
Be careful if you make this bark that you don't devour all of it yourself. It's so addictive!
Recipe adapted from
Mama Say What?! Ingredients: 1/2 bag of mini pretzel twists
1 cup salted butter
1 cup brown sugar
2 cups chocolate chips
Directions - Preheat oven to 350F.
- Line a large baking sheet with tin foil, then arrange pretzels in a single layer
- In a saucepan, melt butter and brown sugar over medium heat. Whisk continuously until temperature reaches 290 degrees. The mixture should be a nice smooth caramel.
- Pour the caramel mixture evenly over the pretzels (it's okay if it doesn't cover every pretzel.
- Place in preheated oven for 5 minutes.
- Remove from oven and sprinkle chocolate chips evenly on top. Once they've melted, spread the chocolate around with a spatula.
- Let it cool on the counter, then place in the fridge or freezer for several hours.
- Once hardened, you can peel the foil off and break it up into pieces. Place pieces in a jar. You can keep it a room temperature, but if you prefer it to be harder you can store it in your fridge or freezer.
Ranch Mix
This seasoning mix can be turned into a dip or a dressing. Directions are on the label. I like that it has paprika and a touch of cayenne pepper in it to give it some kick.
Ingredients: 3/4 cup dried parsley 6 tbsp onion flakes 1 1/2 tsp onion powder 1 1/2 tsp garlic powder 1 1/2 tsp paprika 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
Combine all the ingredients and store in an airtight container.
Labels: This includes a label with the title and another with the directions for making both the dip and the dressing:
Download Printable Labels for Ranch Seasoning Mix And just to show you, this is what happens when you leave a jar lying around within baby's reach:
Yuck. I guess I need to print a new label!
Holiday Muffin Mix
We tested these muffins before gifting and they were delicious! The kids especially loved the white chocolate chunks in them.
Directions 3 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup dry milk
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves
1/2 cup white chocolate chunks
1 cup dried cranberries
Combine flour, sugar, dry milk, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves. Place half of the mixture into a 1 quart jar. Layer with white chocolate, then cranberries, then remaining half of baking mixture.
Attach this to jar: 1 egg, slightly beaten
1 1/4 cup water
1/3 cup oil
1 jar Holiday Muffin Mix
Preheat oven to 400F. In a mixing bowl, combine ingredients until just moistened. Do not overmix. Fill lined or greased muffin tins 3/4 full. Bake 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in centre comes out clean. Remove from pan and cool on rack. Makes approx. 15 muffins.
I added a package of muffin liners to attach to the jar as well.
Labels This includes a label with the title and another with the directions for making muffins:
Download Printable Labels for Holiday Muffin Mix
For more giftable foods for the Holidays, visit the
Life Made Delicious website. Here are some that I want to try:
Chocolate Caramel Trail Mix Gingerbread Loaves Holiday Toffee Bars Luscious Chocolate Truffles Pickled Peppers Check out this
Pinterest Board for even more ideas.
As a Life Made Delicious Connector, I get to share the latest news about General Mills. Yoplait and Cheerios are going to be cheering on Team Canada as the Olympics start up in the new year. Also, I hear Pillsbury is going to be doing a fun contest soon, so stay tuned.
Disclosure: I am participating in the Life Made Delicious Ambassador program and receive special perks as part of my affiliation.