Christmas Neighbor Gifts

Texans are friendly people, neighborly too. When we moved here, we were delighted and amazed by the number of neighbors who dropped by to greet us and bring us welcome gifts - cookies, bottles of wine, lists of restaurants and favorite businesses. To us it seemed pleasantly old school. Like a throw-back in time, when people knew who lived next door and stopped in the driveway to chat about their goings on. Though we had many great neighbors back in Atlanta, they were friendships built over time and this notion of being introduced before the moving van had left the driveway was new to us.  

At Christmastime, the neighborliness continues, with small gifts (often a homemade treat) and Christmas cards left on doorsteps. Last year, I wasn't quite as prepared for the abundance of neighborliness, though I did make some items and enjoyed every minute.  This year, I've settled on a less labor intensive gift. I've seen it on lots of different blogs in the last few months and it's a variation on a treat I made several Valentines' Days ago.

These Peppermint Pretzels are easy and delicious. 

Preheat your oven to 175 degrees (yes, that's all).  You will need:

Mini pretzels. I used the twists but the squares would work too. 
 Place these on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

These delicious Kisses.  Trust me, they're not too peppermint,
more like a butter mint.

No explanation required

Once you've gathered your ingredients, place an individual Kiss on top of each pretzel.

Place your cookie sheet in the oven for approximately four and half minutes (don't walk away!).  Once you remove them from the oven.  Allow to sit for about 45 seconds before placing an M & M on top (this helps them melt just a little extra). Place them in the refrigerator and allow to cool for at least 15 minutes.  

These treats are delicious.  I've decided to package them two ways this year. I found these cute food safe bags at Target.

They hold approximately twenty pretzel candies.

But for those in the neighborhood with smaller children, I decided to utilize these little reindeer cupcake toppers, which I bought online last year, to create a special container. 

Last year, I attached them to the top of a cute frame or two.  

This year, with the aid of a Sharpie - Rudolph magically appeared. 

I then used my glue gun to attach Rudolph to white mason jar lids I'd purchased at Walmart. (I got the mason jars there, too). The tulle and tag were the final additions and viola.

Collecting

In rereading a few old blog posts, I've taken note of how often I've asserted that I'm not a collector. But here's where I admit that not only is my Nutcracker ornament collection expanding, my creche collection has a new addition too.  

As a belated high school graduation gift, my sister graciously took our daughter to Europe this summer (who knew being an only niece would have such great perks?).  A stop in Austria yielded this precious gift for me:

Created inside an actual matchbox.  

Just 1 inch x 1.5 inch.  I think it's my miniaturist miniature.  

It's taken it's rightful position alongside my other sweet Nativities.  

7 Days

"On the first day of Love Week,
 my True Love gave to me . . . "

Six small gifts (tokens really) and a neat bag to put them all in.

Red lunch bags, a cute font, a 1 inch hole punch and some pink ribbon.  What's not to love?

Love Week - Cupid's Crunch

What kind of Love Week surprises am I planning?  Well, who doesn't love snack mix? Especially the kind that includes:

small pretzels (I used the small twists but the circles would be cute, too)

+

salted peanuts

+

M & Ms brand chocolate candy - in those fun Valentine Colors

+

Quaker Whole Hearts (fun heart-shaped cereal I bought at Target, but Cheerios or any yummy cereal could work too)

+

dried fruit (I used cranberries)

I didn't add these, but wouldn't they be fun?

Mini pink and white marshmallows

There's nothing magical about this recipe, of course,  add and subtract as you like.  I think granola might be a nice addition.  Here's my finished product though:

With a self-adhesive label on a nice smooth mason jar

and 

a smaller, fun-size jar with the cute tag tied on.  

Aimee and Bettijo of Paging Supermom were kind enough to give me permission to link to their post.  You can read about their delicious snack mix and even get your own copy of their fun printable.  


Hooray! Another thing to love about Love Week!

Homemade Christmas Gifts

I'm endeavoring to make a few gifts this year; easy things really, for neighbors, my husband's co-workers and a few others.


Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa at Home Cookbook is amazing.  Every recipe I've tried is  terrific.  This year, I'm making her Lemon Yogurt Cake. (I love lemon!)  Lots of steps, but it's fairly easy, delicious and beautiful.  Here's the link to the recipe.  

I found great 7.5 inch by 12 inch plates at a local party goods store, used 10 by 16 inch cellophane bags and a gold ribbon and I think they turned out really well.

I'm also trying my hand at cookies in a jar.  Here's the how-to.  

The jar on the left was my practice jar.  I quickly figured out to layer the ingredients in a way that makes it more eye-catching.  I used the seasonal variety of M & M's to make these Christmas- y.  On the top of the jar I included the additions required to complete the recipe and I attached a recipe card.  Since these are Cowboy Cookies I used a bandana to fancy-things up!

I'm also making my sister's Easy Peanut Cluster recipe.  

I bought these adorable little treat boxes after Christmas last year.  

Each box holds 8 peanut cluster candies.  Adorable!  

Finally, these aren't homemade but don't they look like it? I bought these here and they make great gift exchange ideas from your kids to the other kids in their classroom. I'm giving mine to the younger children in our neighborhood.  They're just fun!