I thought I would start a thread for gift ideas seeing as Christmas is only 4 months off. What prompted me to do this was 12PIF's thread about making your own vanilla extract. I liked the idea and have taken it a tad further and created a "kit" of all that was needed and boxed it up attractively to give as a gift.
What I'm now hoping is that others will post any ideas for gifts that could be made into 'kits'. Anything you may have seen or heard about and not just in the food range. I do like the 'make it yourself' type like the vanilla extract as the recipient then has the enjoyment of not only making but using the result.
Daily Kitten Chat Forum » General Chat
Wanted -Your ideas for gifts/kits
(36 posts)-
Posted 1 year ago by Moonshadow_NZ #
-
-
oh, MS, that's a wonderful idea!...... let's see, a few of the 'kits' I've seen are:
muffin kit with dried fruit
cookie mix with nuts and chocolate chips
a bath kit with scented oils and beauitiful soapsone of my favorite 'kits' as a little girl, at Christmastime, a kit to make an ornament - they came with a beautiful colored silk ball, and tons of beautiful beads with pins to stick them in, ribbons, jewels to glue on , etc. and of course instructions how to make the design...... my mother still has those beautiful ornaments we made........
-
This link to NZ House and Garden:
http://www.nzhouseandgarden.co.nz/homelife.asphas a few very nice things to make, they're usually tagged with 'Handmade' as the first word in the title. Also nice recipes on the Entertaining page if you like cooking for pressies....
-
Thanks for that link Jcat, a great magazine I believe. (wink wink)
Ohhhhhhhh, good ideas AV, you could supply the ingredients for the muffins with special muffins papers and even tea bags or cocoa to have when eating the muffins. An afternoon tea pack perhaps.Posted 1 year ago by Moonshadow_NZ #
-
One nice idea I really liked from somewhere was to put together small tea or coffee services for people by buying old trios of vintage china (cup, saucer and cake plate), if you can get them inexpensively, in complementary colours, styles or patterns, eg all roses or all pink or all 1960s.
Could end up being quite pricey though, if you don't have great thrift shops...
-
When my best friend got married, I sent them on their honeymoon (they were going to their trailer in upstate NY), I put together a basket of gourmet pancake mix, pure maple syrup, fresh fruit, and all the fixins for bloody-marys.
Good idea for this thread! I'm looking for ideas for a tricky-tray. I think I've done them all over the past 20 years: themes included music, day at the beach, for the birds, gardening, movie night, brunch, tea/coffee, home maintenance, for the dogs, for the cats, crafts, candles - I need a new idea!Posted 1 year ago by JoanfromNewJersey #
-
One year, I bought everyone sweatshirts and I cut stamps out of sponges and used them as a base to hand paint the sweatshirts. I did fun fishies on some and hot air balloons on others. I also did a set of sheets in a paw print pattern for one person. The prints were done to look like a kittie wandered across the sheets and pillows.
Posted 1 year ago by KYKAT 12 23 #
-
-
I love to give Handcrafted/Homemade gifts for Birthdays and Christmas. Dee posted some awesome cocoa recipes that I am going to combine with some of 12Paws post for homemade vanilla extract for Christmas gifts this year. Another kit/gift I love to give are paperwhite bulbs. You can find instructions online for growing them to enclose with the bulbs and a pretty container to grow them in. They are always a big hit and they bloom 21 days from the time you set the bulbs in water. I have also done all organic foods baskets and another TDKer used to do spaghetti baskets that had the pasta, sauce, cheese, spaghetti tongs etc. in a large bowl. These types of gifts are my favorite to send and recieve. I love to give more thoughtful gifts you can't find in any store.
-
Another nice item in a gift basket is homemade herbs. I love this combo, and most of the herbs are probably in your cupboard. (use dried for this). Herbes de Provence......... 2T oregano, 2T thyme, 2T summer savory, 2T lavender, 1 tsp basil,1 tsp sage, 1 tsp rosemary. Crumble slightly and put in airtight jar(s). I think the lavender is a must for this, but some recipes omit it. I use it as a rub for roasted chicken or turkey. Mixed with oil or butter and rub all over the bird, and under the breast side skin. I've read where it can be used in soup,stews,roasted potatoes,roasted asparagus,etc. I did make a half batch the other, and didn't have the summer savory, but it still tasted wonderful. MS, if you see this.......I just took a swig of my extract, and I like the flavor of the spiced rum better than the vodka. Will top off with rum from now on. Here is a recipe for vanilla sugar, which would be another fun addition to a basket.
Posted 1 year ago by 12PAWZinFL #
-
Here is an idea that is great for those with kids (or not!) Have the children do lots and lots of drawings, even scribbling, if they are younger. Go to Hobby Lobby and buy blank cards and envelopes. Print "Created by hand for you by ....." and Christmas 2010 on the back. Then take completed small drawings and glue them onto the cards. For scribbles and half drawn things, tear them into small pieces and glue them on collage style onto the cards. Any Grandma, aunt or family friend will love these unique one of a kind cards. Or you can have the kids draw abstract/scribble, tear them up and glue them on collage style onto matting and frame them.
As an adult you can do this technique too and present your friends with cardsets of your handiwork. Or you can take the camera out and take pictures of things around your yard or town and glue the pictures onto card stock. I have been the recipient of these cardsets from 3 different friends and loved them. When I pulled out the cards to send notes, I thought about the person who created them, smiled and then sent that smile on with the note I wrote.
Posted 1 year ago by KYKAT 12 23 #
-
Thanks everyone for more great ideas, please keep them coming. I will put my thinking/creative cap on too and see what I can come up with.
Posted 1 year ago by Moonshadow_NZ #
-
I once put together a gift basket on the theme of a night at the movies. It had a DVD, movie popcorn and several of the types of candy one can buy at most movie theaters. It was fun to put together. :)
Posted 1 year ago by Kitten Whisperer #
-
An awesome idea. I've been looking for something along the line like this for my mom. Since she has moved into assisted living she doesn't need the type of things I usually get for her at Christmas (clothing, kitchen stuff, etc.) But a gift basket of things she can use in her room...I need to start brainstorming.
Posted 1 year ago by paulajeanne #
-
Brainstorm 1 : Make Your Own Non-Toxic Cleaning Kit.
contents - printed off recipes for non-toxic cleaners, cloths/sponges,new squirty bottles,baking soda/vinegar/tea tree oil inexpensive basket to hold all of above.
http://www.care2.com/greenliving/make-your-own-non-toxic-cleaning-kit.htmlPosted 1 year ago by Moonshadow_NZ #
-
Great ideas! Maybe as a gift I could get together the Bach flowers essences that most people use,The Rescue Remedy,Rescue Sleep and Rescue Pets. Also some ginger candy and special teas from a health food store. Arranged nicely in a little basket with frilly bows and whatnot.
-
Lime Marmalade (Two ingredients: limes and sugar!)
-
One year for Christmas I put together a gift of home canned salsas, pickles, spaghetti sauce--anything we had put up from the garden! I put it in a Christmas ornament container (the ones that are divided to store ornaments in). Depending on the recipient, I added a bottle of wine, specialty teas or flavored coffee or cappucino and inexpesive wine glasses or coffee/tea mugs from the dollar store. If the recipients had kids, I added hot chocolate mix--you can make it: 2 # box of dried milk, large container of creamora or any kind of dry coffee creamer, 1 large canister of Nestles Quik, and 1 # of powdered sugar. Just add mix to cup and add hot water. I also put in some Christmas candies for the kids. It went over very well and was rewarding to know which canned things everyone liked!
-
7 Edible Gifts in a Jar; They look yummy!
http://www.friedchillies.com/index.php/articles/detail/7-edible-gifts-in-a-jar/ -
-
Paulajean, a great idea for someone in assisted living/nursing home is a basket of things like nice hand lotions, room sprays, drawer sachets, plus warm cozy socks/footies and a box of notecards with forever stamps. My grandmother always loved getting rich lotions to soothe her hands and things that made the room smell better.
Posted 1 year ago by KYKAT 12 23 #
-
We went on a cruise last year with our best friends from here. Before Christmas I found a pretty wooden tray with a glass top at Bed, Bath and Beyond. I printed out some favorite pictures from our cruise, a menu from the martini bar (of course!), a boarding pass and a few other trinkets. We took the glass off, put the items on the tray and when we (we being Mr. WWM and me)liked the arrangement, we glued them down and put the glass top back on. They loved it!
Posted 1 year ago by WillowandWindismom #
-
Of course, I have been known to give my handmade quilts for Christmas!
Posted 1 year ago by WillowandWindismom #
-
WWM~~~~~~~~OH REALLY?????????
Posted 1 year ago by jeanjellibean20 #
-
:-) Problem is, my family members are all getting tired of them, I think. I made the most adorable hand appliqued kitty quilt for my S-i-L and she has it folded up in the closet. I put hours of work into that quilt!
Posted 1 year ago by WillowandWindismom #
-
-
Well, I have to admit that it has hurt my feelings. Mr. WWM just shrugs - it's his sister. But I just worked so hard to make that quilt perfect. I would love to have it back since it's just put away in a closet.But that would seem tacky to ask.
Posted 1 year ago by WillowandWindismom #
-
-
I think that she is just clueless about how much time it takes to make a quilt. I am making one for her, and Mr. WWM's younger sister, for Christmas that has hankies from their mom worked into the quilt. If they like it, fine... if not, I tried.
Posted 1 year ago by WillowandWindismom #
Reply »
You must log in to post.