Mom-Stuff Team

Homemade Calendars  

Homemade calendars are a simple and fun gift to make. I have made them three different ways. The first year I decided to make a scrapbook calendar of our family events through the previous year. This calendar was given to my mother-in-law who lives across the United States. She really enjoyed seeing the activities and events from our family that she misses out on. This calendar was fun but to be honest it took a lot of time. This year I decided to make a digital calendar for her. There are a couple of place on line that make this easy, Walgreens.com, Costco.com, or Walmart.com. If you log onto the photo section of their website you can make a calendar personalized with your pictures and birthdays, anniversaries or any other date you want others to know about. My husband and I also love to talk pictures of unique landscapes. I then change them into black and white photos. Another gift idea is using pictures you have taken of landscapes to make a unique calendar that means more than just buying a random calendar.

Gifts in Canning Jars  

A fun and simple gift is taking canning jars and using your own recipes to make your own gifts.

Here is a  Brownie Mix I have used- Place 2-¼ c sugar, 2/3 c. cocoa powder (note: clean the inside of the jar with a paper towel after adding cocoa). ½ c chopped nuts of your choice, 1 ¼ c flour, 1 tsp baking powder, and 1 tsp salt. Layer the ingredients in the 1-quart jar in the order listed. You will want to pack each layer in place for a cleaner look.

Attach a gift tag with the mixing and baking instructions. The tag will say; Brownies, 1 jar brownie mix, ¾ c butter or margarine, 4 eggs. Instructions for baking; Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, cream the butter and eggs. Add the Brownie mix and stir until the mixture is well blended. Put batter into a lightly greased 9X12 pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes.

These simple jars can be used to delight friends and family members with a unique and creative way of baking. You can make these as detailed as you want by adding simple gift tags or highly decorated ones. You can decorate the tops with fabric of your choice by cutting the fabric in 9" circles. You can keep them in place a couple of different ways such as placing the fabric under the outside ring then screwing it on or placing it over the ring and tying it off with raffia, twine yarn or ribbon. A wooden spoon can be added into the ties of the jars to make your gift more attractive.

Idea from "Gift in a Jar" CQ Products 2001. This book has lots of recipes.

 Soup Baskets

Soup baskets are fun for the soup lovers especially in cold weather. To make a soup basket you will need some soup bowls. Then you can buy small bags of soup mix and a wire wisp to put inside a basket for a cozy meal for the holiday season. This year Tai-Pan Trading has some really cute soup bowls for sell. They say "soup" on them. I couldn't resist them.

Movie Bucket 

Movie Buckets This gift is fun for a date night or just a movie lover. This bucket is made from a microwave popcorn bucket that can be purchased at a video rental store. I found mine at Hollywood Video. Inside the bucket I added items such as Movie Theater candy i.e. Hot Tamales, Licorice, Starburst, M&M bag etc. You can put other items such as a DVD or movie passes from your local theaters. If you want it to be more of a date night you can put gift certificates for dinner or car wash or even a babysitting coupon (if you want to tend their children). You can even include a drink of your choice.

Santa Cookie Plates 

This gift is simple for people of all ages. Take an ordinary glass plate (no decorations on the center plate works best so you can read your saying). Find some 3D paint that will stick on glass. Find the saying of your choice here are a couple we have used:

• Dear Santa, Here's a cookie for you and some carrots for the reindeer
• 1 Day of Coal 364 Days of fun,
• I'll take my chances Santa, I know I've been bad all year through so here is my bribe for you!
• P.S. We've been good! Santa I Can Explain.

All you need to do is take the 3D paint and write the saying on the plate wherever you want it. This gift is so simple that kids really enjoy making these for their teachers and friends.