crafty christmas, part ii

As promised, I brainstormed and remembered some other crafty (or cheap) Christmas gifts from the past.

• Peppermint Cocoa! You know, I had a "made from scratch" recipe but I'm unable to locate it at the moment. Here's the next best thing ... Swiss Miss Hot Cocoa is like .97/box at Wal-Mart. Buy a box, open all the packets and dump them in a bowl. Open a bunch of peppermint candies and toss them in a food processor. Pulse until it's really fine and then dump the peppermint into the bowl with the cocoa. Mix well and then pour into an air-tight container. I have found that Mason jars work well. You can add a scrap of fabric between the lid and the ring, tie some twine or raffia around the lid, and add a nicely decorated tag with the measurements for mixing. By the way, that's about a third of a cup of cocoa to a cup of boiling water. ;)
• Favorite Family Recipes. There are two ways to go about this. Find a nice set of recipe cards, write out the recipes, and tie them up with a ribbon. Or, go to http://www.blurb.com/ to create your own really nice book. They're priced $4.95 to $59.95. I have not gone this hi-tech route because I've always liked the personal touch of writing the cards myself, but when I'm ready to gift recipes again, I think I'll invest the time to actually make a cookbook.
• Beeswax Taper Candles. Buy sheets of beeswax at most any craft store with candle making supplies. Also buy wicks. Cut the wick to the length of the beeswax sheet and begin rolling the beeswax sheet tightly around the wick. It's cute when you gift these in pairs. Tie them with raffia or a pretty ribbon and give them away.