One of the best parts of the holiday season is the abundance of goodies that seem to fill many hones. I love preparing special treats for my friends and family to enjoy. I keep goodies on hand for many different occasions. A plate of homemade treats makes the perfect gift for holiday hostesses, school teachers, and neighbors.
Each family has their own idea of what constitutes the perfect sweets for Christmas. Some families want lots of chocolate. Others like pies and cakes. Whatever your family’s preference is, there is always room, however, to make a few easy-to-make additions to your holiday preparation plans.
Cinnamon Rolls – Nothing beats the warm, sticky goodness of cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning. While making these sweets used to require hours of work, Pillsbury makes a canned cinnamon roll product that eliminates all of the work. Simply remove the contents from the tube (You’ll find it in the refrigerated case of your grocery store with the biscuits.) and place them onto a baking sheet. Then, pour the enclosed icing on top of the rolls when they come out of the oven.
Chocolate Pie – Pies are another treat that used to take tons of work. Now, however, with the advent of frozen pie crusts and pudding mix, you can have a picturesque pie in almost no time. I love to use the milk chocolate pudding, but you can use banana cream, caramel, or any other flavor your family likes.
Peanut Butter Cookies with Chocolate Kisses – Peanut butter cookies have always been easy to make, but this traditional treat adds a little extra something to a classic cookie. As soon as the cookies come out of the oven, press a single Hershey’s kiss into the center of the cookies. The addition of the chocolate to the sturdy peanut butter cookie makes this cookie a holiday favorite.
Chocolate- Dipped Pretzels – Nothing is easier than melting chocolate in a sauce pan, but a coating of chocolate takes pretzels from standard snack fare to decadent treat in a handful of minutes. For an even richer taste, try dipping Oreo cookies into the sweet topping.
Fudge – No listing of holiday treats would be complete without including good, old-fashioned fudge. This treat is a little more work than the rest of my goodies, but you’ll quickly see that a little goes a long way with this fun dessert.
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Do you love to present your friends and family with beautifully-wrapped gifts at Christmas? For me, half of the fun of gift-giving is finding inexpensive, but stylish, ways to wrap my gifts. In fact, I sometimes spend more time agonizing over my gift-wrapping choices than I do my shopping expeditions.
Making your own gift wrap is a great way to save money while creating really unique-looking gifts. Friends and family will know at a glance which gifts came from your house. And, while your gifts will look like a million bucks, you’ll know that you didn’t spend anywhere near as much as everyone else did.
Use Plain Paper – Plain paper serves as the perfect canvas to display your creative talents. Brown kraft paper (grocery bag sacks) will look very chic with some well-chosen embellishments and a bow made from jute string. You can stamp cute designs onto your paper or just attach a fun motif (cut from last year’s Christmas cards) to the bow.
Make Your Own Paper – Small gifts like DVD’s or books are just the right size for wrapping in paper from your home computer. But don’t leave the paper blank this time. Instead, create your own gift wrap on your computer, print it onto the paper, and enjoy your instant wrapping paper. You may choose Christmas designs from a clip art website or something as simple as the words, “Merry Christmas” written over and over again. Experiment until you have a design you love.
Use Newspaper – Many newspapers don’t include the pages and pages of comics that we had growing up, but you can still find ways to use that newspaper when wrapping gifts. If you have a financial wizard in your family, why not wrap his gift in the stock trading pages of the paper. Or, save those Black Friday ads that will soon be coming your way. The pages from toy ads will add just the right touch to your little guy’s gift; it may even give him a hint about the package’s contents.
Use Fabric – Large or odd-shaped gifts can be hard to wrap with paper. Instead of buying one of those expensive, giant-sized gift bags, why not buy one of those inexpensive flat sheets or pillowcases available at every discount retailer. For under $5 you will have everything you need to wrap that bulky gift. (Don’t forget to check your favorite thrift store, too. You may find even less expensive fabric options.)
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Family gifts are some of the most difficult to select. You know your neighbor at the office will be touched that you chose to get them anything at all. The same is probably true for your child’s teacher. But family members can be an entirely different ball of wax.
There are a lot of emotional issues tied up in gifts for you family members. You might think that if you don’t spend a lot of money on your family that they might think that you don’t care about them. Or, perhaps you don’t want them to know that you’re struggling with your finances, so you agree to exchange gifts with your entire family. Many different factors can influence your decisions regarding family gifts.
Rather than going overboard on family gifts this Christmas you should consider choosing more frugal gifts. While you can still share the fun and excitement of exchanging gifts, you will find that the thought put into your gift means much more than the price tag attached to it.
One way to put an emphasis on meaning rather than price for your family gifts is to choose gifts that show that you listen to your family member. Has your mom mentioned while doing the laundry that she really needs new towels? Surprising her this Christmas with a matched set or two of towels that coordinate with her bathroom will really make her day. Pay attention to conversations you’ve had with family members to find gifts that will be certain to strike a chord with them.
Another way to give a frugal gift that still carries a lot of meaning to the recipient is to give a gift of time. No, of course you can’t really give anyone extra time. But how many times have you heard your dad complain about having to shovel the walk. Why not have the grandkids present him with a book of coupons for sidewalk shoveling. Make sure, however, that the gift-giver is ready to follow through with their good intentions.
Finally, choose gifts with a nostalgic value for the most impact on their recipients. For instance, maybe you and your sister used to spend your afternoons playing board games. Why not give her family one of your old favorites so that she can recreate the tradition in her own family now? Board games are inexpensive, but the fun shared while playing them is priceless.
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