Baked and Packaged to Give

Today I was thinking about what I should blog about and decided to share some of my favourite and simple Christmas baking recipes. These are all recipes that are easy to make, taste amazing and are fun to package and give as gifts. I enjoy the packaging of these festive treats as much as the baking. There are so many great ways to wrap up cookies, candies and other baked goods and they are always a welcome gift. When you need a little something to take to a friend or families home over the holidays any of these would be awesome.

So first the tasty and so simple M & M Chocolate Pretzel treats. If you love the combination of sweet and salty, you’ll enjoy these! These look great in a cellophane bag tied with a pretty ribbon. I also have labels that make a nice addition to the bags.

Sugar cookies with icing, sprinkles or other edible goodies are another Christmas favourite for many.

Chocolate Toffee Squares are another delicious treat, easy to make and package up too!

Some ideas for packaging these treats could be:

Fancy cellophane bags, holiday coloured Ziplock containers, fancy paper plates, a holiday themed glass or melamine plate, coffee mugs, candy jars, mini take out boxes (craft stores have Christmas themed ones) There are all kinds of great ideas, put your own spin on it and make it special for the receiver. 

Here are some ideas from my store Designs by Shell to get you inspired too! Thanks for stopping by!  Leave me a comment if you like.

What is your favourite Christmas treat to make or bake?

Christmas Baking Labels	Christmas Baking Stickers	Christmas Cookie Baking Sticker
Cute Christmas Mouse Candy Jar .	Whimsical Bird with Holly Candy Dish	Fancy Christmas Cupcake Mug

Technorati Tags: christmas baking,christmas gifts to bake,packaging ideas,designs by shell

Stretching Your Holiday Spending

Do you plan to taper your Christmas spending this year? It seems several people I’ve talked with are planning to cut back on the amount that they are spending this year. Perhaps it’s cutting back on the number of gifts you give to your family members or how much you’re spending on decor and holiday extras. It’s good to be intentional with your spending and not just buy randomly just because you’ve hit a great sale.

With repurposing and reusing being so popular right now, it’s a great way to stretch your shopping dollars. It’s easy to get sucked in to over buying when all the sales and promos start popping up.

Make a list of who you’re buying for, jot down the amount you want to spend and of course try to stick as closely as you can to this. Making good choices is crucial to not over spending!

Create as many homemade/handmade gifts as you can. There are endless ideas for this. Here are a few,

Create a calendar using photographs you’ve taken, make candles, create a gift basket suited for his/her taste, bake some goodies and put in a cellophane bag tied with a pretty ribbon. Also donating to a charity in someone’s name is a nice way to keep the giving going! Thoughtful gifts don’t have to be expensive. Giving of your time, helping someone out by shopping for them, watching their children so they can go out, driving someone to their appointments, you get the idea!

Instead of buying more Christmas decorations repurpose what you have, change up holiday bows or decor on wreaths, collect greenery clippings and pinecones and use in urns and planters adding a bow or some oversized ornaments that you probably already have. If you love changing your Christmas colors, change out one color instead of the whole theme, much less expensive. Wrap different size boxes in wrapping paper and stack for a simple decor idea. It’s amazing what you can do with things that you already have!

My store Designs by Shell has been keeping me busy! New designs can be found on a huge array of products. Come by for a snoop around and get inspired!

Cartoon Chicken Christmas Ornament	Cartoon Christmas Chicken Gift Tag	Patchwork Christmas Stocking Postage
Jolly Santa Suit Party Invitation	Shirt and Tie Best Teacher Mug	Red Shirt and Tie Luggage Tag

Technorati Tags: curb holiday spending,spend less this Christmas,ideas,Designs by Shell

Creating With a Twofold Purpose

Sometimes when I’m in a super creative mood I try to think of something I’d like to create that could be used in a twofold way.  Something that has a decorative purpose (as I like to be crafty)  as well as something that could be utilized in my business.

It’s no secret that I like to decorate my home for Christmas with lots of pretty ornaments and use them in various ways. I’ll use them on the Christmas tree of course, in vases and glass bowls and wherever I feel they’ll add a touch of sparkle.

This past week I decided to make these adorable ‘cupcake’ themed ornaments that I’d seen on Pinterest.  So I gathered all the supplies and began to craft. They turned out super cute, I think they’ll look awesome on a small white tree with other ‘sweet’ themed ornaments. 

So to explain the twofold purpose, you see first the cupcake ornaments will be used on my small white tree as a decoration in my home. Secondly for the twofold purpose, I took pictures of them arranged in a variety of styles and used them on products in my store. I was able to put them on Christmas cards with the instructions inside for others to make. I used the pictures on wrapping paper, stickers and postage that I sell in my shop too! So now you see what I mean by being able to use my creative ideas and utilize it in my business as well!   I had fun crafting and grew my business too!

Here are some pictures and instructions in case you feel inspired and want to make some of these cute ornaments for your home or to give as gifts. 

Supplies

regular size glass ornament (your choice of color), paper plate, paintbrush, acrylic craft paint (antique white), glitter (color of your choice), hot glue gun or tacky glue, holly berries (for cherries), ornament hooks or ribbon, foil or fancy paper cupcake liners.

Instructions

-holding ornament paint top half with antique white paint

-over a paper plate start sprinkling glitter over paint twirling it to cover all areas, allow to dry

- once dry apply hot glue to bottom of ornament and place in cupcake liner

-take a holly berry, apply glue and position it at the top of your ornament

-add a hook or a ribbon and it’s ready to hang

Below you’ll see how I used the pictures on some of my products! Stop by my shop to see what else is new!  Feel free to leave me a comment, especially if you’ve made these or are planning too!

Christmas Cupcake Tree Decorations Card	Fancy Christmas Cupcake Gift Wrap	Fancy Cupcakes Gift Tag
Black Paw Print Pet Tag	Little Owl on a Branch Address Label	Snowman with Hearts Baking Apron

Technorati Tags: twofold+business+purpose,christmas decorations,how to make cupcake ornaments,designs by shell