Works for Me: Homemade Christmas

This week's theme is Last-Minute Christmas Tips. If you're trying to find something easy and inexpensive, but still with that homemade touch, take a look at what we did.

This year for Christmas, Adam and I gave our friends dinner baskets filled with homemade mixes, a small bottle of wine, and a coupon for dessert.

Dinner is Vegetarian 3-Bean Chili (mix recipe and directions here) and cornbread. I designed the apple-shaped coupons to round out the meal. They read, "This coupon entitles you to one scrumptious dessert made fresh in [Adam & Amy’s] kitchen."

I packaged the mixes in Wilton^® Clear Party Bags, but they could just have easily gone in canning jars or even plastic zipper bags. The chili mix includes a small spice packet and a can of tomatoes. To make them look a little prettier, I placed the bag containing the spices on top of the tomato can and covered both with a crocheted cap that Adam made--doesn't it look great? The star ornament is my handiwork. It does double duty as both another small gift and a package embellishment. I posted a pattern for the star here (it's the Small Star).

To find more Christmas tips, head on over to Rocks in My Dryer.