Goodie Gifts

I mentioned before that handmade gifts are much more common in our home now.  Hubby has several other managers that he works with and they all exchange gifts.  It caught us by surprise last year, as it wasn't something that he had done before at his previous restaurants (same restaurant chain, just different restaurant...I guess that's small town living for you!).  Four managers to buy gifts for can add up pretty quickly, so this year I planned ahead and made Christmas goodie plates for each.  I think they turned out pretty good!

(please excuse Peanut's presidential placemat underneath...it's all about taking advantage of every learning opportunity!)


I purchased Christmas plates at the dollar store (these are by no means gorgeous collectibles, but are still nicer than a paper plate--and definitely more sturdy!) along with red cellophane.  I had card stock and ribbon in my stash and with the ingredients for the goodies, adding it up I don't think it cost more than about $20.00 total, or about $5.00 per gift, including wrapping!

I made Hot and Spicy Chex Mix (I got all the cereal on sale and on coupon, so they were just over a $1.00 a box!), ginger snaps, and sugar cookies with buttercream frosting.  A little savory and a little sweet too!

Funny little side note~I didn't think I would have everything together for him to take to work with him this morning, so I had planned on bringing the plates into his restaurant late this morning and had told him that.  Well, I got everything together last night (ahead of schedule!) and I told him he could just bring them in with him to work and he looked disappointed.  Of course, I got all defensive and told him it would be easier for him to bring them in as he didn't have a two year old to wrangle manage as well.  He said that wasn't a problem at all, but he had wanted me to bring them in so I would get some credit for them.  Sweet, huh?

Don't worry sweet Hubs, I don't think there will be a question of who put these together.  ;)