Wanted -Your ideas for gifts/kits

oh, MS, that’s a wonderful idea!…… let’s see, a few of the ‘kits’ I’ve seen are:

muffin kit with dried fruit

cookie mix with nuts and chocolate chips

a bath kit with scented oils and beauitiful soaps

one of my favorite ‘kits’ as a little girl, at Christmastime, a kit to make an ornament – they came with a beautiful colored silk ball, and tons of beautiful beads with pins to stick them in, ribbons, jewels to glue on , etc. and of course instructions how to make the design…… my mother still has those beautiful ornaments we made……..

When my best friend got married, I sent them on their honeymoon (they were going to their trailer in upstate NY), I put together a basket of gourmet pancake mix, pure maple syrup, fresh fruit, and all the fixins for bloody-marys.

Good idea for this thread! I’m looking for ideas for a tricky-tray. I think I’ve done them all over the past 20 years: themes included music, day at the beach, for the birds, gardening, movie night, brunch, tea/coffee, home maintenance, for the dogs, for the cats, crafts, candles – I need a new idea!

I will put together items that I know the person will like. One family member loves her candles and teas and cups so I made some stuff up. I have also made winter hats for people. I have also taken pictures of gardens or done photoshop art and put these in a gift.

Chey

Another nice item in a gift basket is homemade herbs. I love this combo, and most of the herbs are probably in your cupboard. (use dried for this). Herbes de Provence……… 2T oregano, 2T thyme, 2T summer savory, 2T lavender, 1 tsp basil,1 tsp sage, 1 tsp rosemary. Crumble slightly and put in airtight jar(s). I think the lavender is a must for this, but some recipes omit it. I use it as a rub for roasted chicken or turkey. Mixed with oil or butter and rub all over the bird, and under the breast side skin. I’ve read where it can be used in soup,stews,roasted potatoes,roasted asparagus,etc. I did make a half batch the other, and didn’t have the summer savory, but it still tasted wonderful. MS, if you see this…….I just took a swig of my extract, and I like the flavor of the spiced rum better than the vodka. Will top off with rum from now on. Here is a recipe for vanilla sugar, which would be another fun addition to a basket.

http://tipnut.com/homemade-vanilla-sugar-recipes/

An awesome idea. I’ve been looking for something along the line like this for my mom. Since she has moved into assisted living she doesn’t need the type of things I usually get for her at Christmas (clothing, kitchen stuff, etc.) But a gift basket of things she can use in her room…I need to start brainstorming.

Great ideas! Maybe as a gift I could get together the Bach flowers essences that most people use,The Rescue Remedy,Rescue Sleep and Rescue Pets. Also some ginger candy and special teas from a health food store. Arranged nicely in a little basket with frilly bows and whatnot.

One year for Christmas I put together a gift of home canned salsas, pickles, spaghetti sauce–anything we had put up from the garden! I put it in a Christmas ornament container (the ones that are divided to store ornaments in). Depending on the recipient, I added a bottle of wine, specialty teas or flavored coffee or cappucino and inexpesive wine glasses or coffee/tea mugs from the dollar store. If the recipients had kids, I added hot chocolate mix–you can make it: 2 # box of dried milk, large container of creamora or any kind of dry coffee creamer, 1 large canister of Nestles Quik, and 1 # of powdered sugar. Just add mix to cup and add hot water. I also put in some Christmas candies for the kids. It went over very well and was rewarding to know which canned things everyone liked!