Baking, baking and more baking

Of course one of the best gifts to give people at the holidays is something you made in your kitchen. Of course with the over abundance of sweets at the holidays you also want to make something that wont leave them feeling overwhelmed with 'more sweets then they know what to do with.'
One year I made my diabetic step-mom several mini-sized loaves of sweet bread- banana and cranberry nut, that were made with Splenda so that she was able to eat them without worrying. I made them small as it would be just for her and she froze them so she could pull them out one at a time and enjoy them.
Another idea is one that would save you from having to do a lot of work at Christmas and would also give the receiver something to enjoy all year around. Give them a gift of a baked item a month. Let them know that every month you will deliver to them a baked item made fresh in your kitchen for them to enjoy. These items could be dessert themed, chocolate themed, different varieties of breads, etc.
So many people these days do not take the time out to bake something fresh from scratch for themselves and having your homemade goods would be a much appreciated gift.

Covered composition notebooks make very lovely gifts. For the scrapbooking lover, it is very enjoyable to make and being able to tailor each book to the tastes of the receiver adds so much enjoyment to making them.

You start out with a basic composition journal, the kind that use to only come in the mottled black and white covers. You also want a variety of papers, card stock, lace, pictures, etc. to decorate the front with. Make sure to use decent glue, they may not need acid/lignet free as the receiver may not be keeping them forever like you would a scrapbook, but it wouldn't hurt to use that type of glue.


You want to measure the base paper to fit the cover and glue it on. If you want to attach a bookmark, then in between the back of the book and the paper that you use on the back you will want to place a thin ribbon, long enough so that you can put it halfway down the back of the book and have it hang over the top of the book and all the way down the front. I attached some beads to the end of the bookmark ribbon.



Once you have the main cover paper on, feel free to decorate it any way you want- like I said, its best to think about the person who will receive it and their personality. Also, be creative about what you use to decorate the journals. In the first picture on this page I used wallpaper boarder for the vines and lace on the bottom of the page. The second journal has letters I traced onto cardstock and some special paper punches. The last one has several layers of paper forming a layered frame, some corners cut with decorative scissors and a cutout of a shell.

These are pretty simple and relatively inexpensive. They are also a lot of fun and the receivers tend to really enjoy them.