Whose gift is it? Creative gift wrapping ideas

Photo gift tagsOne of the moms here at Pear Tree Greetings used one of our creative gift wrapping ideas as a special surprise for her 3-year old daughter last Christmas. She ordered a set of Christmas gift tags for each of her children, with their photos on them, so that on Christmas morning when her daughter was looking through the gifts under the tree she could easily find the ones meant for her.

“It really added an element of fun and excitement to the morning as we watched her face light up each time she found one.” Their son was old enough to read, so for him the photo on the gift tag was simply for decoration. “Funny thing was, our daughter was just as excited to find gifts for him. She loved being in charge and handing out all the gifts as though she could ‘read’ the tags.” It made for such a nice memory, they are going to do it again this year.

It’s homemade—the best kind of gift!

Gift tagsMany of us love to bake during the holiday season, and share our treats with friends and neighbors. Cookies, fudge, toffee, dipped pretzels, popcorn balls, flavored oils and vinegars, liqueurs—whatever you love to make is sure to make a great gift, because it comes from the heart.

I love opening the door to our friendly neighbor, who is hand delivering her annual gift of chocolate-covered toffee. We exchange holiday greetings and catch up on the neighborhood news. She, like everyone I know who shares the gift of their cooking, simply loves to do things for others and never expects anything more than a happy greeting in return.

Everyone has their own homemade gift ideas—usually something they’re very good at and make every year. Often, the unique packaging or festive wrapping is just as creative as the gift inside. I especially love the personalized gift tags that proudly proclaim who made them, or labels that make it sound like they came from a professional kitchen. Gift tag stickers make great labels for jars and boxes, while tie-on gift tags work well for cellophane wrapped or bagged gifts.

Even if you don’t make your own gifts this holiday season, you can make your own gift tags and keep enough on hand for those last-minute hostess gifts or gift exchanges. A gift tag that says “Holiday Greetings” makes any gift, even a bottle of wine, feel more personal.

Share your garden bounty

Garden Gift TagsDo you spell “tomato” t-o-o-m-a-n-y? Have you run out of creative ways to use a zucchini? Many of us love to share the late summer bounty of our garden with others. From salsa to spaghetti sauce, zucchini bread to casseroles, garden gifts are a pleasure to make and a joy to receive—and eat!

Sometimes the hardest part is finding containers and creative label ideas. Canned fruits, vegetables, sauces and jams obviously have to be put up in jars, but there are lots of decorative jars to choose from these days if you want to go beyond the basic Ball variety. Breads and other baked goods can be packaged in tin containers, decorated shoe boxes, plastic food storage containers or just wrapped in cellophane. Line boxes and tins with wax paper or foil. And be sure to cool completely before packaging.

When everything is inside, we like to decorate our containers and jars with cloth ribbon or cover. Personalized gift tag stickers make great label ideas, or we tuck a little notelette in with our gift. Either way, our neighbors know who to thank for the goodness!

Book stickers instead of apples for the teacher

Teacher Book TagsAnyone with a child in elementary school knows that keeping track of schoolbooks is almost as hard as keeping track of kids. Books sent home for reading assignments have a way of disappearing under the bed or between the couch cushions and reappearing a year later, at which point Mom has to figure out where they belong. That’s where our fun book stickers come in handy as great teacher gift ideas.

Book stickers are decorative personalized stickers you place inside the front cover of a book to identify whose it is. Teachers love book stickers because they are a quick and friendly way to ensure that their books make it back to the right classroom no matter where they are found. Moms who are looking for a unique teacher gift, whether at the beginning of the school year, around the holidays or at the end of the year, can’t go wrong with a set of book stickers personalized for their child’s teacher.

Many schools hold book drives or book sales as fundraisers during the school year, which is also a great time to give book stickers. During these events families purchase books for their kids and teachers purchase, or receive as gifts, books they need for their classrooms. A percentage of the profits goes toward the school or PTA/PTO projects. If your school has a book drive, think about supplementing your gift of a book for your child’s classroom with a set of book stickers for the teacher. It’s better than an apple any day!

Graduation Gift Ideas

Graduation Gift Ideas
Are you on the graduation party circuit this month? The up side of being invited to a lot of parties is that you can eat free every night if you want to. :) The down side is that you may feel obliged to bring a gift to the parties you attend, which can get very expensive (more than you’d spend on dinner, anyway). Keep in mind that you are never obliged to bring a gift. But if you want to, or feel you must, here are some unique graduation gift ideas that are very affordable.

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