For the past several years I have enjoyed the tradition of baking and packaging various homemade treats for friends, family, and coworkers.  This year I didn’t have quite as much energy or enthusiasm as usual so I dialed back the list of recipients a bit.  I also chose slightly less involved treats that would still provide a nice variety and overall effect.

I’ll be sharing the recipe for the cookies in a couple of days but I just thought this post might provide some inspiration to anyone looking for holiday gift ideas.  I am a huge fan of homemade gifts for many reasons.  They are a great option to express love or appreciation without wasting money on a generic gift bought just for the sake of giving something, that may then be re-gifted or thrown out.  And of course, you just can’t beat homemade treats :)

This year our packages are filled with hot chocolate mix, vanilla marshmallows, cherry chocolate coconut granola, peppermint bark cookies, and vanilla bean caramels.  I went with very simple packaging from Garnish (read on below for a giveaway!) and some simple gift tags I made to accompany each item.  It’s always an exhausting and a labor of love, but it is also very satisfying to see all the treats packaged up and ready to go.  Of course my favorite part about it is getting to deliver the packages to friends and spend a little bit of extra time with them.

Note: This week I’m doing a series of holiday giveaways for you all!  In an effort to prevent the giveaways from taking the focus away from the food, I will be linking to them on a separate page where entries can be submitted.  Today I’m giving away two $25 gift cards to Garnish.  Visit the giveaway page to learn more and to enter!  (Giveaway opens at 6:30 am.)