Thrifty gift idea…. look what coupons and $.60 makes.

Walmart gave me a challenge to make a  Homemade Baked Gift for $5  or less. Sounded like fun so here is what I came up with.  First off Christmas goodies are so yummy I look forward to them every year.  I enjoy making them as well as receiving them from friends and family.  But I noticed that we would get ALL the goodies in one week.  Which means we would over eat, and still end up tossing about half of them out because we could not  eat them all before they went bad.

So this made me change the way I do Christmas treats for neighbors, Church friends, bus drivers, etc …. ( each year a huge list with about 60 people on it).  I try to give them something that has a longer shelf life, and they will have time to enjoy it before it gets tossed in the trash because it went bad.  My main goal is to let them know I am thankful for them, and want to share a little piece of our Christmas sprit with them.  I also want to show them I took some time to make it personal…but most important I need to stay within our limited budget.  Each year we make something different but this is what we came up with this year.

A box of Hot Chocolate, with chocolate dipped stirring spoons.

You will need:

• Dipping chocolate (white or dark) we did both $2.16 each
• Pepermint candies $1.00 a bag
• Sprinkles $1.00-$2.50
• Spoons $1.00 ( for colored ones look in the party supply section)
• Holiday ribbon ( just used what I had at home but you can get it for $1.00- $2.00)
• Wrapping paper ( used what I had at home, but you can get it for $1.00)
• Cello bags $2.00 for 25 bags ( found in party section at walmart)
• Hot Chocolate $1.00-$3 a box depending on what kind you buy.  I used the Swiss Miss I got on sale, with my coupons for only $.20 a box a few months back.

The supplies above are more than enough to make  25 gift bags.  My total out of pocket cost was about $10.00 (because I already had  the Hot Cocoa, and other supplies at home.  That means I was able to make these cute gifts for about $.40…if you add the cost of the $.20  Cocoa then it is $.60  a gift.

BUT if you had to go out and buy ALL these supplies you should be able to make them for about $1.52 each…not a bad price for a fun little gift.  Well under the $5.00 challenge.

Start out by getting your supplies ready.  I wanted to make some with crushed mint, so I took a hammer and broke up  a few of them.

These mints are only $1.00 a bag! And I only used about 1/4 of the bag! Very thrifty price!  Once you crush some of them, dump them into little bowls and set aside while you get the chocolate ready.

Heat the chocolate coating, 30 seconds at a time in the microwave.  Stir still smooth. ( do not over heat or add water or it will turn into a hard ball)

If your chocolate  coating gets hard, or thick you can put it back in for a few seconds to heat it back up again.

Start dipping your spoons, and add mints and sprinkles to make them look pretty.

I used both white and red spoons to make it look a little  more festive.

I then took wrapping paper and put a band just around the middle so they can still see it is a box of Hot Cocoa.

Tied a ribbon around it and them a added the spoons in a cute cello bag.

Here is one I did in blue… but I put the wrapping paper the long way around.

And here is one in  red.

Last year I did a post on how to turn a  bottle of soda into a cute teacher gift.  I learned that not everyone  approved of giving a “thrifty gift”.  So I was a little hesitant to  share the hot chocolate idea this year.  BUT I decided it is ok if not everyone agrees or sees the value in giving a gift and staying within a limited budget. It is the spirit of giving that I want to share with my readers. The cost and item are not what conveys the love  and joy of the season.    Hugs and Merry Christmas.

Thanks to Walmart for the $20 gift card for this project, and the chance to share my ideas!