10 Weeks of Christmas -- Week Two...Neighbor Gifts - the Non-Food edition :)

Lesley and I both posted some great food ideas for neighbor (or friend gifts) here and here earlier this week. But most of the ideas were food gifts. If you are looking for some ideas that don't involve food, here are some ideas for you.  I tend to gravitate more towards the "winter" ideas because if you give the gift sometime the week before Christmas, they will be able to keep it out longer if it is snowmen or winter rather than Christmas.

Idea #1 - Snowman Doorstop - These are adorable! My mom made these one Christmas about 5 years ago and I still love putting it out each year! I put mine in our front porch each year. She used some clay (that you bake to harden) in orange for the carrot nose and in black for the eyes and buttons. I really like the idea of using real buttons, though. 

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Idea #2 - A Snowman Kit - Another cute idea. The carrot is purchased, but the hat and the scarf are homemade, so it makes it budget friendly!

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Idea #3 - Sock Snowmen - How cute are these snowmen?! And they are made from a tube sock and a decorative sock found at Target for $1! These are cute and easy!

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Idea #4 - Hand Soap - Something everyone uses, and it's fun to have some festive soap for the season! I like the cute saying she came up with for it, and she includes the file to download so all you have to do is print, cut it out and attach it to the soap!

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Idea #5 - Christmas Printable - I just love all the printable files floating around on the internet and I think it would make a great gift! I recommend sending the file online to a photo printing place (like Walgreens, CVS or similar) so you have a good quality 8x10 print. Find some inexpensive frames to put them in. A little more on the pricey side if you have a lot of gifts to give, but it's really easy and doesn't require any "Martha Stewart-type skills" :) There are tons of free options online (search for subway art), but here are two that I really liked. 

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The best part about making a non-edible gift is that you can do it now and not have to scramble at the last minute trying to get everything done in the craziness of the holiday rush.  Hope these ideas help give you some inspiration for the holidays!

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More Neighbor Gifts

When Beth and I first decided to do a Christmas countdown, I thought it was a great idea and was so excited that I'd be able to get my gifts ready early.  But, like Beth, I lean towards food gifts for neighbors.  So I can't get those ready in October.  The recipients that would fall into the "neighbor" category for me would be bus drivers, teacher assistants, school secretaries and principals, some friends, some extended family members, and of course actual neighbors.  I am posting some ideas I've found online.  Please visit the link below to see details on how to make the gifts, recipes, and some really great blogs/websites!

Hot Chocolate Mix from myrecipes.com

Fudge in an Ornament   This link takes you to Tip Junkie, and a post with several really cute ideas. 

Pretzels:  This idea comes from howdoesshe.com and again, if you follow the link you will find a bunch of great ideas.  Beth already featured one of them.  I like to make pretzel rods dipped in melted caramel and then rolled in mini chocolate chips, toffee pieces, and butterscotch chips.  They can then be drizzled in red colored white chocolate or coated with sprinkles for a more festive look.  You can usually find little pails like this at Target in the dollar section.

Pretzel Treats: Totally adorable and pretty inexpensive.  The link gives a detailed how-to.

Reindeer Food  Adorable

Peppermints  I love this packaging. 

cookie bags  A really cute way to package cookies

White Chocolate Dipped Peppermint Sticks.  This may be my favorite because it is so simple yet so beautiful.  Love the packaging here as well.  I couldn't find the original source, but I think it's from Country Living.

For more ideas, simply go to pinterest.com and type "Neighbor Gifts".

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Custom Name Necklace

Well, I did what I thought would be impossible.  I finally narrowed down my necklace choices and ordered one!   It took a while because there were so many cool options.

Here's the necklace!

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Teacher Appreciation Gift Idea Roundup

Lots of cute start-of-school teacher appreciation gifts are floating around the web, so I thought I'd do a little round-up of some I've seen.  Please visit the link to the blog for more detail on the idea and in some cases free printables to make the gift.

From Lil Luna

From Domesticated Lady

From Domesticated Lady again:

A whole bunch of great ideas here at Crafting Chicks

Maybe my favorite one here, so original and such a long lasting gift.

There are so many cute teacher gift ideas out there.  Search "teacher gift ideas" on pinterest and you'll probably see most of these, along with many more.

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