homemade gifts

Sweet Treats: Easy Chocolate Covered Caramel Candies

December 30, 2015 by Danielle

Giving handmade gifts over the holidays is a simple and inexpensive way to share a little something with those you love without breaking the bank. I love finding new things to bake or make to add to the tin of goodies we prepare every year. And candies pair very well with our normal mixture of cookies and baked goods.

With Valentine’s Day around the corner, these simple and easy chocolate covered caramel candies would be the perfect treat to make as a gift or as a sweet treat. I made them over the Christmas break and loved how quickly they came together. Add a sprinkle of kosher salt on the top for a sweet and salty mix that any friend would love to receive.

Chocolate Covered Caramel Candies

12 ounces of sweetened milk chocolate chips
24 caramel squares
Parchment Paper
Candy Sticks or toothpicks
Chocolate Melting Pot (optional)

Prepare your chocolate in a melting pot, or if you don’t have a melting pot you can use the microwave or a double boiler over the stove.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and keep it near.

Prepare the caramel squares with candy sticks down the middle. Alternately, you can use toothpicks. Dip caramel squares into the melted chocolate, cover each square completely with chocolate.

Place chocolate dipped caramels on parchment paper to dry, pulling candy sticks out as you go.

As each caramel hardens, peel it away from parchment paper.

Enjoy immediately or keep in an airtight container for up to two weeks.

How would you dress up these easy chocolate covered caramel candies?

Filed Under: Christmas, Desserts, Holidays, In the Kitchen, Recipes, Uncategorized, Valentine's Day Tagged With: candy, caramel, chocolate, chocolate candy, DIY candies, homemade, homemade gifts

Christmas Gift Making Party Ideas

November 24, 2014 by Danielle

This #GoNutsForNuts shop has been compensated by #CollectiveBias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone.

Tis the season for gift making and gift giving. One of my favorite things to do is make homemade goodies to give out to family and friends. This year I’ve put together some fun ideas for a Christmas gift making party. Gather some friends around, put on some crock pot hot chocolate, and make some gifts for your friends to pass out to their loved ones.

One of my favorite snacks to bust out during the holidays – and a family tradition – are the Planters mixes. From their Brittle Nut Medley to their Winter Spiced Nuts, there’s a combination for everyone.

I still remember many Christmas Eve’s over at my grandmother’s house reaching for the Planters mix. Such fond memories! And now I’m sharing those memories with my friends. But in a slightly different way! [Read more…]

Filed Under: Christmas, Holidays, Party Ideas, Uncategorized Tagged With: Christmas gifts, Christmas parties, DIY Gifts, gift ideas, gifts, homemade gifts, party ideas

How to Make a Thumbprint Reindeer Ornament

November 21, 2013 by Danielle

Need a simple, inexpensive gift for the grandparents and other family members this year? Try your hands at this Thumbprint Reindeer Ornament and see how easy it is to create a personalized gift your loved ones will treasure for years to come.

Not only does it get the kids involved in the holiday spirit, it’s super easy to make! And you don’t have to stop at reindeer. Why not grab some white paint and make some snowmen! Or a whole snowman family.

We had the kids from my children’s preschool use their thumbprints on the ornaments we made. We then took them home to dry, personalized them and created the reindeer, and then gifted the ornaments back to each child to have a keepsake for their tree. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Christmas, Crafts/DIY, gift ideas, gifts, Holidays, Uncategorized Tagged With: gift ideas, gifts, homemade, homemade gifts, ornaments, personalized gifts

How to Make A Recipe Card Using PicMonkey

November 19, 2013 by Danielle

If you’re like me, the holidays means full-fledged baking frienzy. Whether I’m making something for a party or gifting a platter of delicious cookies to a friend, I love to bake as much as possible and share delectable goodies with those closest to me.

Most of the time when I share an edible gift I’m usually asked for the recipe. So I decided this year I’d get ahead of myself and create recipe cards for the homemade gifts I make. And, of course, I’m using my favorite editing site to do it – PicMonkey!

By using their new Design feature I’ve figured out how to make a recipe card so that I can easily share the recipes I love. Want to know how? Read ahead!

How to Make A Recipe Card Using PicMonkey

1. Head on over to PicMonkey and click on Design. 2. Now choose the size you want your recipe card to be. I chose a 5×7 layout (or 2100 x 1500 pixels)

3. By using the Canvas Color option under Basic Edits, choose the color you want your background to be.

4. If you want your recipe card to be Landscape, under Basic Edits click on Rotate and rotate your canvas.

5. Add your recipe photo (if you have one) by going to Overlays (butterfly icon) and clicking on Your Own. Then choose the photo you wish to choose on your computer or other image source. Position it to the location and size you want it to be on the card.

6. Add the title of the recipe and the ingredients and instructions by adding Text to the card. If you’re a Royale Member of PicMonkey check out the awesome new Santa Script options. They’re some of my new favorites and what I’ve used on my card! Feel free to use the same color by grabbing and copying the color number (6 digits) and pasting it into the color box of your new text box.

7. Now add some flourish and design to your card. To create a divider in between your ingredients and directions, use a Geometric overlay by re-sizing a rectangle.

8. Add a border to one side or both by adding more Overlays. You can also add a frame around the recipe card under Overlays. I really like the look of the drop down option for these cards.

9. Now it’s time to Save the recipe card to your computer so you can upload and print from your favorite photo site or print from home.

10. Grab your printed recipe card, your plate of goodies, and start spreading some holiday cheer!

Have any questions about this tutorial? Please feel free to ask in the comments below. I’ll try my best to help you out if you have any questions! And for the full recipe post for the recipe above, visit my Gingerbread Cake Recipe post here.