2011 Sweet and Savory Holiday Edible Gift Exchange

On December 10, 2011, I hosted the first annual Sweet and Savory Holiday Edible Gift Exchange to include some wonderful friends. It was a spin off to the traditional cookie exchange with a balance of sweet and savory gifts. This year I really wanted to focus on frugal but amazing gift giving ideas so this party was dedicated to that purpose and of course, just a reason to celebrate every day life. The twist was in the attire-Ugly Christmas Sweater:)

The soiree was a success and guests are anticipating an annual event. Here's how I did it:

Planning the event:

• Send out Save the Date notifications one month in advance
• Indicate the details of the party to include date, time, place, theme and guidelines for the edible gifts guests will bring.
• Guests were asked to specify what their edible gift idea was to avoid duplications-no one wants 10 dozen chocolate cupcakes right? This is a very important detail.
• Ask guests to package their goods as if they were giving it as a gift. Let them know that prizes will be awarded for various categories such as presentation, creativity and taste.
• Create an online group through Evite or Facebook group email to stay in touch with all invitees for updates.
• Ask guests to bring enough individually packaged gift for the number of guests in attendance and extra for the sample table.
• The host can decide on a pot luck or catered meal. We prepared all the foods for the guests but kept the menu simple with finger foods.

Be sure to scroll down and check out the whole blog with photos and more inpirational ideas.

These were my hostess gifts. Chocolate covered prestzels, spiced tea, rolling pin ornament with a tag that read "This is how we roll" and a mini whisk with a kiss and tag that read "We whisk you a Merry Christmas".

Part of the dessert/sample table.

"From the Kitchen" inpired handmade tree ornaments with help from my Cricut Expression of course.

The Ugly Sweater wearing ladies. Monica won but Laurie still feels that she should have won.

The whole gang missing a few.
This is the set up of all the edible gifts everyone brought. So beautiful.
These are my spiced tea packaged in a jar accompanied with a cute little teaspoon.
Louise's pumpkin rolls, Mary's Godiva chocolates and Monica's special bisquits.
Audrey's famous sandies-thee best in the west, east, south and north:)
Michelle's chocolate covered pretzel rods.
Mary's Godiva Chocolates...I bet this one was hard to make;)
Party favors-rolling pin. This is how we roll.
Mini whisk with a kiss. We wish you a Merry Kissmas!
Laurie's peppermint mallows and hot chocolate kit.
Close up of the spiced tea.
Darlene's Grog-yumminess for your coffee.
Party favors.
Debbie's strawberry shortcake.
Laurie's Mallows.
Ed's delicious cheese, meat and fruit platter.
My cranberry turkey pin wheels, Thanksgiving in a wrap.
deviled eggs-you can never go wrong.
A glance at the buffet table.
My Chicken apple salad bites.
another look at the edible gifts.
Coffee is served. I used snowmen peeps for drink garnish...how adorable.
Michelle's special house punch.
What's the Holidays without eggnog?

Pasta Salad with feta cheese.

Beautiful, I must say.

Chocolate Covered Pretzels Gift Bags

These pretzel treats make a delicious and simple to make holiday gift.

I bought these 9 inch pretzel sticks at K-Mart for about $5.99. You can find this in the chip/snack section. What a steal of a deal for the price. These make the best dipped pretzels.

You also need candy melts in whatever color you like. Melting chocolate will do just fine. You can find the candy melts at Moylan's Party World and Shop for Less for under $6.00 a bag.

• Line a cookie sheet with wax paper
• Prepare all your candy sprinkles-set up in small bowls
• Place candy chips in a deep microwavable bowl or mug-makes it easier to dip pretzels
• Melt the candy chips in the microwave at 30 second intervals and stir. Be careful not to over do the heating as the chocolate will melt.
• Add 1/4 teaspoon of peppermint extract-any extract will do depending on taste preference
• Dip a quarter or half of the stick in the melted chocolate, use spoon to help coat.
• Shake off excess chocolate over the container
• Sprinkle with your candy bits or other decor
• Set on wax paper and place in fridge for 15 minutes to harden.
• Enjoy:)

I sprinkled crush candy cane over the wet chocolate.

You can serve these treats in a nice Christmas platter and it will surely catch some admiration.

I packaged these in cello bags so it could be easier to give as gifts or stuff in stockings and baskets.

Packaging your pretzels

• I used a 9.5 x 5.5 sized cello bag with a self adhesive seal on the back. (You can pick these up at Sunny Wholesale or Dungeon's)
• Cut decorative paper to 9 x 5 and insert in cello bag.
• Line up 6 pretzels carefully.
• Seal bag.
• Cut another decorative paper for top of bag. (Size 5.5 width and 4.5 length)
• Fold paper in half to crease.
• Adhere double stick tape to inner flaps and align crease with tip of bag then secure both sides of paper to cello bag.
• cut ribbon to 1o.5 inches-insert ribbon in between bag and decorative paper flap and tie a bow.
• Add a tag and gift away.

I hope I made this as simple as it truly is. Let me know how it works out for you. Merry Days and Bright Nights Everyone:)

2011 Christmas Craft Workshop and Fellowship

I get extremely giddy with excitement when I hear of opportunities to attend a craft workshop. On December 03, my church hosted a fabulous ladies crafting event. The only downfall was that the 2 hours allotted for the event stretched to 4 hours and then some-which was perfectly fine. Next workshop, we will be sure to reserve the full day for creative junkies such as myself.

It was a nice intimate afternoon affair with amazing and loving lad

ies who had so many creative ideas and encouragement to offer.

The worst part was that I received my Canon Rebel T3 camera on time and was so elated to capture these beautiful moments that when I retrieved it form its bag, turned it on and snapped away...the display read, card not inserted or something to that effect. I left

my SD memory card in my laptop which was at home. Bah humbug!!!! Nonetheless, I've beendependent on my iPhone for the past 5 months since I've seemed to misplace my, not one but two camera chargers. So these photos were what I took.

When you embellish regular candles they can be beautiful gifts. I made these candles for my mom and Ms. Jan.

This is the station I was responsible for-ornament and card making. The ladies loved making cards and managed to make several for family and friends.

Christmas candle station.

I made a gift set for Ms. Jan who was not able to join us as she worked hard to prepare the scenes of Bethlehem Live. The set included a journal book with pieces of old hymn pages, tree ornaments, a candle and a set of Christmas cards.

The card set made by one of the ladies. So beautiful.

My mom discovered her love for making handmade cards. She made about 7 cards in 4 hours...not bad mom:)

Paper ornaments, so simple but yet so elegant on a tree.

I am not sure if I could bring myself to buy ornaments ever again.

This is one of my favorite ornaments I made.

Another pretty card set.

A pair of shoes can change your life; just ask Cinderella Greeting Cards

Here's another frugal and fabulous gift idea...handmade greeting cards. Make them in a set so it's more convenient for you. I was inspired by shoes in this set. I used the Cricut to cut out 3.5 in. heels and embellished each shoe with studs and flowers. The card dimensions are 8.5 x 5.5 inches. I also printed the phrases and cut them out to size. This is a fun and chic project to do. Best of all is that your girlfriends could always use another set of cards and shoes:)

Outside of card reads "A pair of shoes can change your life; just ask Cinderella." Inside of card reads "...just as our friendship has changed mine."

The designs are endless as the real thing.

Wish I owned real life pairs of all them shoes!!!!

Your girlfriends would love receiving these as gifts.

Paper Crafted Christmas Ornaments

When I ordered my Cricut Expression in October 2009, I vowed to make my investment worth every penny I spent and of course the 3 months I waited for it to arrive as it was shipped out erroneously. Last Christmas I made some holiday cards and this year, I wanted to experiment with paper tree ornaments. After numerous template choices, a theme sprouted. Hence my "From the Kitchen" motif.

This photo is not the best one taken as it was done using my iphone camera. I wish you could see the tree in person because it seriously sweet.

I found the mini rolling pin ornaments online and I added the tag cause that's how I roll.

The full tree. Once I receive my Canon Rebel camera, I will retake these photos because these are just not blogspot material. LOL.

It can't be Christmas without the gingerbread man and his Lady.

Cupcakes are as sweet as can be.

I loved this pot holder. I used Christmas dollies for the ruffles.

How about these mini rolling pin ornaments? I had to have them...I ordered these online and embellished with the tags.

I actually cut out this apron template myself. They are also intended to be my invitations for my holiday "Sweet and Savory" Gift Exchange Party.

This was a Cricut template. Gotta love how cute this design is.

I basically whipped out my stamp sets, pretty ribbon and embellishments and got to work. The end result is the sweetest little tree you'd ever see.

Christmas Time on a Dime~Featured in the Managu Magazine-November/December 2011 Issue

**Thanks to Leah Malanum for inviting me to write an article for the magazine. It is an honor to share my Holiday frugal tips and spread the love.** Happy Holidays Everyone:)

Christmas Time on a Dime

By: Michelle S.N. Sasamoto

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas; then suddenly reality hits and our gift-giving list and things to buy to prepare for the season seem bottomless. What should be a joyous time spent with friends and family becomes overtaken with the busy roadways, crowded retail stores and stress of a limited budget. What to do, you ask. Well, don’t fret just turn to your imagination for some thrifty but chic homemade gift and décor ideas that will take center stage with your loved ones. One of my favorite ways to trim the fat off my Holiday budget without compromising the quality of my gifts or décor is to break out my crafting supplies, pretty ribbons and baking pans. Over the years, I’ve made Christmas cards, ornaments and baked goods for my friends and family who anticipate what they will be receiving the next year. Another cost-saving technique that I’ve discovered is to plan early to avoid the madness.

Christmas cards and decorations are incredibly over-priced for this frugal mommy. A pack of good quality Christmas cards can be priced as high as $30.00. On the average, a single tree ornament costs about $5.00. In the past years, I’ve managed to still boast beautiful Christmas trees; a well decorated home, and handed out well-received wonderful homemade gifts without creating a financial strain and worries of paying off my debts when the New Year rolls in.

Maybe you’re thinking; there is no way that you have the time to create and make homemade things. I assure you that once you make a decision to give it a try, you’d be amazed at the benefits. You save money, engage family members and have fun in the process. Here are some of my helpful tips.

Preparing for a stress free holiday season:

1) Plan ahead-make a “things to do list” in October; include ideas of your décor theme, gift list, holiday foods and little elves or helpers.

2) Research your ideas-I believe that if you’ve thought of something amazing, someone else has thought of it before you so why reinvent the wheel? Maximize your internet search engine by typing in your key words and browse websites or photos for inspiration. This will help you to stay focused on the mode you want to attain.

3) Avoid the holiday rush-shop online to avoid long retail lines and empty shelves, visit your favorite retail stores early to get the best deals.

4) Use items you already have at home-your house is a hidden treasure chest waiting to be discovered. It’s time to go from room to room, storage bin to storage bin to pull out your collection of favorite holiday possessions.

5) Recycle items-Use cookie cutters for tree ornaments and old plates for candle holders.

6) Family gifts-Instead of individual gifts, consider giving one gift to the whole family. One year I made Christmas movie baskets that included a DVD movie, a liter of soda, a box of microwavable popcorn and some candies you would find at a movie theatre. The best part is that it cost me less than $25.00.

7) Make it a family affair- Set a family project day so everyone is contributing and sharing ideas. This brings the spirit of the Holidays to your dining table and the true meaning of the season is celebrated.

Remember, it’s the thought that counts. The Holidays are a time to celebrate with people you love and stress should be minimal. Follow these helpful tips and enjoy “Christmas time on a dime”.

For more frugal holiday ideas, visit my resource blog at www.favoritesbymichelle.blogspot.com

Hand crafted and hand stamped greeting cards

Cookie Platter

Paper crafted ornaments