Instead of spending a fortune on store bought Christmas gift boxes this festive season, why not try this inexpensive alternative? It will definately take you more time when wrapping presents, but the personal touch can make the end result worth it.
In the run up to Christmas, save any old shoe boxes you have, or any other boxes that have a base and a seperate lid part to them. Choose some good quality gift wrap that suits your budget and co-ordinating gift ribbon.
I usually cut a rectangle of paper to cover the inside base of the box and one for the lid to make sure the inside of the box looks as good as the outside. Cut extra large pieces wrapping paper and wrap the lid and base of your box seperately, making sure the paper covers the full depth of the box on the inside.
Add your gift and tie the box with your co-ordinating ribbon, perhaps using one of the tutorials below to make an extra special bow or ornament to decorate.
Shoe boxes are much sturdier than gift boxes so they can hold heavier gifts, or be used for multiple smaller gifts. And if you tie you box with ribbon instead of taping the lid on, it has the added bonus that the recipient can reuse the box next christmas.
Showing posts with label tips. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tips. Show all posts
Wednesday, 10 November 2010
Tuesday, 2 November 2010
Easy Peasy Cinnamon Rolls for Christmas Morning
This is a great recipe, very simple and wonderfully tasty!!
Ingredients:
1 loaf frozen bread dough, thawed
2/3 cups (130g) brown sugar
4 tablespoons melted butter
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2/3 cup (70g) sifted powdered (icing) sugar
1 tablespoon milk
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions:
1. Roll the dough into an oblong/rectangle shape and brush with the melted butter.
2. In a large bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon, then sprinkle over the entire ssurface of the dough. 3. Starting with the long end, roll the dough up into a sausage shape - moisten the edges with a little water or milk to help seal the end.
4. Cut the roll into slices. Place the slices into a lightly buttered cake pan, leaving a space between each one and set aside at room temperature.
5. Allow to rise for approximately 1 hour (the dough will have doubled in size).
6. Bake at 350F (180C, Gas Mark 4) for approximately 25 to 30 minutes.
7. Remove the rolls from the oven and allow to cool slightly.
8. Mix the sugar, milk and vanilla and drizzle over the rolls whilst still warm.
Why not copy some of our recipes onto one of these great festive stationery sets and save them all in a fun Christmas recipes binder? (You can even save $9 on great binders at zazzle by using coupon code: AVERYCUSTOM1 at the checkout until 31st December 2010*)
* $9.00 of the binder net sale price will be deducted when one or more binder items is purchased and the coupon code AVERYCUSTOM1 is applied at checkout. The net sale price is the price of the product (excluding shipping and taxes). Offer is valid from September 14, 2010 through December 31, 2010 at 11:59pm PT. This offer does not apply to past purchases and may not be combined with any other Zazzle promotional or volume discount offers. If a volume discount applies to your order, you will receive either the discount set forth in this offer or the standard volume discount, whichever is greater. Offer valid on Zazzle.com only.
Ingredients:
1 loaf frozen bread dough, thawed
2/3 cups (130g) brown sugar
4 tablespoons melted butter
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2/3 cup (70g) sifted powdered (icing) sugar
1 tablespoon milk
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions:
1. Roll the dough into an oblong/rectangle shape and brush with the melted butter.
2. In a large bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon, then sprinkle over the entire ssurface of the dough. 3. Starting with the long end, roll the dough up into a sausage shape - moisten the edges with a little water or milk to help seal the end.
4. Cut the roll into slices. Place the slices into a lightly buttered cake pan, leaving a space between each one and set aside at room temperature.
5. Allow to rise for approximately 1 hour (the dough will have doubled in size).
6. Bake at 350F (180C, Gas Mark 4) for approximately 25 to 30 minutes.
7. Remove the rolls from the oven and allow to cool slightly.
8. Mix the sugar, milk and vanilla and drizzle over the rolls whilst still warm.
Why not copy some of our recipes onto one of these great festive stationery sets and save them all in a fun Christmas recipes binder? (You can even save $9 on great binders at zazzle by using coupon code: AVERYCUSTOM1 at the checkout until 31st December 2010*)
* $9.00 of the binder net sale price will be deducted when one or more binder items is purchased and the coupon code AVERYCUSTOM1 is applied at checkout. The net sale price is the price of the product (excluding shipping and taxes). Offer is valid from September 14, 2010 through December 31, 2010 at 11:59pm PT. This offer does not apply to past purchases and may not be combined with any other Zazzle promotional or volume discount offers. If a volume discount applies to your order, you will receive either the discount set forth in this offer or the standard volume discount, whichever is greater. Offer valid on Zazzle.com only.
Monday, 25 October 2010
Quick Tips and Tricks for Presents if you Have Sneaky Kids that like to peek!
Do you have children (or adults) who just can't resist searching for their gifts in the weeks before Christmas? They'll squeeze, shake smell the parcels in the hopes of finding out what's inside before the big day. Perhaps they will even peel back a corner of the wrapping paper to take a peek? Do they always find your secret hiding places? If so then this tip is for you. It does work, I have personally used it successfuly in the past.
Gather together some random junk items; small empty boxes, strange-shaped existing but forgotten toys, old jars, cardboard inserts from toilets tissue rolls, basically anything that is not a present and won't be missed for a few weeks. Wrap them in Christmas paper and label them to the particularly bad offenders, then place them under your Christmas Tree exclaiming that you have given up on hiding the presents this year as they always get found!
I have wrapped anything from stones, to old individual portion sized cereal boxes filled with sand (for some added weight) to existing but un-listened-to CDs, one of my own sweaters, and much, much more. It worked, the kids were fooled enough to do all their poking and prodding with the fake gifts and never once thought to look elsewhere for their real gifts!
See more gift ideas here or go to the zazzle gift finder.
Gather together some random junk items; small empty boxes, strange-shaped existing but forgotten toys, old jars, cardboard inserts from toilets tissue rolls, basically anything that is not a present and won't be missed for a few weeks. Wrap them in Christmas paper and label them to the particularly bad offenders, then place them under your Christmas Tree exclaiming that you have given up on hiding the presents this year as they always get found!
I have wrapped anything from stones, to old individual portion sized cereal boxes filled with sand (for some added weight) to existing but un-listened-to CDs, one of my own sweaters, and much, much more. It worked, the kids were fooled enough to do all their poking and prodding with the fake gifts and never once thought to look elsewhere for their real gifts!
See more gift ideas here or go to the zazzle gift finder.
Thursday, 5 August 2010
Frugal Tip #1
An inexpensive Christmas gift can be made by filling a jar with colourful boiled sweets/candy, especially if you select a colour theme such as red, white and green. Certain brands of coffee's jars are ideal for these gifts; my favourite brand (Dow Egbert) has a glass lid with a plastic/rubber seal that pulls on/off rather than a screw-on lid. Tie a festive ribbon around the neck of the jar and voila, a wonderful homemade gift! This idea is great for all those aunties and uncles.
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