Christmas gifts

Then I Bought a Group Gift (Day 6)

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If I can think of a gift that can be given to an entire family unit, I buy it. I shop for my two sisters (married with kids), my brother (married with kids), and my parents. Last year each family received a mini crock pot with a recipe for my favorite crock pot dip. I love mini things, and these little crock pots are really fun. When my whole extended family was together at Christmas, we got them all out one night and set up a chocolate fondue buffet with everyone’s crock pots. Yum!

I tied a recipe card with the classic Velveeta queso dip recipe on top of everyone’s wrapped crock pot.

Ingredients

  • 1 lb. Velveeta cheese, cut into 1-inch dice
  • 1 can Ro-Tel tomatoes (I like mild)
  • 1/2 to 3/4 lb. browned ground beef

Directions

  • Add Velveeta to crock pot with Ro-Tel tomatoes and browned ground beef. Heat until melted, stirring occasionally. Serve with Fritos Scoops or tortilla chips.
  • May need to half the recipe to fit in the mini sized crock pot.

Alternate Idea: See below for the triple crock pot that I saw on the Target website. I think the triple crock pots might be even smaller than the single mini! Maybe somebody will get this for me this year (hint, hint Sewing Sister and Aunt B).

On the Fourth Day of Gift Ideas

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I love anything personalized! After seeing a designer on Project Runway wear monogrammed t-shirts a few seasons ago,  I purchased a stack of Gap t-shirts for all of the women on my holiday gift list. I stuck with basic colors (black and white) and had monograms added. I probably should have included my pre-teen niece too because she is a preppy girl, and this is a great gift for girls ages 10 and up. I will monogram just about anything. What would work well for my shopping list this year?

What to Do: Find cotton t-shirts that are a good weight. I like the Gap Essential Crewneck Ts because they are a little thicker and can hold the stitching of the monogram machine. I took my shirts to a local monogrammer. You may want to ask about having a fabric stabilizer added to the back of the shirt, so the monogram is stitched in evenly.

Styles: I chose 3 letter monograms for all of the shirts. Some shirts had the fancy cursive and some were more tailored. It just depended on the person receiving the shirt. I think 2 1/2 inches is a good height for the largest letter in the center.

 

On the Second Day of Gift Ideas

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I won’t be posting 12 days in a row of gift ideas, but I had a little momentum from yesterday’s watercolor painting post, so you get two ideas back to back! A year ago, my son came home from school raving about jelly marble experiments he had been performing in science class. It turns out, my local toy store carried this fun item, and we started giving them as birthday presents (great price point).

At Christmas last year, we bought several variations of the jelly marbles and gave them to all of the 4-8 year old family members. I even thought about using them as stocking stuffers for my own children.

What to Buy: Be Amazing! Toys has several options that are fun gifts. You can give the Amazing Spheres or Jiggly Jewels. We have also given the Insta Snow. After testing everything, the original jelly marble (AKA Amazing Spheres) was the fan favorite.

What to Do: The Steve Spangler website gives great suggestions for parents/teachers. At our house, we filled cups with water and added food dye. We let a few marbles grow in each color, then started moving them around to different colors to see if the colors would combine. We left them in for many days to see how big they would grow. We cut them in half to check out the inside. We tried different types of liquid (like cranberry juice or milk), which made a big difference on the growth rate. Basically, I left them by the kitchen sink, and my children messed around with them every day. I did not have to supervise too much, and as long as they stayed near the sink, there was very little clean up.