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SPICED TEA
Ingredients:
2 cups Orange Tang
1/2 cup Instant Tea
1 cup sugar
1 pkg dry lemonade mix
1/2 TBS ground cloves
2 TBS Cinnamon
Mix together all ingredients.
Mixture will make 1 quart of dry mix. Fill glass jars or Christmas
Tin with mixture. Add recipe card. To serve: Use 2 tsp. dry mix
in very hot cup of water.
PRETTY HANKIES
A few years ago I gave each of my girlfriends a monogrammed handkerchief
I have had a number of customers do the same. You could also
give a pretty embroidered hankie or a vintage print handkerchief
Hankies make cute gift wrapping on small gifts too!
Scented Bath Salts
Everybody enjoys a nice relaxing soak in the tub with scented
bath salts. Buy some at your local bath & body type store
or make your own. Use plain rock salt & add a few drops of
your favorite essential oil. Lavender & rose work quite well.
Bottle them up in a pretty jar or use an organza gift bag. Be
sure to make a few weeks ahead so that the oil will thoroughly
scent the salt.
TEA BAGS WITH DEMI SPOON
Put a few flavored tea bags in an organza bag & tie a sweet
demitasse spoon on top. Cute for girlfriends in clubs, church
groups etc.
STRESS RELIEVERS
Have any STRESSED out friends?? Make a Stress Reliever Gift Basket.
Fill basket or pretty gift bag with china tea cup & saucer,
some herbal teas, a relaxing aromatherapy candle, a lavender
eye pack, bath salts or bath confetti, possibly a relaxing instrumental
CD. Fill it with varying items according to what your budget
will allow. They even have aromatherapy candles at the dollar
store now. Pick up a vintage cup & saucer at the Salvation
Army or Thrift Store.
SOUP IN A JAR
There are numerous Soup in a Jar recipes around. Try this one:
INGREDIENTS:
* 1/2 cup barley
* 1/2 cup dried split peas
* 1/2 cup uncooked white rice
* 1/2 cup dry lentils
* 2 tablespoons dried minced onion
* 2 tablespoons dried parsley 2 teaspoons salt
* 1/2 teaspoon lemon pepper
* 2 tablespoons beef bouillon granules
* 1/2 cup uncooked alphabet pasta
* 1 cup uncooked twist macaroni
DIRECTIONS: In a wide mouth
1 quart jar, layer the barley, peas, rice and lentils. Then layer
around the edges the onion, parsley, salt, lemon pepper, bouillon
and the alphabet pasta. Fill the rest of the jar with the twist
macaroni. Seal and attach a gift card. The gift card should read:
Add contents of jar to 3 quarts of water, 2 stalks of chopped
celery, 2 sliced carrots, 1 cup of shredded cabbage (optional)
and 2 cups diced tomatoes. Over medium low heat,
cover and simmer about 1 hour,
or until vegetables are tender.
COLORFUL FIREPLACE PINE CONES
Soak pinecones in any of the following solutions. When the pinecones
are thrown into the fire, they will burn in different colors.
Add 1 cup of any of the following to 1/ 2 gallon of water, soak
overnight. You must let the pinecones dry out completely before
using. A minimum of 3 days drying. For yellow / green flames
use borax, for yellow flames use salt, for violet flames use
salt substitute,(potassium) for deep red flames use boric acid.
Always handle any chemicals with care. Put pine cones in a mesh
bag for gift giving.
HOMEMADE Cookie Cutter DOG
BISCUITS
Don't forget man's best friend! For this simple recipe you will
need:
1. 2+1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2. 1/4 cup milk
3. 1 egg
4. 1/4 tsp garlic
5. 1 envelope dry yeast
6. 1/4 cup wheat germ
7. 4 TBS warm margarine
8. 1 TBS molasses
9. 1+1/4 tsp salt
10. 3 TBS water
Dissolve yeast in warm water.
Separately mix flour, garlic. wheat germ, and salt, then cut
in margarine. Stir in eggs, molasses, and milk. Then mix in yeast
mixture. Roll dough 1/2" thick. Cut into shapes and put
on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 for about 20 minutes
Cool overnight. Use fancy cookie cutters for Christmas or a dog
bone shaped cutter. I hope this article has given you some new
ideas or brought back to remembrance some you might have used
before. With today's economy we can all use some ideas for creative
yet not too expensive gifts. Happy Giving! |
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