Spicy Gifts and Be-Witching Treats For Yule

 

It's not too late to make Yule Gifts, here are some recipes and crafty instructions I have collected and will share with you

 

Yule Time/Christmas Scent

 

3 sticks cinnamon

3 bay leaves

1/4 cup whole cloves

1/2 lemon

1/2 orange

1 quart water

 

Combine ingredients and simmer in a teakettle or saucepan throughout the holidays!

 

 

Cinnamon Treasures By Brenda Hyde

 

Cinnamon is not only easy to craft with, but it's a smell that reflects the warmth and charm of a cozy winter

home more than any other. These gifts can be used as additions to baskets filled with homemade breads,

muffins or cookies. You can also package them alone for small gifts to give teachers, friends and house guests.

 

 

Mulled Tea Bags

Ingredients:

5 tsp. loose black tea

4 whole cloves

6 whole allspice berries

2 tsp. coarsely crushed cinnamon stick

1 tsp. grated orange rind

1/2 tsp. grated lemon rind

fine-mesh cheesecloth

Cotton string

 

Cut two five inch squares out of the cheese cloth. Place 1/2 of your tea ingredients on one square, and the other

1/2 on the second one. Bring the corners together and tie into a bag with the string. Place the teabags into a

mug, with these instructions:

 

To brew place one tea bag in a mug and 1 cup of boiling water. Steep 5 minutes and enjoy!

If you wish you can also include a small jar of honey, an antique spoon (easily found at a thrift store),

2 cinnamon sticks for stirring and a novel to enjoy reading while drinking.

 

 

Santa Cinnamon Sticks

You will need:

1 6 inch long cinnamon stick

red, peach or cream, black and pink acrylic paint

small paintbrush

tiny stiff paintbrush for textured paint

"snow" textured paint

 

Paint Santa's hat on a 1/2 inch space at the top of the stick, using textured paint for ball and trim. For face,

paint 3/4 below the hat using peach or cream paint, paint eyes black and cheeks pink. Lastly use texture paint

and the stiff brush to paint eyebrows and the beard. These make charming gift toppers, or additions to gift

baskets and flower arrangements.

 

 

Cinnamon Christmas Ornaments

Two recipes, both simple, for making these neat ornaments that can also be used as package toppers. If making

ahead, I would put each one in it's own plastic bag and store in a cool dry place.

 

You will need:

4 ounces of ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon ground cloves

1 tablespoon ground nutmeg

3/4 cup of applesauce

2 tablespoons of white craft glue

 

These are not edible because of the glue. Mix together well, roll out and cut your shapes. Poke a hole at the top

of each one for hanging before they dry. Put them on a wire rack for about a week and let them dry, turning them

over about once a day.

 

 

Cinnamon Ornaments

You will need:

3/4 cup applesauce

1 4.12 ounce bottle ground cinnamon

 

Mix together to form a stiff dough. Roll dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut with cookie cutters. Make hole at top of

ornaments on rack to dry. Let dry 1-2 days or until thoroughly dry, turning occasionally. Hang with decorative

thread, ribbon or natural raffia. Makes 12-15 ornaments.

 

 

Table Decorations

You will need:

Cinnamon sticks, 4-5 inches long

natural raffia

dried flowers of your choice

hot glue gun, glue sticks

 

To make a centerpiece glue together two cinnamon sticks, then top with two more, gluing the four of them

together. Glue dried flowers to the top of the sticks to decorate, but not overwhelm. Tie a few pieces of raffia

around the middle of the sticks and flowers to form a bow with a few ends hanging slightly off the piece. Place

one in front of each place setting during your holiday meal. Guests can then take home their cinnamon craft.

 

 

Cinnamon Stick Candle Holder

You will need:

1 clear glass votive candle holder

about 20 cinnamon sticks

transparent tape

scissors

hot glue gun, glue sticks

 

Measure the height of your holder, and add 1/2 inch. This is the length you will need to cut your cinnamon sticks.

Cover the holder completely with tape. Hot glue does not adhere well to glass, so this will give you a good surface

to glue to. Glue each stick vertically to the holder, making sure they are placed evenly, until the entire surface is

covered. Use like this, or decorate with raffia, or other small holiday decorations.

 

 

Dream Pillows

1 cup mugwort

1/2 cup rose petals

1/2 cup German chamomile

1/2 cup of sweet hops

1/3 cup lavender buds

1/3 cup catnip crushed

1/4 cup peppermint

Mix the ingredients together.Make cloth bags from a 5x12 inch piece of

material and fill the bags with your mixture. Sew the top of the bag shut.

Sweet dreams!  These make great craft fair items, inexpensive gifts or neat items for gift baskets.

****

Be-Witching Treats For Yule

This Cookie Mix in a Jar craft is the perfect easy homemade Christmas gift idea. Personalize the outside of the mason jar with fun designs and sequined stickers. Then, fill the jar with all the dry ingredients needed for your cookie recipe, making sure to layer it neatly in the jar so you can see the variety of ingredients. Make sure to write out and attach the recipe so your recipient can properly bake your yummy treat!

Materials:

• Wide Mouth Canning Jars
• All Purpose Flour
• Baking Soda
• Baking Powder
• Granulated Sugar
• Brown Sugar
• M&M Candies
• Chocolate Chips
• Oatmeal
• Butterscotch Chips
• Cardstock
• Coordinating Ink
• 20” Ribbon per Jar
• Wooden Spoon
• Spatula
• Whisk
• Glue Dots
• Fabric

Instructions:

1. Pick your favorite cookie recipe and fill your jars starting with the flour, soda, salt and baking powder at the bottom, then adding sugars, oats and finally any mix-ins such as chocolate candies or flavored baking chips.  Add the seal on top, but hold off on adding the ring just yet. (Note: You’ll find it nearly mess-free if you create a simple paper cone from cardstock or cardstock-weight patterned paper. You can roll your paper into a cone shape and secure with glue dots or scotch tape.)
   
    
2. To add some fun flair to your jars for gift giving, trace the outer ring of the smallest circle in the Supersized Circle Template set onto the backside of a coordinating piece of fabric. Cut out along your traced line using pinking shears.
   
    
3. Place fabric over seal, and then tighten ring over the fabric. Use glue dots to attach a whisk, spatula or wooden spoon to the side of your jar, and then tie a 20” length of grosgrain or satin ribbon around the jar. Here’s a TIP:  For extra support you might want to secure the utensil with a rubber band.  Just make sure your ribbon hides the rubber band. Set aside as you craft the pieces to embellish the jars.
   
    
4. Create labels for the front of your jar using your Fuse Creativity System along with Medium Design Set 0111 and Medium Design Set 0191.  Create two snowflakes from Medium Design Set 0111 using two different colors of cardstock.  A darker ink of the same color cardstock gives depth to your piece.
   
    
5. Decide which of the two colors will be the top layer and cut around the inked image as shown.
   
    
6. Personalize the ‘from the kitchen of:’ label using letters from the Alpha Basic stamp set mounted to your stamp block.
   
    
7. Layer both snowflake die-cuts one top of one another, matching the centers. Use a paper piercing tool (or a thumbtack) to poke a hole through the centers.  Insert fabric covered brad through the holes and open the prongs on the back.  Further embellish the larger snowflake with self-adhesive rhinestones placed over the letter pressed dots at the tip of each point on the snowflake.
   
    
8. Use glue dots or foam tape to attach the label and snowflake to the jar. You may have to adjust your ribbon/bow to be off to the side so your die-cuts will lie nicely.  I found it easier to make the layered snowflakes slightly off-center to the left of the personalization stamped on the kitchen label so the name shows completely.
   
    
9. Be sure when you gift your cookie mix you also include instructions for mixing and baking so the recipient can prepare their cookies.

Sample Recipes to Use:
Chocolate Chip Cookies:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• ½ tsp. baking soda
• ¼ tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• ¾ cup packed brown sugar
• 1 ¼ cup chocolate chips*
• *NOTE: For M&M cookies, reduce salt to ½ tsp. and substitute M&Ms for chocolate chips. Or, do half chocolate chips, half M&Ms.
• Add ingredients to jar in order listed. Pack each layer firmly. Mixing instructions to include: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Empty jar of mix into large bowl and mix evenly to distribute ingredients. Add ½ cup softened butter or margarine, 1 egg (slightly beaten) and 1 tsp. vanilla.  Mix well.  Place by spoonful, 2” apart onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 until edges are light brown—approximately 11 – 13 minutes. Yield 2 ½ dozen.

Oatmeal Scotchies:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 cups oats
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• ½ tsp. nutmeg
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• ½ tsp. salt
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ¾ cup packed brown sugar
• ¾ cup butterscotch chips
• Add ingredients to jar in order listed. Pack each layer firmly. Mixing instructions to include: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Empty jar of mix into large bowl and mix evenly to distribute ingredients. Add ¾ cup softened butter or margarine, 1 egg (slightly beaten) and 1 tsp. vanilla.  Mix well.  Place by spoonful, 2” apart onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 until edges are light brown—approximately 10 – 12 minutes. Yield 3 dozen.

Read more at http://www.allfreeholidaycrafts.com/Christmas-Gifts-to-Make/Holiday-Cookie-Mix-in-a-Jar/ml/1/?utm_source=ppl-newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=allfreeholidaycrafts20131213#6Pyx5HFsghrbOpKm.99

This Cookie Mix in a Jar craft is the perfect easy homemade Christmas gift idea. Personalize the outside of the mason jar with fun designs and sequined stickers. Then, fill the jar with all the dry ingredients needed for your cookie recipe, making sure to layer it neatly in the jar so you can see the variety of ingredients. Make sure to write out and attach the recipe so your recipient can properly bake your yummy treat!

Materials:

• Wide Mouth Canning Jars
• All Purpose Flour
• Baking Soda
• Baking Powder
• Granulated Sugar
• Brown Sugar
• M&M Candies
• Chocolate Chips
• Oatmeal
• Butterscotch Chips
• Cardstock
• Coordinating Ink
• 20” Ribbon per Jar
• Wooden Spoon
• Spatula
• Whisk
• Glue Dots
• Fabric

Instructions:

1. Pick your favorite cookie recipe and fill your jars starting with the flour, soda, salt and baking powder at the bottom, then adding sugars, oats and finally any mix-ins such as chocolate candies or flavored baking chips.  Add the seal on top, but hold off on adding the ring just yet. (Note: You’ll find it nearly mess-free if you create a simple paper cone from cardstock or cardstock-weight patterned paper. You can roll your paper into a cone shape and secure with glue dots or scotch tape.)
   
    
2. To add some fun flair to your jars for gift giving, trace the outer ring of the smallest circle in the Supersized Circle Template set onto the backside of a coordinating piece of fabric. Cut out along your traced line using pinking shears.
   
    
3. Place fabric over seal, and then tighten ring over the fabric. Use glue dots to attach a whisk, spatula or wooden spoon to the side of your jar, and then tie a 20” length of grosgrain or satin ribbon around the jar. Here’s a TIP:  For extra support you might want to secure the utensil with a rubber band.  Just make sure your ribbon hides the rubber band. Set aside as you craft the pieces to embellish the jars.
   
    
4. Create labels for the front of your jar using your Fuse Creativity System along with Medium Design Set 0111 and Medium Design Set 0191.  Create two snowflakes from Medium Design Set 0111 using two different colors of cardstock.  A darker ink of the same color cardstock gives depth to your piece.
   
    
5. Decide which of the two colors will be the top layer and cut around the inked image as shown.
   
    
6. Personalize the ‘from the kitchen of:’ label using letters from the Alpha Basic stamp set mounted to your stamp block.
   
    
7. Layer both snowflake die-cuts one top of one another, matching the centers. Use a paper piercing tool (or a thumbtack) to poke a hole through the centers.  Insert fabric covered brad through the holes and open the prongs on the back.  Further embellish the larger snowflake with self-adhesive rhinestones placed over the letter pressed dots at the tip of each point on the snowflake.
   
    
8. Use glue dots or foam tape to attach the label and snowflake to the jar. You may have to adjust your ribbon/bow to be off to the side so your die-cuts will lie nicely.  I found it easier to make the layered snowflakes slightly off-center to the left of the personalization stamped on the kitchen label so the name shows completely.
   
    
9. Be sure when you gift your cookie mix you also include instructions for mixing and baking so the recipient can prepare their cookies.

Sample Recipes to Use:
Chocolate Chip Cookies:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• ½ tsp. baking soda
• ¼ tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• ¾ cup packed brown sugar
• 1 ¼ cup chocolate chips*
• *NOTE: For M&M cookies, reduce salt to ½ tsp. and substitute M&Ms for chocolate chips. Or, do half chocolate chips, half M&Ms.
• Add ingredients to jar in order listed. Pack each layer firmly. Mixing instructions to include: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Empty jar of mix into large bowl and mix evenly to distribute ingredients. Add ½ cup softened butter or margarine, 1 egg (slightly beaten) and 1 tsp. vanilla.  Mix well.  Place by spoonful, 2” apart onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 until edges are light brown—approximately 11 – 13 minutes. Yield 2 ½ dozen.

Oatmeal Scotchies:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 cups oats
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• ½ tsp. nutmeg
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• ½ tsp. salt
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ¾ cup packed brown sugar
• ¾ cup butterscotch chips
• Add ingredients to jar in order listed. Pack each layer firmly. Mixing instructions to include: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Empty jar of mix into large bowl and mix evenly to distribute ingredients. Add ¾ cup softened butter or margarine, 1 egg (slightly beaten) and 1 tsp. vanilla.  Mix well.  Place by spoonful, 2” apart onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 until edges are light brown—approximately 10 – 12 minutes. Yield 3 dozen.

Read more at http://www.allfreeholidaycrafts.com/Christmas-Gifts-to-Make/Holiday-Cookie-Mix-in-a-Jar/ml/1/?utm_source=ppl-newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=allfreeholidaycrafts20131213#6Pyx5HFsghrbOpKm.99

This Cookie Mix in a Jar craft is the perfect easy homemade Christmas gift idea. Personalize the outside of the mason jar with fun designs and sequined stickers. Then, fill the jar with all the dry ingredients needed for your cookie recipe, making sure to layer it neatly in the jar so you can see the variety of ingredients. Make sure to write out and attach the recipe so your recipient can properly bake your yummy treat!

 

Materials:

 

Wide Mouth Canning Jars

All Purpose Flour

Baking Soda

Baking Powder

Granulated Sugar

Brown Sugar

M&M Candies

Chocolate Chips

Oatmeal

Butterscotch Chips

Cardstock

Coordinating Ink

20” Ribbon per Jar

Wooden Spoon

Spatula

Whisk

Glue Dots

Fabric

 

Instructions:

 

Pick your favorite cookie recipe and fill your jars starting with the flour, soda, salt and baking powder at the bottom, then adding sugars, oats and finally any mix-ins such as chocolate candies or flavored baking chips.  Add the seal on top, but hold off on adding the ring just yet. (Note: You’ll find it nearly mess-free if you create a simple paper cone from cardstock or cardstock-weight patterned paper. You can roll your paper into a cone shape and secure with glue dots or scotch tape.)To add some fun flair to your jars for gift giving, trace the outer ring of the smallest circle in the Supersized Circle Template set onto the backside of a coordinating piece of fabric. Cut out along your traced line using pinking shears.

 

Place fabric over seal, and then tighten ring over the fabric. Use glue dots to attach a whisk, spatula or wooden spoon to the side of your jar, and then tie a 20” length of grosgrain or satin ribbon around the jar. Here’s a TIP:  For extra support you might want to secure the utensil with a rubber band.  Just make sure your ribbon hides the rubber band. Set aside as you craft the pieces to embellish the jars.

 

Create labels for the front of your jar using your Fuse Creativity System along with Medium Design Set 0111 and Medium Design Set 0191.  Create two snowflakes from Medium Design Set 0111 using two different colors of cardstock.  A darker ink of the same color cardstock gives depth to your piece.

 

Decide which of the two colors will be the top layer and cut around the inked image as shown.

Personalize the ‘from the kitchen of:’ label using letters from the Alpha Basic stamp set mounted to your stamp block.

Layer both snowflake die-cuts one top of one another, matching the centers. Use a paper piercing tool (or a thumbtack) to poke a hole through the centers.  Insert fabric covered brad through the holes and open the prongs on the back.  Further embellish the larger snowflake with self-adhesive rhinestones placed over the letter pressed dots at the tip of each point on the snowflake.

Use glue dots or foam tape to attach the label and snowflake to the jar. You may have to adjust your ribbon/bow to be off to the side so your die-cuts will lie nicely.  I found it easier to make the layered snowflakes slightly off-center to the left of the personalization stamped on the kitchen label so the name shows completely.

 

Be sure when you gift your cookie mix you also include instructions for mixing and baking so the recipient can prepare their cookies.

 

Sample Recipes to Use:

 

Chocolate Chip Cookies:

 

2 cups all-purpose flour

½ tsp. baking soda

¼ tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

¼ cup granulated sugar

¾ cup packed brown sugar

1 ¼ cup chocolate chips*

*NOTE: For M&M cookies, reduce salt to ½ tsp. and substitute M&Ms for chocolate chips. Or, do half chocolate chips, half M&Ms.

Add ingredients to jar in order listed. Pack each layer firmly. Mixing instructions to include: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Empty jar of mix into large bowl and mix evenly to distribute ingredients. Add ½ cup softened butter or margarine, 1 egg (slightly beaten) and 1 tsp. vanilla.  Mix well.  Place by spoonful, 2” apart onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 until edges are light brown—approximately 11 – 13 minutes. Yield 2 ½ dozen.

 

Oatmeal Scotchies:

 

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 cups oats

1 tsp. cinnamon

½ tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

½ cup granulated sugar

¾ cup packed brown sugar

¾ cup butterscotch chips

Add ingredients to jar in order listed. Pack each layer firmly. Mixing instructions to include: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Empty jar of mix into large bowl and mix evenly to distribute ingredients. Add ¾ cup softened butter or margarine, 1 egg (slightly beaten) and 1 tsp. vanilla.  Mix well.  Place by spoonful, 2” apart onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 until edges are light brown—approximately 10 – 12 minutes. Yield 3 dozen.

 

Read more at http://www.allfreeholidaycrafts.com/Christmas-Gifts-to-Make/Holiday-Cookie-Mix-in-a-Jar/ml/1/?utm_source=ppl-newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=allfreeholidaycrafts20131213#6Pyx5HFsghrbOpKm.99

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