Holiday Baking and Gift Giving

I have to admit, this time of year I always have the best intentions to go to 20 different places and buy all of the perfect gifts, packaging, and thoughtful little things to give to people like daycare teachers, neighbours, and even family members. Best intentions usually end in me also feeling super stressed after I've hit about the 10th store, so this year I was SO HAPPY that I was able to get everything I needed in one place - Kitchen Stuff Plus!To start, I wanted to bake sugar cookies with the kids to hand out to our neighbours and for them to take to their daycare teacher. I grabbed a few baking essentials I was missing from KSP, like the Triplet Melamine Mixing Bowl, KSP Bakers Measuring Spoon and the KSP Bakers Measuring Cup-Spoons, all of which I ended up loving. The measuring cup spoons are so easy to leave in the flour and sugar containers, and make for super easy measuring when baking, of course. What you can't see here is my handy black cotton apron, which helps keep some of that mess off of me! So with all of that in place, we got to work!Let' see how that went, shall we?Again, with the best intentions, I thought we would make some super cute sugar cookies with the huge set of Betty Crocker Plastic Cookie Cutters, but the toddlers had other plans...To eat ALL of the batter! Don't worry, there were o eggs in it at this point.My little helpers officially became too preoccupied with eating the cookie dough (who can blame them), and I ended up making the dough incorrectly - it wasn't rolling well, even with flour and a Non-Stick Rolling Pin.So we opted to use the Silicone Cookie Stamp that comes with one handle and 3 interchangeable stamps. The kids LOVED IT! Since I couldn't roll the dough out, I used the OXO Good Grips Meatball-Cookie Scoop (in medium) to scoop the dough onto my OXO Commercial Pro Cookie Slider Sheet (which reminds me, HOW DID I EVER LIVE WITHOUT THIS? It's amazing and after several batches of cookies, nothing stuck to it).In the oven I used the Betty Crocker Non-Stick Oven Liner because I have this crazy tendency of spilling things in the oven. I know it sounds hard to do with cookies, but it's happened before. This liner can be cut to size (though it fit perfectly in my oven, and can be removed and cleaned.The kids got so excited to make cookies for Santa, and I am now SO HAPPY I ended up getting this adorable Christmas Treat 'Cookies For Santa' Porcelain Dish & Mug Set. How sweet will it be to bake cookies on Christmas Eve and leave these for the big guy?If Santa gets his own special plate, so do we! I got this set of plaid side plates to make things a little more festive when we enjoy some of these cookies, as well, and paired them with the equally festive Traditional Check Polyester Napkins. Because can there ever be too much plaid?The boys loved the Hot Chocolate W/ Marshmallow' Ornaments as well, which come in an assortment that say "believe," "joy," and "peace."So what did I do with ALL of these cookies? Well, I used them to give away as gifts to our neighbours, and while I was at it, made up a few packages with ornaments, which I love to give to my family every year.My camping-loving brother and sister-in-law got some themed ornaments with the beaver in a canoe and tent, the pet lovers got some picture frames, our family photographer (my husband) got the camera ornament, my dad the handyman got the construction tools ornament, and we got a cute rolling pin one for my mom. I put these into some really simple brown bags and added names with washi tape. Easy peasy, but thoughtful and ended up looking super cute!I have to say, cookies on this Large Acacia Wood Serving Tray would also be such a lovely thing to bring to a party host!Gift giving doesn't always have to be complicated, especially when it's thoughtful. People love knowing that the kids picked things out and helped bake the goodies!Now, if you want to check out some more adorable gift ideas and even some more Holiday baking, go check out my fellow Modern Handmade Home friends!

HARLOW & THISTLE |THE SWEETEST DIGS | LOVE CREATE CELEBRATE

Thanks so much to Kitchen Stuff Plus for sponsoring us yet again. We love working with them, and please know that I mean everything I say when I profess my love for them!