I have stepped away from the kitchen, and am writing this as the smells of holiday baking drift from my oven to where I sit at the computer.
I am baking 6 dozen cookies to share with my girlfriends. Last Christmas, we started the tradition of gathering for a cookie exchange, and it looks like this will be something that we continue for a long time.
The concept is simple:
- Plan with a small group of friends or family.
- Choose a cookie recipe.
- Bake a dozen cookies for each person in the group.
- Gather together to exchange cookies.
- Host a tea party or trim a tree together.
This makes holiday baking simple and fun. If I exchange with 6 friends, I leave with 6 dozen cookies, a dozen each of all different varieties. This year I chose a simple whipped shortbread, made a little more decadent with a chocolate-covered pretzel on top. I’ll let you know how they taste!
My favourite OMHG moments are the ones where I get to collaborate with other creative minds. For many months, I had the idea of a handmade mitten exchange, another simple and beautiful way to celebrate the holiday season.
Each person buys or makes a pair of handmade mittens, and then exchanges them in a holiday celebration. In early November, I was thrilled to launch the blog post “How to Host a Mitten Exchange”. I was fortunate to be able to collaborate with the talented Kim of Joyful Roots to create the beautiful mitten exchange illustrations for the blog post and for the free printable mitten exchange party invitation printable available to my e-mail newsletter subscribers. I then partnered with the handmade community to feature beautiful and unique handmade mittens as part of the post.
My girlfriends and I had so much fun with the mitten exchange. I asked each girl to get creative with her wrapping, and wrote another post showcasing the gorgeous gift wrap. Everyone went home with a warm cozy feeling and handmade mittens to wear all Winter long.
Do you have any holiday gifting traditions? We would love to hear! Share in the comments below, or in the OMHG forum.
Say Hello to Alison
Alison Butler is a part-time creative, a wife, and mother with a passion for thoughtful gifting. She blogs weekly inspiration at www.thepetitcadeau.com and recently launched The Petit Cadeau shop, filled with handmade, hand embroidered celebration countdown calendars and other lovely goods for thoughtful celebrations.
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