Gift Guide: Neighbor Edition

Stumped about what to give the neighbors this year? Last year was fantastic here- we had a casual dessert party and invited all of our neighbors to contribute to the food bank. Everyone brought donations, we had a hot chocolate bar and delicious desserts and enjoyed a great night together. Last year we decided another neighbor would carry the torch this year and host, but I'm yet to hear anything and wondering if I should step up to the hosting plate again or let it slide. I've got a few things on back up that I'll be giving to friends, and thought I'd share a few ideas.

-I've been wanting to highlight Garnish for a while now, and no better time than when thinking of neighbor gifts. Garnish sponsored an auction for Nie, and I was the lucky winner of fantastic packaging supplies. They have the perfect components to put together beautiful packaging, and they also have great ideas for uses of their supplies that I never would've thought of! Check them out for a slew of ideas.

-This year I was stressing about Christmas gifts for all of the Relief Society sisters, and ended up putting together mulling spices that were a hit! I came across the Monterey Bay Spice Company and couldn't have been more pleased for ordering bulk spices. Their turnaround was quick, quality was great, and prices were amazing! I'm planning to use them anytime I want to order bulk spices. If you decide on this gift, don't buy spices from the grocery store. I bought packages of 100 cinnamon sticks for less than $3 each when I couldn't get 10 at the grocery store for under $4. I dried oranges (and word to the wise- get them completely dry or they may mold after they've been pacakged in plastic bags and allowed to sit in a dark box for a week and you'll be totally mortified, not that I've had expereince with anything like that) and included 2 orange slices, 2 cinnamon sticks, and between 1/2 tbsp and a full tbsp of whole cloves and allspice berries in each little cellophane bag, then tied them up with ribbon. Attach a gorgeous tag which includes the recipe (in a saucepan mix spice mix with 1 cup water and 1/2 cup oil, bring to a boil, then simmer as long as desired, adding more liquid as needed). We were able to put together close to 200 gifts for less than $50. Amazing!

I can't share all of my ideas for this year because some who may be on the receiving end are also on the reading end, but I hope I've gotten some of your creative juices flowing!