More crafts? Why, yes please

Several years ago...sometime before the kids...I made a few themed gift baskets for Christmas gifts. For one reason or another, I didn't make that a tradition but have always wanted to make/bake/create baskets again. I was certain I could make it happen last year, but the season came and went so this was my year!  A few months back, I decided Maggie's therapists would be the perfect audience and began jotting down ideas (details below).
But first I want to talk about the gift I made for an auction because well, I made it first. We held a fundraiser auction with our friends from our Sunday School class this year and I decided to decorate blocks to auction off. I know, sounds exciting right? Well, I made a set for Maggie's room earlier this year, which was inspired from Etsy.

As I considered what to make over and over, I finally thought, "why can't I duplicate those blocks, but for Christmas?" Then a lightbulb went off, "why not add something on the flip side!?" So that's just what I did-- one side for Christmas and the other for any time. I had just finished the Joy to the world decoration for the entertainment center, so I decided to do that. I made Maggie's before the Cricut, so lettering was easier this time around.

Looking back, I should've added some ribbon or a bow, embellishement of some kind like I did on Maggie's, but you live you learn. Winning this item also came with the promise to personlize the "Bless Our Home" side with their last name on the bottom block.

I wanted to make really nice baskets for our therapists but still needed to keep costs reasonable, so here's what I came up with:

• something sweet...found these cute, green mini-tins on clearance at Michael's late summer/early fall and grabbed 'em up hoping to use them for Christmas baskets
• embroidered towels
• pillar candle- embellished...found this idea on a Hobby Lobby pamphlet
• cocoa mix...found a recipe online and reasonable glass jars at WalMart
• personalized name badges...girls only
• the "basket" would be a Christmas tin or box....found some cute tins at JoAnn's for half off plus used a coupon off total purchase-- the red ribbon tied around each tin was included in this purchase and the filler is from the dollar store.

I made these for my mom last year as part of a thank you for keeping things going while we were in the hospital for Maggie....one of the nurses there told me how to make them. 

 All Maggie's therapists use badges, so I made a couple personalized ones for the women. She has one male therapist and I just didn't think I could make these look masculine and Daniel agreed.

Each item is embellished with scrapbook paper, cutouts, ribbon and/or sewn pieces. Each basket also has its own theme-- stockings, ornaments or snowmen and the paper used for the candle, truffle tin and cocoa top is consistent within each basket.

Two of the three therapists' towels have their last name, so I didn't include a close-up of those.

So those are my 2011 Christmas baskets! They were a lot of fun to make, but involved a few late nights! :)