Gifts of Love with a Vintage Twist

I love to make kitchen gifts and with every passing year, I buy less and make more. My gifts are anxiously anticipated and make it even more enjoyable to create and package them. This year17 talented people looking for inspiration attended two nourish classes and came away with (I hope) many ideas and the confidence to feed those they love delicious holiday treats.

Though I hope to share lots of my ideas in the coming weeks, I have chosen to start with one of my favorites.
Every year I include a simple chocolate bark recipe. A gift everyone loves and super easy for anyone-regardless of skill level-to make. This year's is dark chocolate, toasted almonds and dried apricots with a sprinkling of smoked sea salt. Sharing this simple yet addictive treat was not the high point, at least not for me.

In this case it's all about the packaging. Rooting through the books at Goodwill, I came across an overly loved copy of Frosty the Snowman and ran to Michael's for a 99 cent half-sized white pencil box. Add to this pairing rubber cement, an Exacto-Knife and a piece of mylar. With some careful cutting the image was dry mounted the lid and covered with mylar to create a frosty (pun intended) look. A few wispy swirls of rubber cement lightly sprinkled with sparkling glitter and Frosty comes to life.

This was my favorite presentation of the year. Combining vintage book images and a decoupage-ish technique - does crafting get any better?

In the end, the recipient has a beautiful keepsake box to enjoy long after the chocolate has affixed itself to the hips. I am sure they'll be especially grateful for the New Year's resolution incentive.