Cookie Exchange Hostess Gift

Last Saturday night I went to my very first cookie exchange! I didn't just show up with something sweet to share, I also took this little hostess gift for my friend Julie. I was in a rush to get out of the door, and forgot to take extra pictures of the one I gave her. The one above is an almost identical one that I made for our home.

Pretty cute for a dollar frame, huh? These aren't hard to make once you get the hang of mod podging and are inexpensive to make. The highest cost is in elbow grease and waiting time for things to dry. They are also great for holiday gifts and mass producing assembly line style. Four Christmases ago, I gave a decoupaged frame to each family, within our extended family, at Christmas. Only those frames were baby themed. I put printed out and put "We're Expecting!" in the middle to let them in on our big news. It was a fun way to announce we were having a baby, boy were my Aunt Barb and Denise thrilled! They both let out a scream when they read them. After we had ER they already had somewhere to put her first picture.

To make your own, paint the sides and back of the frame, that gives it a much more finished look and is so worth the extra time, in my opinion. Then trace front of frame onto decoupaged paper, cut out, and decoupaged on. Gently sand off any over lapping edges of paper and paint edges with paint so they blend in. To see pictures of each step, see my decoupage tutorial. Decorate frame, for this one I used more of the glitter phrases that I also used on the paper plate wreath ER made.

Before it just had the words on it, but it didn't look done, something was missing. I thought, maybe I should've used two different types of paper, positioned the words differently, or planned for ribbon...I just wasn't happy with it. A trip to the craft store finally got it finished. I spied these glittery poinsettia flowers and knew with some greenery, it would be perfect. Ours is on our entry way table and I love it more each time I walk by it.

All told, it cost about $1.50 to make this gift, a dollar for the frame at Michael's and .50 cents for the blinged out flower. The rest of the materials came from my craft stash. Truth be told I already had the frame because I like to keep several on hand for little projects like this. So in reality, I only had to spend .50 cents to whip up this fun frame!Do you remember the Oreo Bark I made for my Dad and put in the upcycled hot chocolate tin? Well since I am not known for my talents in the kitchen, that's what I brought. So easy and only two ingredients, even easier if you have a sweet hubby like me who helps you by making the second batch.

I packaged them in a clear cello bag, tied with a bow, and attached one of my clothespin photo holders to each one. All of the ladies liked theirs a lot, just goes to show a little gesture goes a long way and is always appreciated. That's why I love finding little ways to give some love during the holidays♥ I also used a fabulous premade digital recipe card from Shabby Princess, it's part of their holiday recipe collection. You can download it for FREE and I can't believe how much you get in it. If you're a digi scrapper you really should check it out. All I had to do was copy and paste my recipe from my blog and position the text. It looked so much better than a handwritten one would've. You can read the recipe better on this post, scroll all the way down.

This is my contribution to the week long Holly Bloggy Christmas Bash, the Christmas Craft linky is being hosted by my friend Heidi at Blue Eyed Blessings today. Go see everyone's creations today!

Also linked up at:

Show and Tell at Blue Cricket Designs, with a GIVEAWAY fun this week!

Strut Your Stuff Thursday at Somewhat Simple

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