In years past, for Christmas giving, I have always been on the ball with planning, baking, and making things to give neighbors and friends. Many times each Christmas I ask myself why I don’t simply buy those gifts instead of going through all of the effort into making them. It would be less effort and probably cost the same (DIY is not always cheaper!).

Oh but that sense of gratification is a real thing. The feeling of putting in work and dedication, even into the smallest of things, to stand back and admire your work, even when it doesn’t turn out perfect. Perfect is so very overrated.

This year, due to minor health issues, I was really lacking the energy to make Christmas gifts but at the last minute found a much needed gust of determination.

I had a large stack of leftover berry crates from my late summer canning that I. Just. Couldn’t. Throw. Away. Too cute, yes?

I wanted them to by upcycled and used as a container of sorts for my goodies. Originally, I was going to make hot cooca bombs because they’re all the rage right now and pretty damn cute. However, that quickly proved to be way too overly ambitious. So I scaled it down to homemade toffee. Is anything better than toffee really?

After making several batches of my favorite toffee recipe, I had to figure out a way to wrap them up. Originally I was going to use cellophane to make them look more “giftly” but I didn’t have enough and really didn’t want to buy any. Then I had an aha moment. Tissue paper!! Pretty and eco friendly!

I had bought some special holiday ribbon in advance, presentation is everything, of course. But it needed a finishing touch. I made Kraft paper gift tags and the cutest, easiest, most accessible gift topper. The snowy pinecones that I have had sitting on my windowsill as a decoration. Christmas will be over soon and since I don’t normally store most of my nature-y homemade Christmas decorations, I happily realized that homemade decorations make perfect gift toppers!