Christmas Goodie Bags

I love to bake all sorts of yummy things at Christmas time for my family and friends. Each year I make up goodie bags to put all the baked goods into. These Christmas goodie bags usually form part of my Christmas table decoration. In the past I’ve done bags using brown paper bags and other coloured gift bags. Now days though I tend to stick with white as my base and I buy the bags in bulk from ebay.

A few years back I found some old recipes that belonged to my grandmother and my great aunt. So the theme that year was vintage in styling and in the food that I chose from those recipes. I also made a recipe book that included all the old recipes for everyone to take home.

To make my Christmas goodie bags I start with a blank slate, which is the bag. I then get out all my supplies to see if I can find scrapbook papers that suit my Christmas theme. I like using the small paper pads for the bags because they have a lot of pages that go together. They also often have smaller tags and things included. In the pictures below you can see the larger piece from the pad along with the small tags. If you don’t have a big collection like me any craft shop like Spotlight has scrapbooking papers.

I used Modge Podge and a small paint brush to add some gold glitter to some of the papers. I wanted to highlight things like the berries and also to add some gold elements that will match my Christmas table.

To highlight the papers and to help further co-ordinate the bags and my table I used black cardboard between the elements. To glue the cardboard I used glu tape. I also used the glue tape to attach the papers to the bag. The final touch was to add a small piece of black ribbon to the bags handle.

Making the Christmas goodie bags is something I really enjoy. It gives a personal touch to the table and is the perfect way to send those yummy baked goods home with my guests.

The Giving Plate – an alternative to the Christmas goodie bag

If you’re after another way to present your homemade baking you might want to try the giving plate. I did this a few years ago and I love the concept. I purchased large rectangle plates for families and round plates for singles or couples.

All you need to do then is use a sharpie to write the verses on your plates. I also used a red sharpie to add the love hearts for interest. Once you have finished you put the plates in a cold oven, set the temperature to 180C and once temperature is reached you bake for 30 minutes and then leave to cool in the oven.

Now if you need some baking to fill your bags or plates check out my new recipe book full of great recipes for gifting.