These quick and easy DIY Hot Cocoa Gift Bags make the sweetest little gift around the holidays for neighbors, coworkers, teachers, and friends!
Then… indulge in even more fabulous homemade gift giving with this energizing Energy Boost Gift in a Jar and this tasty fun Movie Night at Home gift!
Following is a fun gift idea and guest post
by frugal friend Kathy… enjoy!!
DIY Hot Cocoa Gift Bags
Do you need an delicious little gift idea to show appreciation during the holidays?
I needed to make teacher appreciation gifts for the child care workers that help with my mom’s group.
There are 11 of them and I needed it to be cute yet affordable- something I could make easily in bulk.
I also wanted it with a fall theme, so I came up with a DIY gift that I thought covered all the bases with these DIY Hot Cocoa Gift Bags.
These DIY Hot Cocoa Gift Bags would also be affordable and great for bulk holiday gift giving such as teacher appreciation gifts or friend gift exchanges!
Here’s what you’ll need to make yours…
Related: The Ultimate List of Gifts in a Jar (101 ideas)
Supplies Needed for DIY Hot Cocoa Gift Bags
Before you get started, here’s what you’ll need…
- Sandwich Sized Ziploc Bags – I went a little cheaper than mason jars, but you could also use mason jars.
- Box of Cider
- Box of Cocoa – I used Starbucks Salted Caramel, Double Chocolate, and Peppermint because they were on sale but you can use Swiss Miss or store brand.
- Mini Marshmallows
- Cinnamon Sticks
- Pretty Scrapbook Paper
- Stapler
- Hole Punch
- Ribbon – to add to the top of your bags
- Plastic Cling Wrap
- Smaller Ribbon – to tie marshmallows and cinnamon sticks
How to Make Hot Cocoa Gift Bags
You won’t believe how quick and easy these little gifts are to make!
Here’s what you’ll do…
1. Put in the desired amount of cocoa and cider. I used 3 pouches but you could put 2 and the bag wouldn’t look empty.
2. Take 1 cinnamon stick and enough plastic wrap to go around cinnamon stick 1 or 2 times.
3. Wrap the cinnamon stick in the plastic wrap. I tied it with a bow (yes, I know it’s cling wrap and no bow is necessary haha!) to dress it up.
4. I wrapped the cinnamon sticks so that the absorbent marshmallows didn’t taste like the cinnamon.
5. Next, I wrapped a handful of marshmallows in plastic wrap to go with the cocoa and tied them with a bow as well.
6. I did not want the marshmallows rolling around in the bag and thought it would be neater with the little bags.
7. I sealed the bags and went to work on the topper. On Pinterest I saw that you could really dress up a Ziploc bag for DIY gifts with just a little scrapbook paper and ribbon. So I bought 3 patterns of scrapbook paper in fall prints.
8. Then I lined the edge of the bag up with the bottom edge of the paper and placed the top 2 inches of the Ziploc bag onto the bottom of the paper so that it could be folded over.
9. I then measured up another 2 inches above the top of the Ziploc bag so that I could make a cut and fold the paper over.
10. Then I cut the paper two inches above the bag and then just a bit past the edge of the bag on the side. I had misjudged the first two attempts as being too short so thought it was easier to trim and correct.
11. Once the topper for the bag was cut to the right size I discreetly stapled it in two places.
12. To finish up the top of the gift bag I decided to dress it up with ribbon. I chose a fun green and white polka dot ribbon.
13. I punched 2 small holes about an inch apart in the top of the bag and threaded the ribbon through the 2 holes from the back and tied it.
My bows are pretty sad looking so I left it in a simple tie.
Hot Cocoa Gift Bag Cost
The total cost for the supplies was $1 for the paper, the ribbons, Ziploc bags, and plastic wrap I had on hand, $6 for the cider and cocoa, $1 for the marshmallows, and $3 for the cinnamon sticks.
The 11 gift bags I made came out to $1 per gift, but I had enough left for another.
It was an extraordinarily easy and cost effective DIY Hot Cocoa Gift Bags and would work great for teacher appreciation as we used them, stocking stuffers, or a gift exchange with friends.
They can also be turned into holiday themed gifts by changing out the paper and ribbons and adding peppermints.
They turned out really cute and even better when doing bulk gift giving… affordable.
More Easy Homemade Gifts
Wasn’t that so EASY?
Now are you still searching for even more fun gift ideas?
Don’t worry. I’ve got you covered!
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So have you made these Hot Cocoa Gift Bags for yourself?
Leave a comment and share…
love to try this with kids
I love this idea. I am definetly going to try this. I would love to makes these to give to the parents at the volunteer breakfast at my daughter’s school at the close of the school year. I think a nice summery print would be great. Thank you a lot for this idea!
Great idea! Pinned this one.
Cute idea! I’d love an apple cider one 🙂