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DIY Hot Cocoa Gift Bags! {Homemade Gift Idea}

October 30, 2012 By Heidi 4 Comments

I may get paid for ads or purchases made through links in this post.

Give a fun homemade gift when you make these easy DIY Hot Cocoa Gift Bags!

DIY Hot Cocoa Gift Bags at TheFrugalGirls.com

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Following is a fun gift idea and guest post
by Kathy at Pinner Takes All… enjoy!!

Related:

  • 60+ Homemade Christmas Gift Ideas

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!

DIY Hot Cocoa Gift

DIY Hot Cocoa Gift

DIY Hot Cocoa Gift

Hot Cocoa Gift Bags

Ingredients:

  • Ziploc bags (I went a little cheaper than Mason jars.)
  • Box of cider
  • Boxes 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
  • Box of Cinnamon Sticks
  • Pretty Scrapbook Paper
  • Stapler
  • Hole Punch
  • Ribbon to tie bags
  • Saran Wrap
  • Smaller Ribbon to tie Cinnamon Sticks & Marshmallows

Hot Cocoa Gift Bags

Instructions:

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. 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. I wrapped the cinnamon sticks so that the absorbent marshmallows didn’t taste like the cinnamon.

3. I wrapped a handful of marshmallows in plastic wrap to go with the cocoa and tied them with a bow as well. I did not want the marshmallows rolling around in the bag and thought it would be neater with the little bags.

4. 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.  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.

5. 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. 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.

6. Once the topper for the bag was cut to the right size I discreetly stapled it in two places.

7. 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. 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.  The total cost for the supplies was $1 for the paper, the ribbons, Ziploc bags, and Seran 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 anotherIt was an extremely easy and cost effective DIY Hot Cocoa Gift Bags and would work great for teacher appreciation as we used them, stocking stuffers, or friends gift exchange.

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.

Kathy Penney is a proud SAHM to 2 little stairsteppers. She is a former bean counter turned crafter and chef and full time diaper changer. Fifteen years of corporate America was not as challenging or rewarding as her journey and gift of motherhood. 
She is a lover of life and laughter and a perpetual Pollyanna and concert junkie. With some help from Pinterest she is cooking easy comfort food and doing easy DIY crafts! She is trying to pass on some tips and can do attitude through her blog, Pinner Takes All.

Here are more Christmas Crafts and Christmas Gift Ideas I know you’ll love…

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Filed Under: Christmas, Fall, Thrifty Gifts

Comments

  1. vicki says

    September 6, 2013 at 7:36 am

    love to try this with kids

    Reply
  2. Lisa Anderson says

    October 31, 2012 at 11:29 am

    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!

    Reply
  3. June @ Coffee Under The Umbrella says

    October 30, 2012 at 2:38 pm

    Great idea! Pinned this one.

    Reply
  4. Jennifer says

    October 30, 2012 at 9:41 am

    Cute idea! I’d love an apple cider one 🙂

    Reply

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Hey there... it's so nice to meet you! I'm Heidi: a Frugal Girl living in sunny Arizona! I love sharing Easy Recipes, DIY Decor, Style & Beauty Hacks, Gardening Tips, Travel Hacks, and Creative Ways to Live the Sweet Life on a Budget. I'm so glad you're here!
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