I'm baaaaack... again! :)

It has been a while since the last time you have heard from me here at NNM! For that, I am so sorry! But we have a  lot to catch up on which should keep me busy in the coming months! <3

Spiderman and Baby A are getting HUGE <3

 Crafty Mama- Installment II

Let's start with something easy & fun that's also eco friendly AND budget friendly! Here is what WE did at our house for our family members during the holidays;

As you know, we as a family (as I'm sure many of you have also experienced)  have struggled with finances over the last several years; getting back on our feet in this unsteady economy. You can check out my hand made gifts from last year HERE, in Crafty Mama. This year, I opted for something a little less hands- on, as I know I have two kids to chase after, and one on the way! So here's what I did:

Step 1_ in lieu of turning in the milk bottles we had been accumulating for the deposit as we normally would, I held on to them and cleaned them out to use as decorative containers. Cost? essentially free, because we drink the milk anyways :)

Step 2_ Next, I had the kids use their favorite color finger paints and paint their hand prints on the jars. Once they were dry, I just used a black Sharpie to go over each hand print with the appropriate child's name. Adorable and FREE (given that we used materials we already had at home).

Step 3_ homemade granola!

I used the recipe found HERE  from the Food Network site

I ended up making two batches to accommodate all my jars, and merely added some honey and cinnamon once it came out of the oven. The end result looked like this;

And it was DELICIOUS! Baby A and I just haaaaaad to sample some- you know, to make sure it was edible! :) 

Step 4_  Once the granola cooled, I placed a small amount in each jar, and stuffed in the top some decorative holiday tissue paper to fill the gap in the tall milk jugs ( I would have had to have made, like, 6 batches if I had wanted to FILL the jugs!) I placed the cap back on the jugs and placed them in gift bags made out of recycled paper that I purchased at Target for 99 cents each!


Somehow I did not get a photo of the finished product- hmph! but they came out great! and everyone thought the granola was delish! So overall, total score, for only the cost of the gift bags, gift tags, and granola ingredients!

Did YOU make any hand made gifts this holiday?