9 Days til’ Christmas Countdown: Edible snowglobes make super cute decorations, awesome gifts or party favors during the winter holidays. They work just like real snow globes but the best part is you can eat the stuff inside!

What you’ll need:

• Holiday sugar cookie cutouts – in different holiday shapes, like christmas trees, gingerbread men, stockings
• Round sugar cookies
• icing
• royal icing
• gel
• paint brush
• edible glitter
• mason jars (size depends on size of cookie)

Bake your holiday shaped and round sugar cookies according to the instructions. Add icing to your holiday shaped sugar cookies first and allow to dry. Add a thick layer of royal icing to your round sugar cookies – these will serve as your holiday shaped sugar cookie stand. Stick your holiday cookies into the icing firmly and allow to dry.

Gently brush a clear gel over your cookie creations to serve as a sticky base for the edible glitter to stick. Sprinkle each cookie with edible glitter. Using the inside of the lid of the mason jar, use a dab of royal icing and stick your cookie creation on top to hold it in place, allow to dry.

Take your mason jar and add a few tbsps of edible glitter. Gently put the mason jar together. Don’t completely flip over the mason jar until the lid with your cookie creation is securely inside of it or else you will have an edible glitter mess all over your table. Gently shake your edible holiday snowglobe and watch it become a sparkly winter wonderland! Be sure to tell your guests to turn it over before opening it!

10 Days til’ Christmas Countdown: A fun and easy holiday gift idea excellent for friends and family members, especially for those who love cooking is herb flavored infused cooking oil. This recipe is for a savory chile pepper, onion and garlic infused oil. The oil can be used for cooking or dipping.

What You’ll Need:

• Dry Woody Herbs (thyme, rosemary, red pepper flakes, etc.)
• sprig of rosemary
• pearl onions
• Garlic (minced)
• dry chile peppers
• extra virgin olive oil
• strainer
• cheesecloth
• clear bottles (you can recycle mason jars, jam and jelly jars or any other glass containers)
• saucepan
• baking sheet

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Cut your pearl onions in halves. Place your minced garlic and pearl onions on a baking sheet and roast for 10 to 15 minutes, check on them at about 10 minutes, the garlic should be a light golden brown.

If so, remove from the oven, if not, leave in for another 2 minutes or so. Use a combination of dry woody herbs you think would taste good combined together. Add herbs (about 2 – 3 tbsps of the combination), olive oil, pearl onions (3 onions or 6 halves), minced garlic (1 -2 tbsps) and dry chile peppers (about 2 – 3)  to your pot and place stove on medium low heat. Allow to simmer for 5 minutes, do not bring to boil or put heat so high that the oil spits or splatters. Take off of heat and allow to the oil to cool.

Add a sprig of rosemary or a chile pepper to each of your glass containers. This is mostly for decorative purposes. Once the oil is completely cooled, use a strainer lined with a cheesecloth and pour your oil through it into the containers. Feel free to add a few of the pearl onions, chile peppers and garlic to the glass bottle.

If giving as a gift, add a ribbon or bow around the container to make it extra pretty!

11 Days til’ Christmas Countdown: Giving cash for christmas? The Raining Money Umbrella is a super cute way to give cash this Christmas without simply sticking it in a holiday card. This idea is especially useful if you are giving one large bill or a couple of larger bills.

What you’ll need

• Umbrella
• String
• Scissors
• Scotch Tape
• Cash money (minimum of five bills)

Buy an umbrella you think the person might like (just don’t get one of those transparent umbrellas or else you will ruin the surprise! Let’s say you are giving $100, turn them into $5 bills or $20 bills.  Cut string with your scissors. You will want string that won’t get tangled up if you are using more than twenty bills for your gift. Otherwise, you can use dental floss or fishing line. There is a chance your strings may get tangled up regardless especially if you are using a lot of bills. Don’t worry, the idea is still awesome.

You can make the strings all of the same length or try different lengths but do not make them longer than the canopy of the umbrella when it is closed.

Tape one string per bill on the outer edge of the bill. Then tie each string with a bill attached to the metal prongs that are attached to the canopy. Space them a part well enough to avoid tangling.

Then gently close the umbrella. Give it a test. When they open their brand new umbrella, the money you tied should hang down! It is a cute surprise and puts a smile on their face!

12 Days til’ Christmas Countdown: A really wonderful gift idea that is personalized and budget friendly is a personalized gift idea. This is great for family members, couples or to give to good friends!

Most office supply stores will have the resources for you to print out your personalized calendar or you can do it from the comfort of your home online and it is fairly simple to do! Gather your favorite photos and memories of you and your loved one and choose a photograph for each month of the year. You can put a spin on this and make it a personal to that individual solely.

For example, if your friend really loves breakfast foods, you can make each month a different breakfast food! A silly idea but maybe your friend has a goofy sense of humor!

Another idea is if they are an artist or really love a particular artist or art style, you can take nice photos of their artwork and find nice photos of their favorite style of artwork and add one for each month. This can show you admire their artwork and you support them every day and every month of the year.

Know someone working towards a goal this year? You can make each month a motivating quote or a visual reminder inspiring them to achieve their goal.

This idea is wonderful because it is personal to the special someone you are making it for and it is a fun and creative activity for you as well!

13 Days til’ Christmas Countdown: Spread the holiday cheer this year by making christmas ornaments with positive quotes, affirmations and inspirational compliments to decorate your own tree and to give to family and friends!

What you’ll need:

• Glitter
• shiny confetti
• white paper
• multicolored construction paper (optional)
• scissors
• clear round ornaments

Using your scissors, cut white paper into strips that are wide enough to write on but short enough to fit snuggly inside of your ornament. You can also add a colored piece of construction paper behind the white paper for extra pizazz!

On each strip think of optimistic, happy and kind quotes or words that you or someone else would like to hear. For example, I received one from a friend of mine that said “You are wildly beautiful.” A few others you could use are “Your smile makes the whole room light up,” or “You have a big heart and a magical soul,” or “You are a loving and empowered person.”

Write one of these on each strip of paper. Open the clear ornaments and add glitter and confetti, then place one quote in each ornament. Close the tops and shake them up!

Very gently add these ornaments to a large bag and have each of your friends and family members select one or you can hang them on your christmas tree and let them chose their own!

14 Days til’ Christmas Countdown: For a great gift idea, cure for chapped lips and for tasty kissable lips this holiday, make your own homemade Chocolate Peppermint Kiss Tinted Lip Balm. 

You can make your own at home using a few simple ingredients!

What You’ll Need:

• White Beeswax Pellets
• Cocoa Powder
• Sweet Almond Oil
• Coconut Oil
• Peppermint Essential Oil
• Small Plastic Containers or Tins (I used a bunch of those small altoid tins)

Using a double boiler or microwave, melt the white beeswax pellets, be careful not to overheat them if you are using a lot especially in the microwave. You will want to put them in 40 second intervals and stir each time you take them out. Add cocoa powder to the melted beeswax and stir until smooth. The cocoa powder gives a light tint to your lips when applied.

Add equal parts sweet almond oil and coconut oil to the mixture. Add 20 – 30 drops of peppermint essential oil.

Mix altogether. Using a funnel gently pour the mixture into individually portioned containers.

I didn’t give exact measurements because I rarely do single serving lip balms.

If you decide to make homemade lip balm in batches, you can experiment with the measurements but you will want your lip balm to be just right. Meaning not too thick or too liquidy. However, you will want the mixture to pour easily into each container.

After you have poured the mixture, allow them to sit overnight. Make sure they are stored in a cool place to firm and to prevent from melting. The same way you would any store bought lip balm or chapstick.

Not only is this lip balm great for curing chapped lips but it is natural, edible and tasty too!