Here’s How Our Gift Baskets/Platters turned out

Every year we make gift baskets/plates for several of our close friends and neighbors. My mom and I spent all day in the kitchen on Saturday, but we got so much done. It is so easy to make gifts for many people that you know, it just takes a little time.

We had lots of fillers like coconut bon bon things, Hershey’s on a pretzel, mud buddies, fudge, etc., but the cookies are what took the longest to decorate. I used the Wilton Holiday Products that they sent me and we had a blast. Here are how my “creations” turned out. Sorry for the not-so-awesome pictures…I left my good camera at home.

Peppermint Bark:

These were extremely easy to make. Simply heat up the chocolate in the microwave then cut the tip off and fill the bottoms of the snowflake cookie cutters. Next, heat up the peppermint chocolate, and fill the top of the snowflakes. The kit came with gift bags and tags. Check down below for one that was finished and in a basket.

Cookie Press Snowflakes:

This is my second cookie press, and if you don’t have one, you need one. The recipe for the Spritz cookies is really easy and these always turn out looking amazing. I bought Wilton icing and those bead sprinkles to decorate them with.

Melting Snowman Cookies:

These were my favorite. I saw them in a book or magazine somewhere and had to do them. You simply use a round cookie and cover the top with white icing. Heat a marshmallow up in the microwave for a few seconds and stick on top of the cookie. I then used different colors of Wilton icing that I had purchased for the scarf, nose, buttons, eyes, mouth, and hands. I also did earmuffs on some, but they weren’t in these pictures. Since they are “melting”, they don’t have to look perfect!

Christmas Tree Sugar Cookies:

I used the Wilton Roll-Out cookie recipe that I told you about before to make Christmas trees and Snowmen. I used Wilton cookie cutters that I bought last year and used pre-made Wilton icing(that I also purchased). We used some extra candy from our Gingerbread House for the stars and for some of the decorations on the trees. I also used sprinkles on some of the others.

Snowmen Sugar Cookies:

I used the same recipe above and then Wilton Snowmen Cookie Cutters that I purchased last year. Again, I used pre-made icing to decorate them. I was a little worried about how to decorate them with the hat and scarf, but I think I did an OK job for my first time decorating snowmen!

Rice Krispies Treats:

We made Rice Krispies Treats and stuffed them into the cookie sheets that Wilton sent. Be sure to spray your fingers with cooking spray if you do this!

Cookie Bouquets:

We saw this idea in the Wilton Cookie Exchange Book and had to try it. They were fairly easy to make and I think they look great. I used the Snowflake, Snowmen, and Christmas Tree cookies that I showed you above to make them. First we measured the different baskets and cut this floral foam stuff accordingly. Then we wrapped it in white tissue paper. Once the sticks were in(at the end), we curled up ribbon to hide the green a little more on top.

We used melted chocolate to make the cookies stay on the sticks. I put them in the refrigerator to cool and harden completey on a plate. After about 5 minutes, I’d take them out and stick them in the basket. We used two trees, one snowman, and four snowflakes in each basket.

Our Finished Products:

We made a bunch of those platters for families with 4 or more. I bought the little platters for $1 at a local hobby store and loaded them up with goodies. We printed out a bunch of 50% off coupons for places like Michael’s and bought the icing and those white bead looking sprinkles. We used several different bowls and baskets that we’ve picked up here and there to fill with goodies and to use as “cookie grams”. Everything took some time, but it really wasn’t very expensive at all. I hope these give you some ideas of ways to spread the Christmas cheer to friends and neighbors!