Last minute Christmas food, gift-wrapping and gift ideas

Since we're nearly running out of time for Christmas food and preparations and gifts, here are a few super quick ideas...

Santa Hat Fruit Skewers 

All it takes are some long toothpicks or appetizer skewers, green grapes, bananas, strawberries, and string cheese (or as we call them around our house... cheese sticks).  Start with a grape, then a slice of banana (dipped in pineapple juice to preserve color), a strawberry, and then a slice of string cheese for the top of the hat, and to keep everything on. They are darling, festive, and refreshing after eating all the sugary sweets of the season!

Easy, Fun Gift-Wrapping Idea

I just wrapped the gift in brown kraft paper (I actually use painters paper from Home Depot. Cheap and comes on a large roll). Then I wrapped the gift with red and white baker's twine and stuck a few real pine branches in the strings. Add a gift tag (these are my chalkboard gift tags), and you're done! So cute!

Quick Neighbor or Party Gift

We made these for the gifts that Bob gave the ward families this year at tithing settlements. But they would be perfect for a quick neighbor gift or a party favor.

I got my jars at Taipan, but any little jar would do. Tie a red and white piece of baker's twine around it. Have I mentioned I love baker's twine? Have I mentioned I might even have a baker's twine fettish? Okay, maybe another subject for another day. After the baker's twine, I tied a couple of sprigs of greenery (fake pine and something silvery for these) into the baker's twine. Add a free printable gift tag, which are all over Pinterest these days, and throw a little tea light into it, and you're done! Couldn't be easier!