Creative Ways to Give the Gift of Homemade Hot Cocoa

If you search the Web, you will find tons of recipes for homemade hot cocoa mix. Homemade hot cocoa mix is a favorite among those who like to give homemade Christmas gifts to their friends and family. Most people will stuff a bag of homemade cocoa mix into a mug or pack it in a jar to give as a present. There are many creative ways you can give the gift of hot cocoa that are sure to wow your gift recipients.

Winter Picnic

If you plan to give homemade hot cocoa mix to a family who loves to spend time outdoors during the winter months then this idea may come in handy. Search thrift stores for second hand picnic baskets still in great condition to use as a container for your gift. Fill the picnic basket with camping mugs (you can find some here), a thermos to fill with the prepared hot cocoa, and jars or bags of your homemade hot cocoa mix. You could also include Christmas or winter themed napkins, a tin of cookies, peppermint candy canes, and a picnic blanket. You may be able to find used camping mugs at your local thrift store as well. For an inexpensive picnic blanket you could use a plastic tablecloth printed with Christmas or wintry designs.

Gift Basket

Giving gift baskets on Christmas is a popular gift giving idea. You can use the idea of gift baskets for your homemade hot cocoa mix. Fill the gift basket with your homemade hot cocoa mix, mugs, chocolate chips, peppermint candy canes, mini marshmallows, and chocolate dipped spoons. Your gift recipient can use the various candies and marshmallows as additions to their perfect mug of hot cocoa.

Cookie Recipe Book

Homemade Christmas cookies go well with a mug of hot cocoa. You can find various recipes for Christmas cookies by browsing free online recipe sites such as allrecipes.com. Print out several different Christmas cookie recipes and place them into clear plastic sheet protectors. Place the recipes into a binder leaving room for additional recipes that can be added later on. Place your hot cocoa mix into a plastic baggie and tie with a ribbon. Attach the homemade hot cocoa to the recipe binder by looping and tying the ribbon around the top ring.

Teapot

Preparing homemade hot cocoa mix requires hot water. You can give your gift recipient your homemade hot cocoa mix by placing individual serving sized bags into a teapot. You can either choose to give a teapot that can be used for boiling water in or go with a strictly decorative teapot. Decorative teapots are a great option allowing the gift recipient to have a place to store individual serving bags of hot cocoa or tea and can be used over and over again. You can find a decorative teapot that matches the gift recipient's kitchen theme or go with a Christmas themed teapot. For inexpensive teapots search your local thrift store.

Mug Tree

You can find mug trees for sale at most retailers and kitchen stores. Mug trees are a space saving way to store mugs and they keep mugs handy on your kitchen countertop. You can use the mug tree as a way to give homemade hot cocoa mix to your gift recipients for Christmas. Instead of placing mugs on the individual pegs, tie bags of hot cocoa mix on them instead. You can tie the bags of homemade hot cocoa mix to the pegs using ribbons in Christmas colors such as red and green and top with a Christmas bow. This Christmas gift idea is actually two gifts in one. You will be giving the gift of homemade hot cocoa mix, as well as a storage solution for your gift recipient's mugs.

If you plan on giving homemade hot cocoa mix this Christmas consider using one of the above ideas to make your gift stand out. To find homemade hot cocoa mix recipes you can search various recipe sites online. Be sure to include a recipe for the homemade hot cocoa mix so that your gift recipients can create the mix themselves once they've run out. You can include the recipe by writing the recipe on a square sheet of paper. Fold the piece of paper in half, recipe side in, and then fold in half widthwise. Use the folded sheet of paper as your gift tag. Once the recipient has received their gift, they can unfold the gift tag to find the recipe inside.