DESIGN: personalized packaged handmade gifts

Spoiler alert if you’re on my gift giving list this year. I actually don’t have a really long list being a single 30-something. My friends and I stopped exchanging gifts awhile ago and my extended family is so huge that we’re really just happy if we get to see each other over the holidays. I still like to get a little something for some people or anyone who is gracious enough to invite me over for a delish holiday meal. It’s become a bit of my own tradition to make homemade biscotti and give those out as gifts. They are such a simple treat but sooooo good. People get turned off by the double-baking but it’s nothing to be scared of, I swear. So for me the really fun part is decorating my little care packages. This year I decided to order some of these personalized stickers from Shutterfly and they are prefect for something like this.

This year I decided to change things up a bit and make chocolate biscotti. I used this Chocolate Hazelnut Biscotti recipe from the Joy of Baking. Then I thought it would be fun to package them up in these plain chinese takeout containers that I got in chinatown (duh!). No really, I happen to live in Chinatown but you can get these at Michaels, Etsy, Amazon or other places as well. They aren’t impossible to find. The handle makes them the perfect little carrier for your sweet treat. Shutterfly has soooooooo many cute stickers to choose from. I don’t even know how I decided on these two. I probably just closed my eyes and pointed at my screen. Seriously, they’re all so cute. And of course, depending on what you’re using it for, you can add a photo.

This is the Crafted with Love sticker design.

And this is the Peace, Love, Cookies Sticker design. 

Then just have fun dressing up your boxes with some ribbon or gift toppers and you have a freak’n adorable little something for someone special. Just try not to eat all the gifts before your done. 
If you just can’t get enough of personalizing everything you can get your hands on, check out my personalized holiday photo cards from Shutterfly that I ordered this year. They are so pretty….and I don’t just mean the huge photo of myself plastered on them.