Homemade Packaging Ideas for Gifts from the Kitchen
3 December 2009
Author: Nicole Ratzlaff
One of my favorite gifts to give at Christmas time is food, and while I often make my own food to gift sometimes there just isn’t time to do that for everyone on my list. Keeping your handmade gifts simple by creating your own stamped packaging for store bought items is a wonderfully simple way to give special gifts from the kitchen.
Stamps can be used on nearly any surface—paper, wood, cardboard, chipboard, metal and even glass. You just have to use the right kind of ink for the surface you are working with. If you are working with a non-porous surface like metal or glass you have to use a permanent ink, other inks work on most other surfaces but all require different drying times. This will be something to be mindful of when you are preparing your packaging.
Cellophane bags are a great way to package many food items. Candy, chocolates, Peppermint bark, English toffee, dipped pretzels, caramel corn, or cereal mix to name a few. These bags can be embellished with stamps using a permanent ink, or you can create a stamped tag with a recipe card and create a bag closure with a ribbon.
Another simple packaging idea is a stamped belly band. This works great if you enjoy making and giving breads as gifts or putting something in a box that you can wrap with a band. You could even put together a cookie decorating kit in a gable box and embellish with a belly band wrap.
For bulkier or harder to package items such as flavored oils, jars with mixes, jams or flavored coffee sugar you may consider decorating a handled bag. You can make your food container and bag coordinate and enjoy giving your creative talents in two ways, the gift and the wrap.
With fabric inks you can create your own stamped canvas bags for mulling spices or a homemade air freshener. You can create your own personal fabric patch and sew it onto your packaging or sew a felt bag with your patch included. Bags can work well for mixes too, as long as the gift is in a food safe bag on the inside of the gift.
Rolled items such as a pecan roll or cookie dough can be wrapped in a decorative paper. You can also roll fudge and package in this way, or cut it into squares and place in a box or pouch that you created yourself from cardstock. Creating your own decorative paper with stamps and your own box would be a nice way to present your soul food, too.
Using stamps to create packaging for your gifts from the kitchen is simple, elegant and personal because it is one of a kind just like you. No one will have a gift that looks or tastes just like yours—partially store bought or entirely homemade, it is sure to be a gift that warms the heart this holiday season.