handmade holiday gifts: potted paperwhite bulb {group gift}

If you exchange homemade gifts with your extended family or group of friends, it can be sometimes hard to come up with something thoughtful and original,  yet simple and cost-effective.  This year we have been very blessed to be part of a wonderful small group at our church called the Homebuilders, and I wanted to make a little something for each family as a thank you for enriching our lives this year.

I wasn’t sure what to do until I spotted a whole aisle of mini ceramic pots on clearance ($2.22 for 3!) and had an AHA! moment.  I originally wanted to do Amaryllis bulbs, but they were a little too pricey for my budget, not to mention too big to fit in the pots.  I settled on Paperwhites, which I love, & ordered them from a company called EasytoGrowBulbs.com.  They arrived in just a few days.

The potting soil, moss, plastic bags (treat bags from the party aisle) & silver ribbon was purchased from Walmart, and the other supplies I had in my craft cupboard already.  My total cost for 12 gifts was around $36, or $3 each.

The first thing I did was mark the year and group name on the bottom with a permanent marker.  I was lucky that my brother was visiting for a few days and he helped a lot with this project!

Next we filled the pot with about 2 inches of potting soil, then placed the bulbs in.

Next we filled the pots the rest of the way with the potting soil, leaving about an inch at the top for the moss.

Once the pots were filled, we carefully surrounded the shoot with a layer of moss, then wiped down the pots and tied a silver ribbon around each one.  I though about using a ceramic marker to decorate the pot, but I decided simple was better.

For the tags, I printed our message and care instructions on card stock, then cut into squares and stamped snowflakes on the other side.  I then embellished each snowflake stamp with a little glitter. (Similar to the hand-stamped cards I did last year.)  Once they were dry, I punched a hole in the corner, placed the pot inside the treat bag, and tied with a ribbon.

Are you making any gifts this year? I’d love to see them!  If you’ve got a blog, leave your link in the comments below so we can take a look.   Otherwise you can post them on the LWSL Facebook page!

P.S.  Happy, happy birthday to the hottest, funniest, smartest, best daddy & all around most wonderful husband on the planet.  I hope you’re having a good day.  We’ve got a few surprises waiting for you at home  Love ya baby.