With only a few days until Christmas I have found myself (yet again) panicking over tackling my holiday gift giving lists. I catch myself in this position every year and it's partly because of Payton's birthday being on the 18th. I mentally cannot get everything started until after her big day, so this morning I started checking items off of my list.
Over the weekend I made a trip to Walmart before my nieces birthday party to pick-up some stocking stuffers. While I was there I visited the bakery department and saw some stress-free cinnamon rolls with cream cheese icing for breakfast for the busy week ahead. Plus, with my Mom coming to visit I needed to stock-up on Starbucks ground coffee. Sadly, I did not locate the delicious pairings display but found the items individually.
As my Mom and I were recovering from our trip to Disneyland for Payton's birthday I fixed a warm pot of Starbucks Holiday blend coffee. I usually like to visit my local Starbucks, but for mornings where I am literally dragging I brew my favorite blend at home. Plus, it's something I tend to stock-up on this time of year for gifts for my parents and our neighbors.
I love the holiday blend, it might be my favorite blend besides the espresso roast that Starbucks offers. I just love the mild notes in this blend, especially when just drinking by itself. I am more of a full-throttle kind a gal, but it needs to be taken down a notch with some sweetener and milk. This blend eliminates the excessive amount of milk and sugar. After our cinnamon rolls were done being warmed up I had another sip of my coffee. I was pleasantly surprised that the ginger, cinnamon, orange, pumpkin and clove notes brought out the flavors of the cinnamon roll and honestly, they tasted better together.
Since it was just Payton's birthday and I had a gingerbread cupcake order to fulfil, I caved and let Payton have a cupcake for breakfast, I know, I know...but she didn't get cake on her birthday. Since it was my first go at this recipe I wanted to try the cupcake before thirty or so people would be tasting them. I was even more pleased with the cupcake after having a sip of my coffee. Pairings are a wonderful thing and before this delicious pairing I learned all about the benefit at my last job where we paired beer and food. It truly does enhance the item you are dining on and Walmart's baked goods paired with my favorite coffee is no exception.
After the cinnamon goodness was finished it was go-time before Grandma headed back home. I needed to finish our neighbor gift baskets. My inspiration was beginning with the Starbucks holiday blend coffee. At the end of the holiday season I always stock-up on gift baskets for the next year, purchasing them for nearly 80-90% off.
For this particular basket I included: Starbucks Holiday blend coffee, Starbucks hot cocoa mix (also purchased at Walmart for $5), two holiday themed coffee mugs (purchased at Michael's for $1.50 each), a few peppermint candy sticks to make a peppermint mocha, hand dipped chocolate marshmallows to stir into the coffee, a Starbucks gift card and a Starbucks ornament.
I also gifted homemade almond roca in a glass Christmas tree container I purchased at Walmart for $1.98. All-in-all, I was able to create an amazing personalized gift basket for under $25. It doesn't have to be expensive, look around for clearance items and make things from scratch. It means a lot more and usually is way cuter than pre-packaged baskets.
Do you make gift baskets for gift giving? I know they're one of my favorite things to gift. What's your favorite theme?
Disclaimer: I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™. #CBias #SocialFabric All opinions are my own.
1 comments:
That gift basket is FANTASTIC! Love this so much!
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