Handmade Christmas 2012

Benjamin has about six other people in his department.

We wanted to give them something thoughtful

yet low-cost and relatively fuss-free.

I made a double batch of caramel

(this is my favorite recipe, though I omit the crushed peppermint).

I wrapped them and then packaged them in cute little pillow boxes

made from cardboard upcycled from cereal boxes.

I added some festive ribbon and calligraphy tags

(Believe it or not, while all of this took thought and effort,

it really was relatively fuss-free for me.)

And then the boxes started popping apart

because the paper was too heavy

and the boxes were stuffed too full of caramel

and the adhesive I was able to purchase in town

was simply not strong enough to hold it all together.

I was frustrated and discouraged.

However, after taking a few days to regroup,

I tried again,

making slightly larger vellum (lighter weight) pillow boxes

and repackaged the caramels in them.

The new boxes looked beautiful and did not come apart!

(No pictures, though...)

Ben enjoyed giving them away,

and at the company Christmas party,

some of the recipients told me how much they enjoyed them.

Overall, I'd call it a success.