Make Recycled Gift Tags From Old Holiday Cards

When I first got married, we did  not have a lot of money for the little things, like tags for presents. My husband's grandmother, Grandma Fuller, taught me how to make pretty Christmas gift tags, using old cards that had been mailed the year before! This is a very easy and cheap way to finish off your presents. In my opinion, they look a bit more personal than the store bought tags! 

Materials Used:
Old holiday cards
Scissors or paper cutter
Hole punch (optional)
Marker or Pen, for labeling

Step 1: Collect Card Covers

Gather up your collection of old holiday cards, and either cut or tear the covers off, along the crease. You can usually get 4 good size tags from one card cover! 

Step 2: Cut & Punch

Cut your Tags! 
This is where making the decision to use scissors or a paper cutter is crucial...if you cannot cut straight lines (like me!) you may want to use a paper cutter. Or you can have slightly wonky ones, like I do, and call them "rustic". Large cards that have a scene that would not look quite right cut into two tags, can become a folded gift tag! (See picture below).

Step 3: Write & Ribbon

Use a pen or marker (I chose red marker so it would be easy to read) and address your tag. Attach the tag to your gift with ribbon or tape. I  use fabric gift bags that have ribbon attached, so this was really easy.

You can omit punching a hole in the corner and just tape the corner to the gift, just make sure to make the cards large enough to flip. 

This work by Little Mom on the Prairie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Classic Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce Recipe

Whether you serve them with your stuffing, dessert, or it has its own special place on your table, cranberries add a classic touch to your holiday spread. Make your own homemade cranberry sauce this year for Thanksgiving using fresh cranberries! This easy recipe is so simple yet yields amazing results. I am a bit of a purist when it comes to "the sauce", I don't care for extras like nuts or orange zest. A lot of the people sharing the table with me won't even touch a cranberry, but they certainly won't eat one that tastes like oranges! So I am sharing with you my simple standby, a 4 ingredient classic cranberry sauce recipe.




If you LOVE the smooth jellied version, you can check out my tutorial to make your own! Can ridges optional! I like to let mine set in a well-washed can, to add those little ridges. It's a fun way to give everyone the cranberry sauce they expect, with great homemade taste.


 

Homemade jellied cranberry sauce, complete with can ridges! 

You will need:

1 (12 oz.) pkg. whole cranberries

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup apple juice, unsweetened if possible

1 1/2 cup sugar

Directions:

1. Combine water, apple juice and sugar in a medium sized sauce pan and bring to a boil. Add your rinsed cranberries and bring it back up to a boil (the cranberries will initially bring down your overall temperature, requiring that we bring it back to a boil). 

 
Medium-low flame 

2. Reduce heat to med-low (as shown) and simmer for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. 


 
Berries cooking, none have burst yet 

3. Remove from heat. 

The next part is optional: 

I like to mush up some of the berries with a potato masher at this point, or you can remove half the cranberry mixture and blend it until the consistency you desire. Many of the berries burst during the simmering process, but I like to have a nice mix of berry bits and smooth, silky sauce. 

4. Cover and refrigerate until serving. I think it gels better if you make it the day before, but you should at least wait a few hours with it in the fridge before serving. 

This tastes great with real vanilla bean ice cream! 

Also is great used on leftover turkey sandwiches! 

This work by Little Mom on the Prairie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.