Holiday Treat Packaging

I know, I know, I'm a little bit early for a Christmas post. But if you're a baker like me, you're already thinking about what you're going to bake for the holidays and who you'll be honouring with a gift of your treats. We all know holidays and food go together like peanut butter and chocolate, and it's never too early to start thinking about making your loved ones happy. So here are some tips for packaging your heartfelt food gifts this season.

Traditional Packaging 

Dressed up dollar store packages

It's easy to find holiday treat boxes to package up your goodies. Some even come with paper for lining the box, ribbon for tying and labels for gifting. The only downside to these festive packages is the price. If you're on a budget, purchase plain white bakery boxes or cellophane bags and dress them up yourself. Add ribbon, foam cutouts, small bells, and other festive ornaments - the dollar store is a great source for these items. Dollar stores are also stocking treat boxes and bags more and more often now. Dress these up to make them look extra special.

Packaging that Doubles as a Gift

Holiday martini glasses from CCCGLASS
make nice wrapping for cookies, candy
or chocolates

If you don't want to stick to a traditional cardboard treat box, there are lots of options for packaging that becomes part of the gift. This can be as simple as buying some holiday-themed glasses, like the ones pictured to the left, and filling them with homemade goodies. Gift just one or give a set with a different kind of treat in each glass. An idea I really like is putting your treats in a travel mug wrapped in a cute Christmas cozy like the one pictured below. If you're looking to up the gift factor, add a gift card to their favourite coffee shop, a small package of gourmet coffee, a few sachets of special tea or hot chocolate, some gourmet marshmallows, or peppermint sticks and chocolate spoons for stirring their holiday drink of choice. If you're crafty, you can even try your hand at making your own packaging with card stock, parchment paper, or your personal favourite craft medium.

This coffee cozy from Lulu's Little Shop
will dress up any homemade gift

Mailing your Treats

Your friends and family don't have to go without your baked goods just because they're far away. Check out my Care Package Special Feature: Going the Distance for tips on mailing. If you're sending goodies in the mail, it's nice to include a copy of the recipes so your loved ones can make their favourites again and again.

However you package your baked gifts, pick out some special tags for the finishing touch.  And remember: no matter what the finished product looks like, your friends, family, coworkers, neighbours, mail carrier, teacher, adopted soldier, and all the other special people in your life will enjoy getting your gift as much as you enjoy making it.

These Cupcake Favour Tags by LouTinenEvents
are a beautiful addition your food packages

FYI: The products featured in this post are all from Etsy shops owned by someone in the military or a military family member!

Care Package Special Feature Part 2: Going the Distance

Part 2 of my Care Package series is all about homemade treats that will still be delicious after they sit around in a box for awhile. Nestle has a few recipes on for desert safe treats here. These recipes don't include butter (so the treats won't go rancid if the package takes a couple months to get where it's going) or other ingredients that shouldn't be sent to the Middle East, which makes them perfect for deployment care packages. I've made their desert safe brownies and they turned out pretty well. The soldiers I sent them to really liked them. But don't feel obligated to stick to recipes like these. If your soldier has a favourite goodie that you make, go ahead and send it. As long as you follow the tips below, almost anything is mailable.

Tips for Freshness
1. If you can create and airtight seal, do it! If you have a vacuum sealer, put it to good use and seal your treats. No air means your goodies will last longer before they mold or start to taste stale. If you don't have one, there are a couple hand-held models on the market that are fairly cheap. Invest in one of those if you can.
2. Can't vacuum seal your goodies? That's okay. Wrap cookies two at a time, back to back, or squares in single servings. Start by wrapping them tightly in plastic wrap. Then wrap them in foil. Put them in a plastic freezer bag and squish out as much of the air as you can. Besides adding an extra layer of freshness protection, the freezer bag can be resealed once your soldier gets your treats. Otherwise they might just have to eat them all right away ;)
3. It's a good idea to put your goodies in a metal tin after you wrap them. This will help keep little critters from munching on your treats.

Tips for Packaging
1. Cushion your goodies. If you're placing your treats in a tin after you wrap and bag them, fill the tin with tissue paper. It will make everything look nice when your soldier opens it, but it will also help cushion cookies on the trip.
2. Pack your box tightly. Fill in an extra space with crumpled paper, bubble wrap, etc. This will keep things from moving around too much and help keep your goodies safe.
3. Fragile cookies generally don't ship as well as a nice sturdy cookie. That said, if you pack it properly, you can still send it. I've found that even delicate shortbread cutouts will make it if you vacuum seal them and cushion the package properly. And even if the cookies get there a little worse for the wear, your soldier will love them anyway.

Tips for Making it Extra Special
1. A tin and tissue paper go a long way to making your package look pretty.
2. Adding ribbon, gift tags, cards, or even wrapping your goodies up in wrapping paper (seasonal or just generic colourful paper), will all add an extra special touch.
3. Including handwritten letters always makes any package you send better. Adding a few pictures of yourself making the cookies is a good idea too. Your soldier will get to see you and feel even more connected to home.

These cute care package cards from OperationCare on Etsy
are a pretty way to label care package treats.

Stick around for Part 3: Creative Treats.