Once the layers of chocolate were set but before they were hard snap set, I cut the big slab of peppermint into two by two inch pieces. Gathering up all the candy tins that I had saved or found on clearance over the last year, I started filling the tins with both peanut brittle and peppermint bark to give as gifts to brothers, sisters, and our parents (the grandparents). Two hand crocheted cotton washcloths accompanied each tin of candy and the parents (grandparents) also received an updated family photo that my husband and I took ourselves to save money on hiring a photographer.
At the same time, I also packaged peanut brittle and peppermint bark into little “candy” bags tied with red and green ribbons. These four ounce bags of candy would be stocking stuffers for my husband, son, daughter, and my own stockings!
I also had our son and daughter make a special hand print art project for daddy using paint and play doh that we had on hand. They also made special Christmas cards for grandma and grandpa (my husband’s parents) and Nana and Papa (my parents).
As Christmas grew very near, my husband and I were racking our brains trying to think of what if anything else we could get for our children for Christmas.
While organizing his office, my husband found the pair of two way radios we had bought over six years before for our fifteen hour rental truck and packed car drive to Texas. We only used them for that one trip so my husband decided that our son might enjoy using them. We put one in his stocking and the other one was wrapped in the on position Christmas morning and put under the tree.
Also on Christmas Eve when I was digging out my Christmas pajamas, I came across my exercise balls that I had put into storage after my daughter was born just before Christmas last year. Now that my daughter is one, she has shown a real interest in balls. My husband and I pulled out one of the exercise balls, filled it with air, and placed it under the tree with a big red bow!