A Gift for a Guy

Some men are hard to shop for. There are certain items that most men like, however, and this is a unique way to put them together, and hopefully make the man you are giving the gift to feel special. As I have said before, I like to make the gift wrap a part of the gift itself. A leather or suede box is a nice, masculine container for a guy gift. I found this box at T.J. Maxx. Hobby Lobby has lots of them, too. Be sure to get a box that is large enough to accomodate all you want to put in it. As you can see, for this particular gift, I included a shirt, tie, manly frame, flashlight, and pocket knife. You can also include a nice manicure set, collar stays, cufflinks, gum, mints, or candy. Tickets to a game, movie, or concert would also be nice.Gil collects antique books, and I used them for this, but a book about a subject that interests him or by his favorite author would be great. The candy I used is just Planters Chocolate Covered Almonds, but I emptied the bag with Mr. Peanut's picture on it into a clear bag and tied it with twine to make it look like it came from a candy store.

I am not a scrapbooker, but I love scrapbook implements, such as stickers, tags, textured paper, etc. For this tag, I attached thin cork-like paper with self-adhesive on the back to a textured leather-look paper. I then used these funky stickers to spell out Gil's name. I punched a hole into it and tied it all up with a ribbon.

This is the finished product:

Ham & Cheese Chowder

Ham and Cheese Chowder

5-6 red potatoes, scrubbed and chopped, with skins left on

1-1/2 cups cheddar cheese

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 cup milk

Trim fat from ham and chop into small pieces.
Layer with potatoes and cheese in a greased crock pot.
Combine milk and soup. Pour over the top.
Cook on low for about 8 hours. Add more milk if needed to achieve the desired thickness.

The Aunt's Corner - Maxine

As I have mentioned before, I have several aunts, (my mom's sisters) that I have been very close to all of my life. Over the next little while I am going to feature each one of them and post one of their recipes. This is my Aunt Maxine. She is the youngest and is only 9 years older than I am. I actually just call her "Maxine", without the aunt title. She lives here in Birmingham and has a husband, Mike, a daughter Tanya, a son, Chad, a daughter-in-law, Victoria, and a grandson, Reid.

I wanted to be just like her when I was a little girl. When she was a teenager, I used to spend the night with her a lot at my grandmother's house, which I thought was amazing. I don't know how amazing she thought it was, though. I used to try to tease my hair like she did. Her hair always looked great and all I ended up with was tangles. I wanted to know all the songs on her records and sing along with them (and sometimes cry while I sang the sad songs) like she did, and put Noxzema on my face every night. Maybe her Noxzema regimen is why she is still so cute. She is one of the sweetest people I have ever known.

Today I am posting her bacon dip recipe. It is a crowd pleaser. I hope you enjoy it

Maxine's Bacon Dip

2 cups mayo
2 cups grated swiss cheese
2-8oz pkg cream cheese, softened
1 cup chopped green onion
1-3oz pkg Oscar Mayer Real Bacon Bits

Combine all ingredients except bacon. Spread into 13x9 pyrex dish. Top with bacon. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Serve with fritos.

Handkerchief Gift Wrap

For a small gift, such as jewelry, you can use a scarf, or, as in this case, a handkerchief. For those of you who live in Birmingham, I bought this handkerchief at Smith's in Mountain Brook.

Lay your gift like so:

Fold the 2 outer corners, one at a time, toward each other on top of the gift, and tuck them over it.

Bring the bottom corner up and then the top corner and tie a bow to secure it. You could also secure this with a vintage pin or a pin with their initial, or buy a handkerchief or linen hand towel with their monogram on it. (Smith's also has monogrammed linen hand towels.)

Baby Gift Wrapped in a Blanket

I have always enjoyed wrapping and giving gifts. I like to make the giftwrap special, and sometimes the giftwrap can be a part of the gift itself. Today I am posting a baby gift that I recently gave to a friend.

I started out by going to the craft store and buying an unfinished letter, which was the first letter of the baby's name. I went to A.C.Moore, but Michaels and Hobby Lobby also have them. The letters varied in size and font. I thought this "E" was particularly cute. It was only 79 cents. I painted it with white acrylic paint, let it dry, and oversanded it slightly to give it an aged look.

I wanted a blanket that was extra snuggly and I love pom poms, so I made this blanket, but you can use a purchased blanket for this project. I sometimes will give something small, like baby wipes, and then put a gift card on top. Just whatever fits will work. I folded in the 2 side corners over the gift, one at a time, then folded the bottom up, and then the top over so that it looked like this:
I secured the corner with a diaper pin and tied a bow around it. I tied a white ribbon onto the letter, and then tied it into the bow.

Thank You

I want to say thanks to the reader who wrote about her adventure of seeking "the gouda". It was so funny. I really enjoyed it and I'm glad you and your husband like my recipes. (Her comment is written after my ham quiche post, for those of you who haven't read it). It was also nice to hear from you, Jenna. I will post those recipes soon. Thanks to everyone else who have left comments. Spread the word to anyone you think might enjoy reading my blog!