🎅DIY Holiday Hostess Gifts: Peppermint Bark Recipe, PomPom Kleenex® Cover & Christmas Crackers

DIY Peppermint Bark Viva® Vantage® Pockets

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During the busy holiday season I love to make edible treats for my family, neighbors and friends. Here’s an easy Frosted Peppermint Bark recipe that becomes the perfect hostess gift when you gift it in Viva® Vantage® Folded Pockets. Because Viva® Vantage® paper towels are so durable and have a cloth-like texture, they are perfect for your gifting and entertaining needs. They also look really pretty when folded. Shop at Walmart and save $1.00 on Viva® Big Roll Paper Towels (6-ct or larger) with Ibotta.

Frosted Peppermint Bark

Ingredients:

22 oz. white chocolate (broken into pieces)
1/2 cup heavy cream
40 soft peppermint candies (crushed)
13.6 oz. dark chocolate (broken into pieces)

Directions:

1.  Cover a 9×13 metal baking pan with aluminum foil
2. Melt half of the white chocolate in the top of a double boiler on the stovetop to gently melt the white chocolate while stirring frequently.
3.  Spread the white chocolate into the baking pan and sprinkle 10 crushed peppermint candies evenly over the white chocolate.
4.  Chill in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.
5.  While the white chocolate is chilling, melt the dark chocolate and heavy cream in the top of a double boiler on the stovetop to gently melt the dark chocolate while stirring frequently.
6.  Pour the dark chocolate onto the chilled white chocolate and gently spread. 
7. Chill in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.
8.  Pour the dark chocolate onto the chilled white chocolate and gently spread. 
9. Melt the remaining white chocolate in the top of a double boiler on the stovetop to gently melt the white chocolate while stirring frequently.
10. Spread the white chocolate over the chilled dark chocolate and sprinkle 10 crushed peppermint candies evenly over the white chocolate.
11. Chill in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.
12. Break apart and serve in Viva® Vantage® Folded Pockets.

How to make DIY Viva® Vantage® Folded Pockets

It’s easy to make Folded Pockets using Viva® Vantage® paper towels with just a few folds and I show you how in my step-by-step tutorial. They are great to serve holiday candy in because it gives you a way to hold the candy for a pretty presentation.

Step 1 – Trim your Viva® Vantage® towel to a 10 inch by 10 inch square. I used a paper cutter to measure and trim it.

Step 2 – Fold your towel in half to make a triangle.

Step 3 – Fold down the top corner to meet the bottom edge of your triangle.

Step 4 – Take the right corner of your triangle and fold it across to match your fold line.

Step 5 – Take the left corner of your triangle and fold it across to match your fold line. Now you have two flaps, one on each side.

Step 6 – Open up all of your folds so you again have a triangle shape.

Step 7 – Now fold in the right and left sides first.

Step 8 – Fold down the top triangle last to form your folded pocket.

Step 9 – Put something like Frosted Peppermint Bark inside your pocket, you may tape the edges to secure the pocket shape.

I’d love a retweet or a share on Facebook of my DIY Viva® Vantage® Folded Pockets and Frosted Peppermint Bark recipe!

Kleenex® Holiday PomPom Covers

I saw a photo of a Christmas wreath made with colorful pompoms and I loved the look reminiscent of brightly colored holiday lights and multi-colored round ornaments. I decided to recreate this look with Kleenex® Holiday PomPom Covers. You can stock-up on Kleenex® Holiday Ovals and Canisters at Walmart for an everyday low price of $2.74 (price may vary by store). There are so many fun designs! The Kleenex® Holiday Ovals feature a red Santa, green Reindeer, blue Snowman and purple Penguin. Kleenex® Holiday Perfect Fit Canisters designs feature stripes, ornaments and trees. I keep Kleenex® in almost every room of my house: living room, kitchen, home office, bedrooms and bathrooms so that my family and guests always have Kleenex® within reach.

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I love the shape of the Kleenex® Holiday Perfect Fit Canisters because it’s easier to fit them into my holiday decor because they take up so little space. Here’s how I made my festive Kleenex® Holiday PomPom Covers:

DIY Kleenex® Holiday PomPom Covers Directions

What you’ll need:

• Kleenex® Oval or Canister.
• Scissors
• Hot Glue Gun
• PomPoms (multi-colored, large and medium sizes)=

1. Punch out (or cut out) the bottom of a Kleenex® Oval or Canister.
2. Remove Kleenex® tissues
3. Find the seam and use scissors to cut along the seam to the top then cut thru the plastic frame around where the Kleenex® is dispensed
4. Your cover is ready to decorate then slide over a Kleenex® Oval or Canister
5. Using hot glue, place a small amount on each pompom then stick the pompom to your cover
6. Place large pompoms on the edges of your cut in order to conceal the small gap after you slip the cover on
7. Be careful when sticking pompoms to the bottom edge because you want your cover to still stand up straight
8. Continue gluing pompoms to your cover in an overlapping pattern until it is entirely covered

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I’d love a retweet or a share on Facebook of my Kleenex® Holiday PomPom Covers!

Cottonelle® Christmas Crackers for Hostesses and Kids

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I love gifting Christmas Crackers during the holidays because of the joy that the surprise inside brings to it’s recipient. Now usually we think of Christmas Crackers as gifts for kids, but I found a fun way to make Christmas Crackers a useful hostess gift too! Shop at Walmart and save $1.00 on Cottonelle® Clean Care toilet paper (12-ct or larger) with Ibotta.

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DIY Cottonelle® Christmas Crackers for Hostesses and Kids

Directions

What you’ll need:

• Cottonelle® toilet paper
• scissors
• tape
• white wrapping paper
• twist ties (the kind you get with garbage bags)
• wide red ribbon (wire-edged works best)
• red washi tape
• hostess gift filler treat ideas:  tea light candles, mini paper baking cups, mini cookie cutters, peppermint candies
• kid gift filler treat ideas:  mini yoyos, stickers, mini erasers, mini toy pop-ups, chocolate gold coins, peppermint candies

1. Fill the tube of Cottonelle® toilet paper with filler treats placing a round treat (i.e. tea light candles or chocolate gold coins) at both ends then taping to secure the treats while wrapping
2. Wrap in white wrapping paper so that your toilet paper looks like a giant peppermint candy
3. Crimp both ends of white wrapping paper and secure with twist ties
4. Cut off both ends of wrapping paper so that both ends are about the same length
5. Use red washi tape to wrap around and create red strips to make your Christmas Cracker look like a giant peppermint candy
6. Use short piece of red ribbon to wrap around both ends
7. Gift your Cottonelle® Christmas Crackers  to the hostess of the next party you’re invited to and their kids!

I’d love a retweet or a share on Facebook of my DIY Cottonelle® Christmas Crackers for Hostesses and Kids!
Hostess Gift Ideas with #HolidayNecessities

I’m all about giving hostess gifts that are useful as well as beautiful. That’s why I put together these three hostess gift ideas for you so that you can gift something edible with my Peppermint Bark Viva® Vantage® Pockets, gift something decorative with my PomPom Holiday Kleenex® Covers or gift something fun with my Cottonelle® Christmas Crackers. Happy shopping for your holidays!

Which hostess gift will you make with #HolidayEssentials?

I’d love a retweet of my hostess gift ideas on Twitter:

Stock up & SAVE $$$ w/ Ibotta on #HolidayNecessities 3 DIY Hostess Gift Ideas https://t.co/e0XUBe3La5 #ad #CG pic.twitter.com/gXtYmhOnNh

— Freebies 4 Mom (@Freebies4Mom) December 19, 2015

Jump over to Facebook and “Share” my hostess gift ideas please:

Originally published December 19, 2015.

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own. Please read my Disclosure Policy.