My husband has the most amazing sisters!  Last night we had a Christmas party, and we got some gifts from a few of them.  I thought these were wonderful ideas for neighbor gifts.  And appropriately for my “Spice up Christmas” week, they have cinnamon!  (so I won’t share Beth’s crazalicious carmels, or Jennifers clever M&M’s with matching story).

The first, from Tia-  Potpouri, that she dried herself in her dehydrator.  I thought this would be a fun neighbor gift that the kids could help you assemble.  They could count out equal amounts of each thing for each bag in a small assembly line.

Tia put in:

• dried orange peel
• dried apple slices
• dried lemon peel
• dried cranberries
• ground nutmeg
• whole cloves
• cinnamon sticks

The tag says “Add contents of bag to a saucepan filled with water and simmer on the stove for a delicious aroma that will fill your home with the scent of Christmas!”

Then, Laura made everyone some of her granola!  She gave me the recipe a few months ago here.  Your kids can help by scooping granola out of a big bowl into bags.

And, my final cinnamon infused neighbor gifts are the nuts of course!!

Why do you need cinnamon?    

“Cinnamon has one of the highest antioxidant levels of any spice – and even more than many foods. You’ll find as many antioxidants in 1 teaspoon of cinnamon as a full cup of pomegranate juice or ½ cup of blueberries.” McCormick Spices For Health!!

I love giving neighbor gifts (although I haven’t this year… yet!)  Some people hate to do it.  But for me, its the only chance I get to meet and talk to some of my neighbors.  I get so wrapped up in our personal family life, that I hardly cultivate friendships in the neighborhood.  We are better in the summer, if we are outside.. but as soon as it turns cold, I’m kind of a hermit.

Fun activity:  For those in Utah County- my sister and I visited the Holdman’s lights (an animated light display set to music) over the weekend.  One tip- we got there early, like 5:30, and there were only three cars there. I tried to take my husband last night around 7, and there were two BLOCKS of cars… so go early!

AD: ANTI-AGING SKIN CARE