Festive Friday on a Monday

Well another Friday has come and gone and as we have all found out, I seriously suck at regular posts.  What is worse is that I actually had this completed on Friday, but just didn't take the time to take a photo and write a quick post. Boo, me!

This is another gift for My Beloved Sister.  As I have mentioned before, we give each other many gifts each year, but have learned to be cost effective and make a bunch of them.  Since I know her so well and know what she likes (chocolate), it is generally pretty easy for me to think of something (chocolate) to make for her.

Thanks to a few bloggers who have posted directions to making this. I took your suggestions and tweaked them a little to come up with something I know she will enjoy.

Mint Hot Chocolate

1/4 cup powdered cocoa
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
1/2 cup powdered milk (I used Nido because it is powdered whole milk)
1/2 cup powdered creamer
1 tablespoon vanilla sugar (optional but I keep it on hand all the time)
3 tablespoons powdered peppermint (about 10 individual mints whirled in the blender until powdery)

This is one of the easiest gifts I have ever made. Just toss everything in a big bowl and use a wire whisk to incorporate all the ingredients. That is it and it is about as easy as you can get. After it was mixed together the only thing I needed was something to present it in.  I had some large cello cookie bags left over from a project earlier in the year so I measured enough cocoa mix for 6 cups of hot chocolate (using 1/4 cup of mix per serving) and filled the bag.  I made a quick trip to Dollar Tree to grab a white mug, but there was not one so I punted and bought a clear one.  Once home I used Sharpie markers to draw a very simple snowman face on the mug.  When I put the bag of cocoa mix in the mug it looked funny so I wrapped the bag in white tissue paper, tied it with red and white baker's twine and the put it in the mug.  Finally, a snow colored snowman's face!  Since I had all the supplies except for the mug in my pantry already, I figure the cost of this gift including the mug is a little under 2 bucks.  Not bad for one more gift she will use and enjoy, because it's chocolate after all!