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Christmas simmer pot neighbor gift (with free printable tags)

December 13, 2016 by Meg 18 Comments

Do you exchange gifts with your neighbors at Christmas? Rather than a traditional cookie plate, try giving the gift of a yummy smelling house. A Christmas simmer pot kit is a simple to make, inexpensive, and useful gift that anyone can enjoy.

A Christmas simmer pot kit is a simple to make, inexpensive, and useful gift that anyone can enjoy.

What do you give for neighbor gifts? Or do you give them at all? The ideas for simple, made-in-bulk gifts abound on Pinterest, and it seems like many families have a favorite to give. I know that every year I am going to get homemade marshmallows from one neighbor, and English toffee from another.

I love all the treats (seriously, do not stop bringing me toffee, Lacey), but there are A LOT of them this time of year. So for the past several years, I’ve opted to gift my neighbors something a little bit different. Variety is good, right?

I give the scent of Christmas.

More specifically, I give an orange, cranberries, cinnamon, cloves, and sometimes pine (or rosemary) all packaged up nicely with directions for how to make a Christmas simmer pot.

What IS a Christmas simmer pot?

A simmer pot basically means tossing some simple aromatics into a pot with some water and simmering it on the stove until your house smells absolutely AMAZING.

There are lots of options for ingredients, but our classic Christmas scent of oranges and spices is my favorite. In fact, each year my husband always reminds me that I can’t just give them to other people. We have to make one (or several) for ourselves, too.

Bonus: If you add all the ingredients to apple juice instead of just water, you get some yummy cider (don’t use pine for this kind). Smells and tastes good…even better!

So, today I’m sharing with you all my secrets for how to create an inexpensive, practical, and easy neighbor gift. I love that it’s simple enough that I can have my kids help me assemble the bags. We’ve actually gotten a pretty good conveyor belt-like system going the last few years.

I’m also including a couple of cute free printable gift tags you are welcome to use. When I started making these gifts a few years ago, I designed a really cute round tag. However, I have since realized that it is a pain in the rear to cut out circles and try to make them perfect without one of those fancy (and way overpriced) circle punches. So, I redesigned the tags this year using some beautiful Scandinavian-inspired artwork…and the only cutting needed is straight lines. Hooray! You can download them at the bottom of the post. Enjoy!

Christmas Simmer Pot Neighbor Gift

What you need for each simmer pot kit:

  • 1 small orange
  • 1/2 cup fresh cranberries
  • 1 tablespoon cloves
  • 2-4 cinnamon sticks
  • 1-2 sprigs of rosemary or pine (optional)
  • packaging (cellophane bag, ribbon, tag, etc.)
Do you exchange gifts with your neighbors at Christmas? Rather than a traditional cookie plate, try giving the gift of a yummy smelling house. A Christmas simmer pot kit is a simple to make, inexpensive, and useful gift that anyone can enjoy.

Tips on where to buy your ingredients:

I always wait to make my kits until the grocery stores start putting Christmas food items on sale. Usually, there is a week or two where I can get oranges as cheap at 3 lbs. for $1, and I can get a bag of cranberries for .99 cents. If you buy things at full price, you’re likely to pay closer to $1/lb. for oranges and $2.99 for cranberries.

Don’t buy cinnamon sticks at the normal grocery store. They are SO expensive. I buy mine at Costco. They are extra long sticks, so I break them in half and  package two in each kit.

You can buy cloves (and allspice if you want to include it) in bulk at Sprouts and it’s much cheaper than buying the bottle at the grocery store.

You can decide if it’s worth going to three different stores to save money. If you’re only making a handful of kits, it’s not a big deal, but if you make 20+, you will save some money. I just pick the ingredients up when I’m doing my normal grocery shopping in the weeks leading up to Christmas, so it’s not a big deal for me. You can definitely opt to just get everything at one store to simplify.

Do you exchange gifts with your neighbors at Christmas? Rather than a traditional cookie plate, try giving the gift of a yummy smelling house. A Christmas simmer pot kit is a simple to make, inexpensive, and useful gift that anyone can enjoy.

Gift Tags

If you want to use my printable gift tags on your gifts, feel free to download them below. Enjoy!

Free Download – warmest wishes simmer pot tag (square)

Do you exchange gifts with your neighbors at Christmas? Rather than a traditional cookie plate, try giving the gift of a yummy smelling house. A Christmas simmer pot kit is a simple to make, inexpensive, and useful gift that anyone can enjoy.

Free Download – warmest wishes simmer pot tag (rectangle)

Do you exchange gifts with your neighbors at Christmas? Rather than a traditional cookie plate, try giving the gift of a yummy smelling house. A Christmas simmer pot kit is a simple to make, inexpensive, and useful gift that anyone can enjoy.
Do you exchange gifts with your neighbors at Christmas? Rather than a traditional cookie plate, try giving the gift of a yummy smelling house. A Christmas simmer pot kit is a simple to make, inexpensive, and useful gift that anyone can enjoy.

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Filed Under: Crafts & Activities, Food Tagged With: Christmas, free printable, neighbor gift, simmer pot

Previous Post: « Felt Christmas tree for kids (with printable templates)
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Vicki @ Babies to Bookworms

    December 14, 2016 at 2:21 pm

    This is an adorable idea! I would love to receive this and it sounds pretty easy to make!

    Reply
    • Meg

      December 14, 2016 at 8:44 pm

      Super easy, Vicki! And the oranges just started going on super sales this week, so check your grocery store for deals!

      Reply
  2. Dearlyndsey

    December 14, 2016 at 2:49 pm

    I love how simple this is. It is such a cute gift to share.

    Reply
    • Meg

      December 14, 2016 at 8:44 pm

      Thanks, Lyndsey. Simple is my motto these days.

      Reply
  3. Ashley

    December 14, 2016 at 4:00 pm

    Thank you so much for the idea and printables – I’m so making a few of these!

    Reply
    • Meg

      December 14, 2016 at 8:43 pm

      I hope you enjoy them! I have been smelling my simmer pot (left over from taking pictures for this post) all day and loving it! For some reason, I always seem to give it to other people and forget to make one myself.

      Reply
  4. Twin Pickle

    December 14, 2016 at 7:05 pm

    This looks lovely, I’m not sure why I never get any nice homemade gifts?! Note to self… get new friends.

    Reply
    • Meg

      December 14, 2016 at 8:42 pm

      Maybe it’s just where I live, but a lot of people around me give neighbors little goodies and such. If I lived near you, I’d totally bring you a simmer pot. 🙂

      Reply
  5. lesley sullivan

    December 14, 2016 at 7:32 pm

    that’s such a cute idea! what a unique gift idea, thanks for sharing

    Reply
    • Meg

      December 14, 2016 at 8:45 pm

      Thanks, Lesley. I always like giving things that are useful.

      Reply
  6. Sharon Chen

    December 15, 2016 at 4:49 am

    The design is so nice! Awesome idea 🙂

    Reply
  7. val

    December 15, 2016 at 7:25 am

    Cute! I do the same thing but put them in mason jars with apple cider and water as the liquid. Such a crowd pleaser!

    Reply
    • Gretchen

      November 16, 2020 at 12:30 pm

      Does this help preserve the fruit? I want to make these and sell at a month long craft stand. thanks~

      Reply
  8. Millason @SimplyNaturalMama

    December 15, 2016 at 11:09 pm

    I love this simple gift idea! Thanks so much for sharing!

    Reply
  9. Michelle

    December 15, 2018 at 11:24 am

    Thank you for the cute tags!

    Reply
    • Meg

      January 12, 2019 at 10:43 pm

      You’re welcome, Michelle!

      Reply
  10. Joanne

    November 24, 2020 at 6:34 pm

    How long do the cranberries last in the bag?

    Reply
    • Meg

      December 4, 2020 at 2:20 pm

      They are perishable, so I try to assemble and deliver the gifts within a day or two. If you live in a cold climate, keeping the assembled bags in a cold garage will help preserve them.

      Reply

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