l is for lemon

I am going to try to keep today's post short and sweet...

...or should I say SOUR?!

For Christmas each year on my mom's side of the family all of the aunts, uncles, and cousins get together for a fun Christmas party with lots of yummy food and a gift exchange. The kids each open a gift from their great grandparents and the adults (all 21 of us) bring a $10 gift that starts with a letter we are on for that year. For instance, we have already gone through the word Christmas and now we are onto the word Holiday, so this year's letter was L! This has been a fun way to have a "white elephant" gift exchange of sorts, but everyone is supposed to bring a good gift and not a gag gift. It's always funny to see how some people stretch the name of the gift to make it fit the letter for that year!

This year for some reason I left my decision making to the last minute (actually that's not really a surprise for me lately!). I had initially thought of bringing a candle...aka "lighted wax", but I wanted to be a little more creative. I ran across my candy stash in my craft room and found Lemonheads!! I knew right then and there I wanted my gift to be lemon-themed. So, off to the store I went! I kind of had a difficult time finding things that were lemon, especially with the $10 budget (and the time crunch!) but I came away with...Country Time Lemonade powder mix, Lemon Mentos, Raspberry Lemonade chapstick, and Lemon Ricola cough drops. I should have taken a picture!

Of course I had to add in my handmade touch, so I made...

{five 3x3 lemon cards with envelopes}
I kept them simple...which had nothing to do with crunch time! Ha!

{wrapped up in a bow}

And here is where the Lemonheads come in. I had this cute little jar (Dollar Tree!) in my craft room just waiting for it to be used! I added a little lemon accent to the top, which matched the cards and tied a few pieces of coordinating ribbon. My sister-in-law ended up opening the gift (she was #1) and at the end decided to keep it rather than trade. Made me feel good that it was going to someone who I knew appreciated it!


Some other gifts that were brought...

• Lime green blanket with Lime soda & Lime Tortilla Chips (this is the gift that I got!)
• Electronic "lead" sharpener...aka pencil sharpener, which we all laughed that nowadays pencils are made with graphite
• Lights...flashlights -- lots and lots of flashlights!
• Lights...nightlight
• "Lincoln" - $10 in pennies
• Levels
• Locks
• Lotion

I love seeing the creativity each year!! This is such a fun tradition for our family!

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Stamp Set: Tart & Tangy

Colors: Daffodil Delight, Real Red

Punches: Two-Step Owl (heart), 1-1/4" Circle, 1-3/8" Circle, Scallop Circle