As the holiday season kicks off, we’re starting our Yuletide DIY series.  We’re putting our own spin on holiday do-it-yourself projects!  The first one can be used for Thanksgiving, Christmas or any other holiday parties you might attend!

Show your host or friends how much you appreciate them without breaking the budget!

As you prepare for the holidays, your portable building can be used for many different purposes. You can decorate it to go with your home’s decor. You can use it to store all of your holiday decorations, or you may even want to consider hosting your own parties in your Cook shed!

From gifts that take minutes to an hour or so, here are three hostess gifts all costing around $3 each!

1. Create a Decorative Holiday Plate

This gift will take a little more time, but is a meaningful gift everyone will love!  You can choose any design or template you want, but if you want to use the design shown above, here’s your free download!

Here’s the step by step process that makes binge watching holiday movies productive! Be aware though, permanent marker fumes can get to some people, so you may want to take breaks, or work on it outside if it’s warm.

Supplies:

– Regular No. 2 Pencil

– White Plate

– Plate Stand

– Paper with design printed or Stencil

– Permanent Marker

 

Instructions:

1. Purchase a plain white plate and stand at your local discount store. Around $2 plus taxes.
2. Print out this design, or ANY design you like! You can also use stencils if you have some you already like.
3. The next couple of steps is called a graphite transfer. What you do is turn your design over and run a regular pencil over the entire design. (Pro tip: Make sure you make these pencil markings REALLY dark, otherwise when you do step 5-6, your outline will not be dark enough to see)
4. Then, align the design on your plate and tape it down.
5. Take a pen with a hard point and trace around your design. This will transfer the graphite from the pencil markings on the back of your design onto your plate.  When you peel back the design you should begin to see the outline of your design on the plate.
6. Then, take a black permanent marker to outline and fill in your design as desired. Or you can use a porcelain pen like this tutorial.  (Pro Tip: You may want to use multiple colors but from experience, the simple black does the best.  The color tends to leave streaks and can make it look more amatuer.)
7. This is the step you can skip if you want, just don’t ever wash the plate if you do. To seal the marker into the plate, cook the plate in the oven.  This may give off some odd smells and fumes in your home, so you may want to skip this step.  For instructions on how to cook the design into the plate, check out this tutorial here.

**Remember this plate is simply for decorative purposes. Do not eat off this plate as the permanent marker design will make the plate NOT food safe.

 

2. Movie Night Bundle

This is an easy, last minute hostess gift or the perfect gift for friends. Grab a microwavable popcorn bag, purchase Redbox codes and then print the code on the card attached to a pretty ribbon around the popcorn bag.

Note that you do have to buy at least 5 Redbox codes, but this still will quickly make you 5 hostess gifts for under $3 each! Create these early and stick them under the tree so you always have a gift on hand for that unexpected guest or party.

 

3. Holiday Baking Gift Set

You can grab whatever you find for this one! Head to your discount store to find holiday spatulas, pot holders, serving platters, kitchen towels, etc.  Tie it all together with a ribbon and attach a little note to create a festive, affordable gift in minutes!

 

But, if you want to spend a little more and get a more personalized gift, check out our online store. There are some fun accessories and beautiful door hangers to choose from!  If you love to craft, a Cook Portable Warehouse would make the perfect craft room for you!  Check out these options! 

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