Unique Gift Idea

Recently, some friends of ours moved to China. Before they left I really wanted to give them a unique gift. Something personal. Something that would remind them of home. It needed to be small, of course, since they were packing their whole lives into 2 suitcases. This is what I came up with:

I bought mini ziplock bags (you can find them at Michael's in the jewelry/bead department) and filled them with different herbs and spices - Italian Seasoning, Herbs de Provence, Garam Masala, etc. Then I included a recipe in each bag to give them an idea of what to do with them. You can usually buy herbs and spices in bulk at places like Henry's for a much cheaper price. The organza bags and tags are also from Michael's.  My favorite turned out to be a bag of loose chai tea with a few cinnamon sticks in it.  Come to think of it, it would be fun to make a whole theme of gift bags with just loose teas!  You could use green tea, jasmine tea, chrysanthemum tea, black tea, passion fruit tea -- the options are endless!

I originally got the idea from this blog (I love this blog). I think the jars are so cute! You can find small jars and labels in the wedding section of Michael's too. Michael's is great.

Anyway, this turned out to be a pretty inexpensive, yet personal (and packable!), gift idea.