Looking for gift ideas for Christmas? Give the gift of “not cookies” in a cookie tin this holiday season. This is a clever idea for those of you who have plenty of left over cookies tins from previous years, with no plans of baking cookies anytime soon. Cookie tins can be so cute and compact, why not salvage them as gift boxes? They can be filled with all sorts of “not cookie” gift items. Below are a few ideas and ways to package your gift that might come in handy for teachers, co-workers, friends, and family. If you are looking for more gift ideas,  I will be posting a list of over 50 additional gift ideas for Christmas in Part 2 of this post.

Cookie tin gift ideas

Tip: before re-purposing your cookie tins as gift boxes make sure to soak the tins in hot water with some dish soap, vinegar, and either baking soda or an oxy powder for about ½ an hour, then rinse and dry.  

The Think Spring Seed Starter Gift

• Line the cookie tin with plastic style wrapping paper,

-OR- line it with a small garbage bag trimmed down to size, and then lay a sheet of standard gift wrap or tissue paper over the plastic bag.

• Fill the tin with peat pots

• Fill the peat pots with some potting soil and tuck cupcake liners into the peat pots

-OR – leave the peat pots empty

•  Lay a packet of vegetable or flower seeds on top of the peat pots

•  Fold the gift wrap or tissue paper over the peat pots and place the lid on the tin

• Wrap the tin with a ribbon

The Woohoo!! Free Movie Pass Gift

Teachers will love this gift, and with time off from teaching, they can cut loose and go see the newest release.

• Line the cookie tin with tissue paper

•  Fill the cookie tin with a movie pass, or two, and several treat bags full of homemade or store bought popcorn

•  Place lid and wrap with ribbon

Salty Girl Bath Salt Gift

A great gift for girlfriends. This tin was originally filled with tea. It needed a little sprucing up, so I attached fancy tissue paper strips to the outside with a little Mod Podge.

• Line the cookie tin with clear plastic gift wrap, or a see-thru treat bag

•  Make a batch of homemade bath salts to fill the tin.

• Tie plastic gift wrap with a ribbon and trim down the excess wrap, if needed.

The Chocolatier’s Pretzel Gift

If you don’t like to bake, or don’t want to bake, you can make a “no bake” treat such as chocolate covered pretzels, all you need to do is melt some chocolate and dip your pretzels…

This tin was originally filled with fancy brand name cookies. The round label on the lid was not very fancy, so I cut out a piece of scrapbook paper and attached with Modge Podge. Then I placed some of the same scrapbook paper inside the tin to give it that posh chocolatier look

• Layer inside of cookie tin with a “food color corresponding” tissue paper,

i.e.: brown tissue = chocolate,  orange tissue = pumpkin, and so on

• Add some complimentary scrapbook paper

•  Fill your tin with the scrumptious chocolate covered pretzels rods

Other “no bake” treats:

–       Holiday Puppy Chow

–      No-Bake Fudge Cookies

And always wrap your tin with a ribbon

I hope you like these packaging and gift ideas.

In Part 2 of this post, I will list many more “not cookie” gift ideas for almost every type of person you know…