Christmas baking and “Last-Minute Gifts” go hand-in-hand, because baked goods make great last-minute gifts!  Even if you aren’t already baking, you can probably find the ingredients easily at any time at your local supermarket.  (If you want to be really prepared, bake some items ahead and keep them in your freezer all the time so you always have extras.)

Pretty packaging makes everything – including baked goods or homemade candy – seem extra gift-worthy.  This is the kind of thing where I find Pinterest to be very handy!  You can find some great ideas for packaging gifts through a Pinterest search.  Some ideas I’ve found there (and a few of my own) include:

• Round cookies of standard size will stack nicely in a Pringles can.  Self-adhesive shelf liner makes decorating these very simple, but you can also use glue to cover the cans with scrapbooking or wrapping paper, can spray-paint them, etc.
• Stack round cookies inside a canning jar.
• Bag in plastic bags with bread tags as closures.  Decorate the bread tags to look like snowmen.
• Bake your cutout cookies in letter shapes, then box them up in order to spell words.
• Use a can opener to remove the bottom of a pull-tab can.  Wash the can out and dry it well, then fill the can with your cookies and hot-glue the bottom back on.  Decorate.
• “Stack” the cookies side-by-side, then wrap them in a “tube” shape.
• Use a scalloped or lacy edge punch to beautify a simple paper bag.
• Pick up a pretty plate or basket and give it along with the edible goodies.