Neighbor Gift Idea: M&M Poem

We hosted a “neighborhood” Christmas party this year. I put neighborhood in quotes because several of my friends know we live out in the country. We used to live in a neighborhood of about 75 houses and we did not know as many of our neighbors then as we do now. We have about ten families from our road that get together a few times a year to socialize. This is all thanks to one of our neighbors who as they tell it have always got the neighbors together wherever they have lived (which is like 21 different homes because he was in the military).

So this year for our Christmas party I wanted to give the neighbors a little something as a gift. With all the gifting we are doing I knew it needed to be low cost. I also knew I wanted it to have something about the meaning of Christmas on it.

I have pinned a couple different versions of the M&M Christmas poem and thought that might be nice. I ended up changing just a few words in the original that floats around the internet but added my own ending to express our main purpose for the gift.

To download a PDF of files to print for yourself, click here.
As seen here, they have no name so you can sign your name.

I had planned on using some jars to put them in but the jars I liked were about $6 a piece. When I realized they hold 32 ounces and knew a 42 oz back of M&Ms cost almost $10, it was getting a bit more than I wanted to spend. So I picked these up.

What to do: It’s simple, I know. I printed out the poem on card stock and cut them out. I punched two holes in the top. Then I filled the bags with M&Ms. Tying ribbon on the top, I used red and gold for the peanut M&Ms and green and silver for the plain M&Ms. I looped a ribbon through the hole in the poem and tied it on. Using scissors, I curled the ribbon.

These little baggies by Wilton (above) took about 1 1/2 cups of peanut M&Ms and would take more of the plain M&Ms but I did not put in as many. I was able to about 9 bags filled with two 42 oz bags of the peanut M&Ms.

A basket with the treats was out at the party for them to take as they left. It was a simple gift, but I wanted to let them know we appreciate their friendship and more importantly, that they knew the TRUE meaning of Christmas.

Without the birth of Jesus, there would be no sacrificial lamb for our sins.

Without the birth of Jesus, there would be no savior who defeated death.

Without the birth of Jesus, there would be no free gift of salvation….just for the accepting.

Let’s celebrate the joyous message of Christmas within our hearts and with our family, friends, and neighbors!