I've never made caramels before. Maybe I should give it a try.

This year I was hoping to make skillet toffee or Mocha meringue bark or
Spiced nuts or Salty Chocolate Peanut Butter Brittle this year; but then I found a recipe for cake in a jar. Since I'm mailing gifts this year, I'll probably make as many as I can & then mix and match. Of course, my father loves fudge; so that's my fall-back recipe.

I made these last week. They are awesome, fairly easy, and would totally work for gifts:

notwithoutsalt.com/2010/11/11/it-tastes-like-almond-roca-candy/

try any of these candies!

I'm making peanut brittle (just sugar, peanuts and salt from an old NY Times recipe) for Christmas - it receives rave reviews every year.

And for a Thanksgiving hostess gift, I'm making the sea salt caramels as well as the salted pumpkin ones (minus the pepitas) from the food52.com site. mmmm!

Blood orange caramels @ MattBites.com

My peppermint bark is always a huge hit. Layer melted dark chocolate on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Put in freezer until hard.

Melt an equal amount white chocolate, mix in some crushed candy canes, and a few drops of peppermint oil to taste. Spread quickly over dark chocolate to avoid melting the dark base. Pop in the fridge to harden, smack with a hammer wrapped in plastic wrap and store in the fridge.

Sponge candy. Super easy.

The Kitchn just posted a recipe for caramel lollipops yesterday and I'm gonna try those out. Maybe you could do something similar to your recipe as a lollipop?

The spoon cookies from Gourmet magazine are the most delicious thing ever ever ever.

I made Salted Orange Scented caramels this weekend as a test run for Christmas gifts:

http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2009/12/salted_caramels_with_orange_sc.html

They turned out great!! I would personally add a touch less salt though, but still edible-y delicious!