Want to make your gift of homemade cookies a little more special? Wrap them up on a pretty vintage plate specially chosen for the recipient, and make the plate part of the gift. And while they add a ton of class, small, charming plates like this don't cost much — just a couple dollars tops at a local thrift store.
While it isn't easy or cheap to find sets of matching plates, single mismatched plates are plentiful and usually very inexpensive at thrift stores. (Antique stores and flea markets can be a different story, but you could certainly splurge on a big-ticket plate for a special recipient.) Even in the big city I live in, most cost between 25 cents and $2.
Yet they add so much to the simple gift of homemade cookies. When packaging cookies this way, I'm always surprised at how touched and delighted my friends are when they find out the specially-chosen little plate is theirs to keep.
Do you have any packaging ideas for making the gift of homemade cookies a little more special?
Related: Pretty Packaging Ideas for Homemade Cookie Gifts
(Image: Anjali Prasertong)
How to Bake a Potato: Three Easy Methods
How To Cook Tender, Chewy Wheat Berries on the Stovetop
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Straw Mat from The ...
10 No-Fail Decor Tricks & Tips for Small Spaces
Beth's Romantic & Retro Residence
This is a very nice idea. I was planning on giving out cookies in tins this year, but I might hit up the Goodwill and see if I can find some pretty plates.
That is a beautiful idea! I have given Christmas cookies in glass jars, wrapped with a ribbon, and I think it's really nice to give an inexpensive but practical container as part of the gift. I love the look of the vintage plate here. I have to keep that in mind - thank you!
What a cute idea! I always see pretty vintage plates that don't match my sets (I collect blue & white but I always see pretty florals). Alas, the local thrift store here charges at least $2 for pretty vintage plates, if not $3 or $4. I need to find a cheaper thrift store!
I agree that this is a lovely idea, but be sure you know your recipient's style!
Think first about your friend/family member's home and think about whether they seem likely to keep and enjoy a vintage plate. If they have a more modern aesthetic, like things to match, or simply don't have a lot of spare cabinet space, the plate could very well end right back at Goodwill the next week. I know that's what would happen if someone were to gift a vintage plate to me, I just don't care for the look and we don't have much space.
Would it matter if it did? If the plate made the recipient happy for the gift and then got sent back to goodwill wouldn't that just mean more money for the good causes they work for? All in the christmas spirit.
B, that's a fair point. I guess as long as it wouldn't offend the gifter not to see the plate at my apartment thereafter, and they were happy with the idea of their $1-2 going to Goodwill, then I suppose it wouldn't matter. Christmas spirit indeed.
I certainly like the idea, don't get me wrong! I just think that the recipients style bears keeping in mind, unless you don't mind the idea of them giving the plate away again.
I do this every year. Sometimes I get the plate back on another occasion with different treats made for me.
It beats the pants off of disposable plates and I don't expect the recipients to treasure the plate, just to use, re-gift, or donate it.