This post has been sponsored by American Greetings. All thoughts and opinions
are my own.And just like that, the holidays are officially here! Where did the time go?!

And while I’m so excited to put up a Christmas tree, listen to holiday music on repeat, and enjoy family traditions, it’s always stressful to fit in finding the perfect Christmas gifts for my family and friends—especially when work is so busy this time of year. I’ve started a new tradition of spending a weekend every year to whip up homemade and thoughtful gifts paired with an American Greetings holiday card that my family and friends love. And believe me, it’s much better than attempting to do my holiday shopping around downtown Chicago with millions of other last-minute shoppers 😉

After years of trying out different gifts (I’ve done homemade candles, body scrubs, cakes and more), I finally landed on the tradition of making my family’s famous dark chocolate and sea salt cookie recipe for friends and family every year. To be totally fair, my mother started the tradition years ago. I totally copied her good idea with friends and family that aren’t gifted my mother’s famous cookies each year.After years of trying out different gifts (I’ve done homemade candles, body scrubs, cakes and more), I finally landed on the tradition of making my family’s famous dark chocolate and sea salt cookie recipe for friends and family every year. To be totally fair, my mother started the tradition years ago. I totally copied her good idea with friends and family that aren’t gifted my mother’s famous cookies each year.

I love gifting cookies because they’re a homemade treat that most people don’t usually have over the holidays. They’re also the perfect treat to bring to a holiday cookie party when you’re doing double duty, too! Plus, they’re so good that my friends and family look forward to their annual gift of cookies—so much so that they even ask to have it sent to them if they miss the annual holiday exchange!

To make my gifts even more special, I pair them with a holiday tin and a thoughtful American Greetings holiday card. I usually pick up all my holiday gift wrapping supplies and cards at Target, and I love that they have an amazing selection of American Greetings cards for everyone on my list (from my hard-to-shop-for dad to my cousins, my best friend, and everyone else in between). Plus, Target’s my one-stop shop—so I can spend most of my weekend making a festive mess in the kitchen rather than going from store to store to try to find everything I need to make my holiday gifts. If you happen to have brain freeze when writing Christmas card (like me!) American Greetings has some helpful tips to make the process a little easier too 🙂 Plus, how cute are these American Greeting cards?! I bought tons of them so I’m covered for whenever I need an emergency holiday card for anyone I may have missed (I’m not perfect, so it’s always good to have extras stashed!).Anyways, you’re probably wondering about this world-famous cookie recipe I’ve been talking about but honestly, I can’t share my family’s go-to recipe—otherwise my mom would seriously disown me (I may be being dramatic, but it really is a family secret!) As a consolation, I’ve tried Ambitious Kitchen’s brown butter chocolate chip cookies in the past and they’re pretty darn delicious.Do you have any holiday gifting traditions you do each year? Whether it’s buying the same type of gift (I know some friends who get a new set of PJs every year!) to making your own signature holiday gifts, I’d love to know what holiday traditions you look forward to! Xx