Holiday Gift Idea- Produce Club

Problem: I have been trying to be better about giving gifts that people can use up. It seems as if most people have all the "stuff" they need. So I try to give food, a book, music, gift card...something that gets used up.

So last year, as I was thinking about it, I know the fruit of the month club is a really nice idea. The companies that do it charge a fortune though. So I decided I would come up with my own. People get a lot of sweets around the holiday, so I thought I would give mostly veggies with some fruit. I got some plain reusable canvas bags and stenciled Produce Club on them. The I wrote a letter of explanation that went along with them. I decided to do it every other month instead of every month. That would make me crazy and cost too much. I told them I would be giving them an unspecified amount of produce on the even months.

I thought I would give them some things that were on sale, plus maybe buy some stuff that they wouldn't maybe have bought for themselves before to try.

I found out that some people won't try some things anyway. I tried providing recipes for the unfamiliar item. That worked for 2 of them, but one wasn't interested in trying the new items still.

I also found out that I spent about 10$ each to fill their bags. So you figure I probably averaged about 60$ for their Christmas gifts, but spread out over the whole year. More than I would have spent if I just got them a gift all at once.  It was a fun thing to do, but I'm not going to do it again this year.

Do you have any fun gift ideas to share before the holidays?