New Neighbor Gifts *Pumpkin Bread*

I absolutely LOVE the subdivision that we live in now. I’ll sit on the back patio in the morning, drinking my coffee, and it’s SUPER quiet, with maybe a runner or biker, trolling by. (Notice I’m not the one running by…lol, but rather sitting on my rear drinking coffee.)

Neighbors That Deserve a Treat…

I love our neighbors even more. Yes, we’ve only lived here about 2 weeks, but through the whole building process, our neighbors were so friendly, and understanding of all of our construction tasks. Big trucks, loud machinery, I’m sure trash blew in to their yard at least once… but we’ve never even received a complaint. God love ’em!

So, I wanted to thank them for being such awesome neighbors through it all, and give them a “new neighbor gift.” We have quite a few neighbors, and I didn’t want to forget anyone, but I also didn’t want to spend millions on gifts, or spend days and hours in the kitchen making gobs of treats. {40 weeks pregnant can make you feel like sitting on the couch all day… not standing in a kitchen.}

While browsing Pinterest one day, I found a “Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bread,” and thought it sounded “Fallish,” and very “comforting.” (A perfect combo for a “Fall Thank you.”)  See the recipe here on “Eat Cake For Dinner.”

Now if I were Super Woman, I would have made every one of my neighbors a huge loaf of this bread. BUT… I’m not. So I grabbed my mini loaf pan, and made a bunch of “little” pumpkin cream cheese bread loaves.

Then my favorite part… the “packaging.”

Neighbor Gift Packaging

First, I started by wrapping each mini loaf of bread in Saran Wrap, so the bread wouldn’t dry out overnight. (I made this in the evening and it was too late to deliver to neighbors, so I had to wait until the next day.)

I found the CUTEST Fall labels from My Sister’s Suitcase, and  “pinned” them a while back, knowing I’d find a use for them somehow. AND I DID!

I cut squares of tissue paper, and wrapped the bread for a second time with this, to add a little color.

I used my 2 in. punch, to scallop the label that says, “Happy Fall Ya’ll,” and used baker’s twine to wrap the label around the bread. For the rectangular label that says, “Welcome Fall,” I simply used clear tape to secure the label on the bottom. EASY!

I think the labels add so much cuteness, that I could have given the loaves to my neighbors, just like that… but I remembered that I had the cutest jute bags in my closet, and that a little loaf would fit PERFECT in one. So I slipped a loaf in each bag, scalloped another label that says, “Just For You,” and secured it with more baker’s twine.

Out for Delivery

Oh… did I mention that my son hurt his finger while the last batch was baking, and I burnt the bread a little? Ummm, yeah. But my husband tasted it and said it was still ok. So fingers crossed my neighbors won’t bite into the burnt loaves and think, “Yuck! Hope she doesn’t plan on doing this often.” Haha!

Now meet my delivery team! My husband and his best friend (and his little boy) took out the golf cart and delivered the goodies to the neighbors!

Happy Giving!