Last Minute Gift Idea...Swiss Roll Towels

It's crunch time!! Christmas is just days away. If you are looking for a hostess gift, party favor, teacher gift or just a little gift to tuck in with something else, I have a quick project for you!!

I made these Christmas Swiss Rolls as party favors for my Christmas party I had last weekend. They were a BIG hit!!  It's something that everyone can use, because they are made from towels!!

Christmas Swiss Rolls...

They look good enough to eat, lol or at least clean up after yourself when you eat!!

Come on in to see how easy they are to make!

I made 70 of these favors for the ladies at the party.  They are easy to make, but I did take lots of pictures to show you how.

I was in assembly line mode, sitting at the coffee table in front of the tv watching Hallmark Christmas movie marathons, so I apologize for the dark background of my coffee table. I wasn't thinking when I was snapping pictures as I was making theses!!

As a side note, my favorite Hallmark Christmas movies...

• The Christmas Card
• Let it Snow
• A Very Merry Mix Up
• Matchmaker Santa
• Trading Christmas
• Christmas Under Wraps

What are your favorites?

I digress...

Supplies 

For one Swiss Roll,  I used washcloths, but you can use any size towel. I nice hand towel or kitchen towel will make a larger Swiss Roll.

• one brown washcloth or hand towel
• one white washcloth or hand towel
• ribbon
• holiday greenery or decoration for the top...holly, evergreen, berries, bow, pine cones etc

Instructions...

First, fold wash cloth in half. If your towel has decorative stitching (like that band in the pic below), try to fold that to the inside so the cake looks smooth all over on the outside.

Then fold it again. This is folded in quarters, but if your's works better to fold in thirds, that's fine too.

Fold your white washcloth to fit the width of your brown washcloth. The width has to match, but not the length.

Start rolling. Make sure you start rolling tight. The white cloth will squeeze down and out as you roll, so you might have to "tuck and roll" as you go.

It's better to end with the brown edge longer, so it looks like the cake part is wrap up at the end.

Here's how it looks all rolled up.

Tie with a ribbon. After making 70, here's a tip. Use your knees to squeeze the roll as you're tying the ribbon around the towel.

I had a bunch of silk holly leaves that were on berry sprigs. I just pulled off the holly leaf and slipped the ribbon though.

Tied on some fake berries.

I bought the extra large cupcake papers at Michael's

Just place the roll in the paper and you are done!!

So cute, right?

When you put them all together on a tray they look so real!

I made a lot, so I bought these metal cookie trays with plastic covers at our local discount store Job Lot.

Some of my rolls were made with "dark" chocolate towels...

and some with "milk" chocolate towels.

Either way...they look yummy!!

Here's the low down on purchasing the towels. I bought packages of the white washcloths at Walmart. I used their Mainstay brand...18 cloths for $3.97. The dark brown cloths were in a 3 pack, but I can't remember how much and the light brown cloths are their brand too, at 47 cents a piece!!

So....

• white cloth...22 cents
• brown cloth...47 cents
• rolls of ribbon...97 cents for many yards on a roll. I used 12-14 inches of ribbon for each one
• cupcake papers...$1.99 for 75 so 2-3 cents a piece.

With your choice of additional decorations, each roll probably cost about $1, more or less depending on where you live. 

I hope you really liked this idea and can make some this Christmas too!!

As a fun little aside...

What's your favorite Hallmark Christmas movies? Leave you list in the comment section!!

Marry Christmas,

~Karen~