Send Out Your Holiday Cookies In Style With This Cute, Affordable Dollar Tree Find

Nothing says "winter holiday cheer" like a fragrant, tasty batch of homemade cookies delivered with love. The reason we leave cookies out during Christmas is an ancient practice that's tied to the story of St. Nicholas, but most folks, regardless of their beliefs or winter traditions, adore being treated to cookies. Not only are these sweet snacks delicious, but the implied care in the act of preparing and baking cookies clearly telegraphs sentimentality and fondness for the lucky recipient. How you present your cookies matters, too, whether you are wrapping up cookie-cutter sugar cookies with a two-ingredient glaze or classic chocolate chip. A plain Tupperware container will get the job done, but you'll agree that, aesthetically, such a vessel doesn't register high on the spectrum of Yuletide cheer.

To that end, Dollar Tree has us covered yet again. Already, Dollar Tree brightened our autumn with festive fall plates; now, it is handing us the perfect container in which to deliver cookies. The store carries mailbox-shaped tins with lids, which are almost too adorable for filling with cookies; the tins even feature a red flag on the side to let you know that a package is ready for pickup! As of this writing, the tins sell for $1.50 each and are even available on Dollar Tree's website with a minimum purchase of 24 units. The mailboxes come in assorted patterns that feature classic holiday motifs like gingerbread houses, waving Santa Clauses, penguins riding reindeer, snowflakes, and festive stamps.

We're simply gaga over the possibilities of putting these Dollar Tree mailbox tins to work when it comes to cookie-related holiday traditions. If you have kids in school, these festive containers will be part of the perfect teacher gift that isn't something generic like a mug or a candle. If you live in a tight-knit neighborhood, go ahead and pack up one box for every house on the block! We also love the idea of throwing a cookie-decorating party with eggnog or wine, cheery music, and tons of sprinkles and icing ... then sending everyone home with their cookie creations in their own mailbox! And, of course, there's the obvious plan of enclosing Santa's late-night snack in one of these tins on Christmas Eve, helping to ensure that no naughty elves get to his cookies before he can come down the chimney with his bag of toys in hand!

Delicate, crumbly cookies and hard tins aren't always a great combination, so we recommend padding your mailbox tins with tissue paper or something similar when you distribute your cookies. The tins are also not airtight, so if you need your cookies to last for a few days without getting stale, consider enclosing them in a freezer bag before closing the tin. Otherwise, stock up on these darling mailboxes and get ready for a very merry season of baking and celebrating!