One of the things I love about the month of Ramadan is sharing treats with our neighbors and friends. For me, it's an easy and fun way to share my faith with others. It also helps me follow my mom's tradition of sending food to neighbors. We live in the western suburbs of Chicago. The first year I sent Ramadan treat boxes, I had neighbors come by and tell me that this was the first time they'd really learned about Ramadan. My Ramadan treat boxes for this year are super easy, super quick and feature this gorgeous Ramadan postcard you can use to decorate the boxes.
Why do a Ramadan Treat Box?
I find that it's a really sweet, and unobtrusive way to share my faith with my neighbors. A lot of times, people feel uncomfortable if you randomly touch on religion as a topic of conversation. However, it's a lot easier when you're sharing a box of treats with a small note outlining the significance of the month. Most importantly, it helps strengthen the ties of friendship with our neighbors which is so important. Our neighbors have tremendous rights upon us and this is a small way to fulfill those rights. My kids love helping me with the boxes and handing them out with their dad. I love that it teaches them about giving, caring for their neighbors and celebrating their faith.
What Was in Our Treat Boxes This Year?
Normally, I like to bake something myself but this year has been crazy. I decided to get these awesome Wilton bakery boxes and buy about 10 boxes of freshly baked chocolate chip and M&M cookies from our favorite grocery store, Marianos. You can click here to see if you have one near you but they legit have the best cookies, EVER. Last year, we used the mini bunditinis from Nothing Bundt Cake alongside homemade coconut truffles and that was also a big hit.
The Decoration
I wanted to have something that was simple and elegant to adorn the top of the box. The last two years, we've sent the Ramadan treat boxes with a detailed explanation of Ramadan. However, I figured since it's the same neighbors, we don't really need to go into that much detail again. Instead, I opted to do a simple but elegant postcard with Ramadan and a caption, “let's celebrate the month of fasting.” I designed it using Illustrator and exported it as a PDF. While I choose to take it to our local print shop, you can easily print this at home. I finished the treat boxes off with some twine and these really cute flowers I found at Michaels.
If this is the first time you're doing this, this is the note I included with the treat boxes in previous years:
“Ramadan is a month of fasting, prayer, reflection and coming together with our family, friends and community. It is observed by Muslims around the world where they abstain from food and water among other things for 30 days. The month of fasting culminates in the celebration of Eid at the end of Ramadan. We love having you as a neighbor and wanted to share this treat to include you in this joyous time for our family. May the peace and blessings of this time envelop all of us.”
I know life is busy and it's so hard to find time to sit down and design something. That's why I'm sharing my Ramadan notecard design with you alongside one for Eid. Since we're hitting the last 10 days of Ramadan, I know some of you might not have time to send Ramadan treat boxes. If you don't, I'd definitely encourage you to consider sending Eid treat boxes to include your neighbors and friends in your celebration.
The best way to get these printed is on bright white, matte, medium-weight cardstock. Since I distributed bakery-bought cookies in my treat boxes, I included a note with the box outlining where I got the cookies and what ingredients they have due to allergies. In the note, I also included a short description of what Ramadan is and what. it means to us. I generally use the following script for our notes:
Wish you and yours a beautiful Ramadan and Eid!
