I love the holiday seasons. I think it's one of the best times of the year and I love giving gifts. Here is a little idea I had years ago and have used several times to give SMALL gifts to the people I care for.
This little surprise is perfect for jewelry but can hold almost anything as long as it's walnut sized.

Step 1: Parts Is Parts, and Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow.

So a nice little list of parts is always appreciated.

A walnut. Duh
I go to wal-mart for my wal-nuts. Because I like buying name brand over the cheapy off brand. I mean seriously who goes to target to get their walnuts. It's not like these things grow on trees.

Just a little side note, when did I start considering Wal-mart as name brand. I mean isn't everything they sell Equate. Guess i need to start reevaluating my priorities. ANYWAYS!

Some white glue. I used Alene's glue because of the quality.
A flat screwdriver.
A pair of needle nosed pliers.
A dremel tool. The bit I used was nice round stone one.
Some string or colored ribbon.
A paperclip. Macgyver's choice of tool for building anything.
Some tissue paper or even some wrapping paper.
The gift you want to give. Remember it has to fit inside a walnut. I found rings, earrings, necklaces all work great. As you can see most of these gifts are for women but a man's ring could fit in there nicely, or even something like a key. anything you like.

Step 2: Tis Time for Your Sweet Reward.

Here is where we get to have fun. You need to take your flat screwdriver and carfeully insert it into the flat top part of the walnut. There is a soft spot of the nut where you can just push the screwdriver in. This is a natural split in the nut and the soft material is the same as the stuff that holds the walnut in place. I am not sure what this material is called but I am sure someone reading this will know, and if you do leave me a comment with the name.
So now that you have your flat screwdriver inserted in there, twist lightly. Your goal here is to split the nut along it's natural split line. Unfortunately not all nuts split perfectly. But hey! It's okay. This just means you get to eat some more walnuts. I tried sticking a razor blade in there and working it slowly but didn't see any improvement over the screwdriver and actually cut myself a little. So then I had to smash the nut and scream " Hulk Mad". J/k
Once you have your nut open you want to use you screwdriver to pry out the meat of the nut and enjoy the fruits of your labor.

Step 3: Time to Clean Up Your Act.

So from here I proceeded to scrape the insides with my screwdriver, which may not have been needed, considering the fact that the dremel is coming in to play. So I mounted the round stone you see here and proceeded to clean the inside. The walnut proved to be surprisingly tough and the stone did not dig a hole through the shell like I had originally feared. In fact the dremel stone cleaned the inside and smooth it to a nice clean interior, it also opened the inside up so I could actually put more into it.
The nice thing about this is that it takes something that is normally discarded and used for a special little memory. As I write this I could even see where you could put a nice letter folded up in here or even some little arts and craft item. Your imagination is the limit.

Step 4: Time Stuff It, Stuff It REAL Good.

I like to put some tissue in here to cushion the inside of nut so whatever you put in doesn't rattle around. I used some regular old tissue paper but you can use silk, fabric, wrapping paper, again whatever your heart desires. Go wild, remember "Tis, the season." So have fun.
I used a little vending machine toy that I found the ground. I didn't know what I would use it for at the time, but I couldn't see something like that go to waste. I know what some might say, "it's just a little piece of junk that only cost a quarter." But when I think about it, some little kid bought this, probably begging their parents for that one little quarter. They put this on their finger not seeing plastic but a precious little piece of magic that glistens in the sun. Call me a romantic, because this could have easily been a little boy who got mad that he a got a little girls toy and threw it away. But I like to see a little magic in things. From here I have repackaged it into something I hope is a little magical in and of itself

Step 5: Time to Wrap It Up.

So from here I took the string I have and made a little loop and tied a knot into it. I took some glue and rubbed it into the string to stick to the nutshell and placed it onto the part of the nut where I first inserted my screwdriver. Carefully place a bead of glue on the half of the shell where the two pieces fit flush and press the two halves together. The glue gives you some time to work with it, and try and get the two halves to sit seamlessly. If any excess comes out it's okay. because you can just wipe it off with your finger.
Hold the two halves together for a minute or two and let the glue set.
Hopefully you can get the two halves to fit with no sign that it has been opened. I have left out the string on other versions and inserted ribbon or even just left it plain, to slip into a bag of other nuts. A funny thing to do if you want to surprise someone, is leave it completely plain and slip this into a can of mixed and already pre-shelled nuts. Then you can say "Hey look at this, they let one slip through." From there let the other person shell it and "SURPRISE". I would love to see someone use this as a way to propose to someone.
Just an FYI make sure they don't have nut allergies. :)

Step 6: Finally Done.

Once everything is all set and done I took a paper clip and fashioned a little hook from a paper clip. This way I could hide it on a Christmas tree. Now on Christmas Day once all the presents are passed out and everyone is sitting around drinking nog and cocoa, you can surprise that special someone by telling you see something weird on the tree. I did this one year by having one on either side of our tree and putting it on a branch, a little bit more inside of the tree. I even rearranged the ornaments to make a little hole. Then I instructed my Mom and Aunt to reach in and grab them. It was a fun little surprise and a nice ending to a beautiful Christmas morning. I know not everyone is Christian, but keep in mind this is a gift package and can be used for any special occasion.
I hope you liked my little presentation and enjoy using this for your own special moments. If you use this leave me a little comment. I would love to hear stories of this idea in real life.

To all and everyone I wish the best of the Holiday seasons. No matter your beliefs, I wish you all goodness and happiness in your lives. Thank you for reading.