Put a slice of bread into the correct slot in a hacked toaster. Wait. Up pops toast monogrammed with your initials! Great fun and happy eating!

Hack a toaster by inserting copper wires that mask the heat.  Shaping the wire into letters results in monogrammed toast.

 

Find a toaster with extra wide slots.  Possibly one designed for bagels. Extract copper wire from large diameter cable.  10 gage wire worked well for me. Cut pieces and shape them into letters.  Since everyone’s last name started with “H” at the Christmas that I did this project, every slot had and “H” on one side.  On the other side of each slot I inserted a unique letter that matches the first name of a family member.  I used thin copper wire to attach the shaped wire to the insides of the toaster.

The copper wire is there to block some of the heat from the toaster coils.  This results in a monogram on pieces of toast that is a lighter color than the rest of the toast.

 

 Picking the right slot

I attached a metal screen onto packages around the tree.  Each screen has a section cut out to correspond to one of the slots in the toaster.  When placed over the toaster toast can only be loaded into one slot.  To discover who gets which gift, put a piece of toast through the slot and wait for it to brown.  If your initials match the monogram in that slot, the gift is yours! (And you can eat the toast.)

White Bread

After trying several types of breads I found that a good white bread produces the best results.  I provided Wonder Bread just to make sure the message was clear.